Counseling License from California to Texas: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council (BHEC), Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors ↗
No — Texas has no reciprocity or endorsement path for California counseling license holders. You must apply to the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council (BHEC), Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors as a new applicant and meet Texas's full licensing requirements, including any exams it requires that you have not already passed.
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Verdict
Full re-application
Texas has no endorsement path for counselors licensed in California or anywhere else, so plan for a full application to the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council (BHEC), Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors. Your California license does not stand in for Texas's requirements: expect the board to review your graduate degree, national exam, and post-degree supervised experience against its own standard, as it would for a first-time applicant. Neither California nor Texas is operational in the Counseling Compact, so it plays no part in this move.
What changes, California → Texas
| California (current) | Texas (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| Counseling Compact status | Licensure by endorsement | Full re-application required |
| 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.) | $165 (LPC Associate/LPC/Provisional License Application fee per 22 TAC 885.1(b) as amended in the 2026-03-13 Texas Register ($154 base + $6 Texas.gov + $5 OPP); this is the ordinary LPC application fee, since Texas has no separate endorsement fee. Jurisprudence exam $39; fingerprinting paid to the vendor. Texas has not enacted the Counseling Compact.) |
| Processing time | the 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). | ~6 weeks (BHEC's out-of-state LPC application guide says 'Please allow at least 6 weeks for processing before contacting BHEC for a status update'; no maximum is stated) |
| Licensing authority | California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS), Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) | Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council (BHEC), Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Texas sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Review Texas's initial-licensure requirements on the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council (BHEC), Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors website (linked below).
- Expect to meet Texas's education/experience requirements and pass any required exams you have not already passed — a national exam you passed often still counts, as can prior out-of-state licensure toward experience.
- Submit the standard (new applicant) application with fees ($165 (LPC Associate/LPC/Provisional License Application fee per 22 TAC 885.1(b) as amended in the 2026-03-13 Texas Register ($154 base + $6 Texas.gov + $5 OPP); this is the ordinary LPC application fee, since Texas has no separate endorsement fee. Jurisprudence exam $39; fingerprinting paid to the vendor. Texas has not enacted the Counseling Compact.)).
- Allow ~6 weeks (BHEC's out-of-state LPC application guide says 'Please allow at least 6 weeks for processing before contacting BHEC for a status update'; no maximum is stated).
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Does Texas accept a California counseling license?
No — Texas has no reciprocity or endorsement path for California counseling license holders. You must apply to the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council (BHEC), Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors as a new applicant and meet Texas's full licensing requirements, including any exams it requires that you have not already passed.
Do I retake the NCE or NCMHCE moving from California to Texas?
No endorsement route. The national exam already passed (NCE or NCMHCE) is not retaken: scores are requested from NBCC for direct submission to the Texas portal. Every applicant must also pass the Texas Jurisprudence Examination within six months before applying.
What does the move cost?
Application fee: $165 (LPC Associate/LPC/Provisional License Application fee per 22 TAC 885.1(b) as amended in the 2026-03-13 Texas Register ($154 base + $6 Texas.gov + $5 OPP); this is the ordinary LPC application fee, since Texas has no separate endorsement fee. Jurisprudence exam $39; fingerprinting paid to the vendor. Texas has not enacted the Counseling Compact.) Add the cost of documenting Texas's full requirements, such as transcripts and supervised-hour verification.
How long will it take?
~6 weeks (BHEC's out-of-state LPC application guide says 'Please allow at least 6 weeks for processing before contacting BHEC for a status update'; no maximum is stated)
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-09-27.
- BHEC: Applying for an LPC License, Licensed in Another Jurisdiction (no reciprocity, endorsement or temporary licensure) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- BHEC: How to Apply for an LPC License from Out of State (online application guide, 6-week processing note) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Texas Register 2026-03-13: Figure 22 TAC 885.1(b), BHEC fee schedule ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- California BPC 4999.60 (LPCC licensure for out-of-state licensees, Path A) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- California BPC 4999.61 (out-of-state education and experience, Path B; clinical exam waiver) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- California BPC 4999.120 (LPCC statutory fees) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- BBS Guide to Licensure Requirements, LPCC Out-of-State and Out-of-Country Applicants, rev. 10/2024 (Internet Archive copy of official BBS PDF, captured 2026-04-15) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- BBS Temporary Fee Reduction FAQ, effective 2026-07-01 (Internet Archive copy of official BBS PDF, captured 2026-05-20) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- BBS LPCC applicant page (Internet Archive copy, captured 2026-09-03) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-09-27
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