Transfer Your Counseling License to Alaska: Reciprocity & Endorsement (2026)
Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: Alaska Board of Professional Counselors (Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing), Licensed Professional Counselor ↗
To practice in Alaska you need an Alaska license: the state is outside the Counseling Compact, and the route in is endorsement through the Alaska Board of Professional Counselors (Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing), Licensed Professional Counselor, which verifies your existing license and accepts your national exam score. Fee: $200 (nonrefundable application fee per the License by Credentials instructions (form 08-4911, rev. 2026-08-21); the $270 initial license fee is also due with the application ($470 total). Name-based criminal-record report fees are paid to the Alaska Department of Public Safety and the home-state agency. No fingerprint check is required. Alaska is not a Counseling Compact state, so it has no privilege fee.). Processing: the Division says only that 'the average processing time varies by program' and that applications are reviewed in order of receipt; no numeric timeframe is published.
Moving to Alaska from a specific state?
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Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
Alaska has not enacted the Counseling Compact, so the planning is simple, if slower. There is no compact privilege to fall back on, including for telehealth: you cannot lawfully counsel a client located in Alaska until Alaska authorizes you, which for most counselors means a license from the Alaska Board of Professional Counselors (Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing), Licensed Professional Counselor (check the notes below for any telehealth-only registration). Start the application before you need the income.
Alaska's independent tier is the professional counselor license (Licensed Professional Counselor); the associate counselor license is the supervised tier. Alaska has no reciprocity agreements. Its out-of-state route is licensure by credentials under AS 08.29.120 and 12 AAC 62.130. The Board may license a counselor from another jurisdiction whose licensing requirements are substantially the same as or higher than Alaska's, and not while the applicant is under investigation. The application screens three requirements: 60 graduate semester hours in counseling, a nationally recognized exam, and 3,000 supervised hours over at least 24 months. If the other state does not require 60 hours, the applicant may not apply by credentials. If it lacks the exam or hours requirement, the applicant must apply for the associate license instead. Because eligibility depends on the other state's standards, this is not full reciprocity. The only other expedited route in the August 2026 compilation is a temporary military courtesy license (12 AAC 62.135, AS 08.01.063). No Alaska universal-recognition statute appears in it: HB 277 (2024) and the governor's temporary-reciprocity bill were proposals, not law. Distance practice into Alaska also requires Telemedicine Business Registry registration. Alaska has not enacted the Counseling Compact (assembler value: non_member). The board landing page and the akleg.gov admin-code site returned HTTP 403 to automated fetches on 2026-09-27, so the facts come from the Division's own PDFs on the same host; board_url was not confirmed to load.
Alaska requirements at a glance
| Exam | National exam is not retaken. For licensure by credentials, the Board checks that the applicant's licensing state requires a nationally recognized counselor exam; the Alaska exam rule (12 AAC 62.110) accepts the NCE or NCMHCE. No NBCC score transfer is listed among the required credentials documents. No state jurisprudence exam; the applicant certifies having reviewed AS 08.29 and 12 AAC 62. |
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| Additional requirements |
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| Fees | $200 (nonrefundable application fee per the License by Credentials instructions (form 08-4911, rev. 2026-08-21); the $270 initial license fee is also due with the application ($470 total). Name-based criminal-record report fees are paid to the Alaska Department of Public Safety and the home-state agency. No fingerprint check is required. Alaska is not a Counseling Compact state, so it has no privilege fee.) |
| Processing time | the Division says only that 'the average processing time varies by program' and that applications are reviewed in order of receipt; no numeric timeframe is published |
Step by step
- Confirm Alaska's current requirements on the Alaska Board of Professional Counselors (Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing), Licensed Professional Counselor website — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Alaska Board of Professional Counselors (Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing), Licensed Professional Counselor (application linked on this page).
- Arrange license verification from your current state.
- Hold a current professional counselor license from a jurisdiction whose requirements the Board finds substantially the same or higher (60 graduate semester hours in counseling, a national exam, and 3,000 supervised hours over at least 24 months).
- Submit a copy of the current licensing statutes and regulations of the jurisdiction where you are licensed.
- Have every jurisdiction where you have held a counseling, psychology, marital and family therapy or social work license send verification, including any disciplinary action.
- Submit a name-based Alaska criminal justice report, plus an equivalent report from your state of residence if not Alaska.
- Pay the fees ($200 (nonrefundable application fee per the License by Credentials instructions (form 08-4911, rev. 2026-08-21); the $270 initial license fee is also due with the application ($470 total). Name-based criminal-record report fees are paid to the Alaska Department of Public Safety and the home-state agency. No fingerprint check is required. Alaska is not a Counseling Compact state, so it has no privilege fee.)) and allow the Division says only that 'the average processing time varies by program' and that applications are reviewed in order of receipt; no numeric timeframe is published.
Official links
Coming from a specific state?
Direction matters — these guides cover the exact move into Alaska:
Alaska for other professions
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Frequently asked questions
Does my counseling license transfer to Alaska?
To practice in Alaska you need an Alaska license: the state is outside the Counseling Compact, and the route in is endorsement through the Alaska Board of Professional Counselors (Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing), Licensed Professional Counselor, which verifies your existing license and accepts your national exam score. Fee: $200 (nonrefundable application fee per the License by Credentials instructions (form 08-4911, rev. 2026-08-21); the $270 initial license fee is also due with the application ($470 total). Name-based criminal-record report fees are paid to the Alaska Department of Public Safety and the home-state agency. No fingerprint check is required. Alaska is not a Counseling Compact state, so it has no privilege fee.). Processing: the Division says only that 'the average processing time varies by program' and that applications are reviewed in order of receipt; no numeric timeframe is published.
Do I have to retake the NCE or NCMHCE to get licensed in Alaska?
National exam is not retaken. For licensure by credentials, the Board checks that the applicant's licensing state requires a nationally recognized counselor exam; the Alaska exam rule (12 AAC 62.110) accepts the NCE or NCMHCE. No NBCC score transfer is listed among the required credentials documents. No state jurisprudence exam; the applicant certifies having reviewed AS 08.29 and 12 AAC 62.
How much does an Alaska counseling license cost by endorsement?
$200 (nonrefundable application fee per the License by Credentials instructions (form 08-4911, rev. 2026-08-21); the $270 initial license fee is also due with the application ($470 total). Name-based criminal-record report fees are paid to the Alaska Department of Public Safety and the home-state agency. No fingerprint check is required. Alaska is not a Counseling Compact state, so it has no privilege fee.)
How long does Alaska take to process the application?
the Division says only that 'the average processing time varies by program' and that applications are reviewed in order of receipt; no numeric timeframe is published.
Is Alaska in the Counseling Compact?
No. Alaska had not enacted the compact as of 2026-09-27. No privilege reaches Alaska, including for telehealth, so an Alaska license is required to counsel clients located there.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-09-27.
- Alaska Board of Professional Counselors: License by Credentials application and instructions (form 08-4911, rev. 2026-08-21; fees, eligibility screen, background report) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Alaska Professional Counselors Statutes and Regulations compilation, August 2026 (AS 08.29.110, 08.29.120; 12 AAC 62.110, 62.130, 62.135) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-09-27
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