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LicenseReciprocity

Counseling License from California to Illinois: Does It Transfer? (2026)

Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) ↗

A counseling license transfers from California to Illinois by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC), verify your California license, and meet Illinois's endorsement requirements. National exams are not retaken but must be complete. The Illinois LCPC requires either the CRCE (CRCC) or BOTH the NCE and the NCMHCE (NBCC). An endorsement applicant who passed only one of the NCE/NCMHCE must pass the other as part of the Illinois process. Official score reports must be sent directly to IDFPR. No state jurisprudence exam is required..

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Verdict

Licensure by endorsement

Neither California nor Illinois is operational in the Counseling Compact, so it plays no part in this move. The route is endorsement through the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC): your California license is verified, your NCE or NCMHCE score is credited under Illinois's own exam rule, and Illinois applies any jurisprudence and background checks it requires. Check which Illinois tier corresponds to your California license before you file, because the titles do not map one to one.

What changes, California → Illinois

Side-by-side: California vs Illinois (Counseling (LPC / LMHC)), verified 2026-09-27
California (current)Illinois (destination)
Counseling Compact statusLicensure by endorsementLicensure by endorsement
Application fee$125 (LPCC License Application fee under the Board's temporary 50% fee reduction for payments made 2026-07-01 through 2030-06-30 (statutory base in BPC 4999.120 is $250; applications paid before 2026-07-01 paid $250). Separate: initial license issuance fee $100 (reduced from $200), California Law and Ethics Exam fee $75 (reduced from $150), fingerprint (Live Scan / DOJ-FBI) fees not reduced and paid separately. California has not enacted the Counseling Compact, so no privilege route exists.)$150 (LCPC application fee (all methods, incl. endorsement) per 68 IAC 1375.205(a)(1) and the IDFPR LPC/LCPC instruction packet; nonrefundable. No separate license-issuance fee listed. Other-state certification fees are charged by those boards. Illinois is not a Counseling Compact state, so there is no privilege fee.)
Processing timethe Board's Path A guide gives no timeframe for the licensure application itself; it states only 'allow up to 30 days' for processing the Request for Initial License Issuance after the exam is passed. Board processing-time pages could not be read (bbs.ca.gov refused connections on 2026-09-27).IDFPR publishes no processing timeframe. The instruction packet only says to allow 6 weeks from mailing before asking about status. Applications are valid for 3 years.
Licensing authorityCalifornia Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS), Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC)Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC)

The destination column is what you must satisfy — Illinois sets the rules for this move.

Step by step

  1. Confirm Illinois's current requirements on the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) website (linked below) — rules change.
  2. Submit the endorsement application to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) (application linked below).
  3. Arrange license verification from your current state.
  4. Hold an ACTIVE LPC/LCPC or equivalent counselor license in another U.S. state or jurisdiction.
  5. Have Certification of Licensure sent directly from your original licensing state and the state where you most recently practiced.
  6. Have official score reports for the CRCE, or for both the NCE and the NCMHCE, sent directly to IDFPR.
  7. Document the graduate counseling degree (ED-PC form) and 2 years of post-degree supervised experience (VE-LCPC form), unless licensed at the independent level for 5 consecutive years without discipline.
  8. Complete the Personal History Questions (PHQ) form.
  9. Pay the fees ($150 (LCPC application fee (all methods, incl. endorsement) per 68 IAC 1375.205(a)(1) and the IDFPR LPC/LCPC instruction packet; nonrefundable. No separate license-issuance fee listed. Other-state certification fees are charged by those boards. Illinois is not a Counseling Compact state, so there is no privilege fee.)) and allow IDFPR publishes no processing timeframe. The instruction packet only says to allow 6 weeks from mailing before asking about status. Applications are valid for 3 years..

Official links

Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) ↗Illinois application ↗

Related guides

Reverse: Illinois → CaliforniaCounseling in CaliforniaCounseling in IllinoisAll counseling statesThe Counseling Compact explained

Frequently asked questions

Does Illinois accept a California counseling license?

A counseling license transfers from California to Illinois by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC), verify your California license, and meet Illinois's endorsement requirements. National exams are not retaken but must be complete. The Illinois LCPC requires either the CRCE (CRCC) or BOTH the NCE and the NCMHCE (NBCC). An endorsement applicant who passed only one of the NCE/NCMHCE must pass the other as part of the Illinois process. Official score reports must be sent directly to IDFPR. No state jurisprudence exam is required..

Do I retake the NCE or NCMHCE moving from California to Illinois?

National exams are not retaken but must be complete. The Illinois LCPC requires either the CRCE (CRCC) or BOTH the NCE and the NCMHCE (NBCC). An endorsement applicant who passed only one of the NCE/NCMHCE must pass the other as part of the Illinois process. Official score reports must be sent directly to IDFPR. No state jurisprudence exam is required.

What does the move cost?

$150 (LCPC application fee (all methods, incl. endorsement) per 68 IAC 1375.205(a)(1) and the IDFPR LPC/LCPC instruction packet; nonrefundable. No separate license-issuance fee listed. Other-state certification fees are charged by those boards. Illinois is not a Counseling Compact state, so there is no privilege fee.)

How long will it take?

IDFPR publishes no processing timeframe. The instruction packet only says to allow 6 weeks from mailing before asking about status. Applications are valid for 3 years.

Sources

Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-09-27.

Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-09-27

How we verify · All sources · spot an error? [email protected]