Counseling License from California to Virginia: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: Virginia Board of Counseling (Department of Health Professions) ↗
A counseling license transfers from California to Virginia by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Virginia Board of Counseling (Department of Health Professions), verify your California license, and meet Virginia's endorsement requirements. National exam is not retaken: 18VAC115-20-45 requires verification of a passing score on the exam required for counseling licensure in the jurisdiction where the applicant was licensed. No separate Virginia jurisprudence exam is listed for endorsement..
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Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
Neither state gives you a working compact route here: a state that has enacted the Counseling Compact but is not yet operational behaves like a non-member. The route is endorsement through the Virginia Board of Counseling (Department of Health Professions): your California license is verified, your NCE or NCMHCE score is credited under Virginia's own exam rule, and Virginia applies any jurisprudence and background checks it requires. Check which Virginia tier corresponds to your California license before you file, because the titles do not map one to one.
What changes, California → Virginia
| California (current) | Virginia (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| Counseling Compact status | Licensure by endorsement | Counseling Compact enacted — not yet issuing |
| 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.) | $175 (LPC 'Initial licensure by endorsement: application processing and initial licensure' fee per 18VAC115-20-20 (re-read 2026-09-27) and the Board's endorsement page; all fees nonrefundable. Virginia is a pending Counseling Compact state, so no privilege fee applies yet.) |
| 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). | 6–9 weeks (board-stated '45 to 60 days from complete application' for Board approval, converted to weeks) |
| Licensing authority | California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS), Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) | Virginia Board of Counseling (Department of Health Professions) |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Virginia sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm Virginia's current requirements on the Virginia Board of Counseling (Department of Health Professions) website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Virginia Board of Counseling (Department of Health Professions) (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state.
- Hold or have held a professional counselor license in another U.S. jurisdiction that allows independent assessment, diagnosis and treatment of behavioral health conditions, with no unresolved action against any license.
- Verify all mental health or health professional licenses, certificates or registrations ever held.
- Submit verification of a passing score on the exam required for counseling licensure in the jurisdiction where you were licensed.
- Submit a current National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) self-query report.
- Submit an official transcript documenting completion of a graduate degree program.
- Pay the fees ($175 (LPC 'Initial licensure by endorsement: application processing and initial licensure' fee per 18VAC115-20-20 (re-read 2026-09-27) and the Board's endorsement page; all fees nonrefundable. Virginia is a pending Counseling Compact state, so no privilege fee applies yet.)) and allow 6–9 weeks (board-stated '45 to 60 days from complete application' for Board approval, converted to weeks).
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Does Virginia accept a California counseling license?
A counseling license transfers from California to Virginia by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Virginia Board of Counseling (Department of Health Professions), verify your California license, and meet Virginia's endorsement requirements. National exam is not retaken: 18VAC115-20-45 requires verification of a passing score on the exam required for counseling licensure in the jurisdiction where the applicant was licensed. No separate Virginia jurisprudence exam is listed for endorsement..
Do I retake the NCE or NCMHCE moving from California to Virginia?
National exam is not retaken: 18VAC115-20-45 requires verification of a passing score on the exam required for counseling licensure in the jurisdiction where the applicant was licensed. No separate Virginia jurisprudence exam is listed for endorsement.
What does the move cost?
$175 (LPC 'Initial licensure by endorsement: application processing and initial licensure' fee per 18VAC115-20-20 (re-read 2026-09-27) and the Board's endorsement page; all fees nonrefundable. Virginia is a pending Counseling Compact state, so no privilege fee applies yet.)
How long will it take?
6–9 weeks (board-stated '45 to 60 days from complete application' for Board approval, converted to weeks)
Virginia joined the Counseling Compact. Can I use a privilege there?
Not yet. Virginia had enacted the compact but was not issuing or accepting privileges as of 2026-09-27, so counseling clients located in Virginia takes Virginia's own authorization, normally a Virginia license.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-09-27.
- Virginia Administrative Code 18VAC115-20-45, Licensure by endorsement (as amended eff. 2026-07-02, Virginia Register Vol. 42 Iss. 20; Internet Archive copy of law.lis.virginia.gov, 2026-07-27 snapshot) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Virginia Administrative Code 18VAC115-20-20, Fees required by the board ($175 initial licensure by endorsement; Internet Archive copy, 2026-07-27 snapshot) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Virginia Board of Counseling: LPC by Endorsement (Internet Archive copy, 2026-05-13 snapshot, pre-amendment; live dhp.virginia.gov unreachable on 2026-09-27) ↗ (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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