Counseling License from Florida to North Dakota: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: North Dakota Board of Counselor Examiners (NDBCE) ↗
A counseling license transfers from Florida to North Dakota by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the North Dakota Board of Counselor Examiners (NDBCE), verify your Florida license, and meet North Dakota's endorsement requirements. National exams are not retaken, but the sending state must have REQUIRED them: the LPC reciprocity route is open only if the applicant's state requires the NCE (the form says the NCMHCE 'does not apply to LPC licensure' and an either/or NCE-or-NCMHCE state does not qualify), and the LPCC tier requires a passing NCMHCE. Proof of passing a board-approved counselor exam is submitted with the reciprocity application. No state jurisprudence exam was found in the Board's rules or forms..
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Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
Both states have enacted the Counseling Compact, but neither was issuing or accepting privileges as of 2026-09-27. When both go operational, cross-border work between them could run on a privilege; a relocation would still need a North Dakota license. The route is endorsement through the North Dakota Board of Counselor Examiners (NDBCE): your Florida license is verified, your NCE or NCMHCE score is credited under North Dakota's own exam rule, and North Dakota applies any jurisprudence and background checks it requires. Check which North Dakota tier corresponds to your Florida license before you file, because the titles do not map one to one.
What changes, Florida → North Dakota
| Florida (current) | North Dakota (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| Counseling Compact status | Counseling Compact enacted — not yet issuing | Counseling Compact enacted — not yet issuing |
| Application fee | $100 ($100 non-refundable application fee; the endorsement application also collects a $75 initial licensure fee + $5 unlicensed activity fee at submission ($180 total, $80 refundable if denied or withdrawn), per the Board's LMHC page and form DH-MQA 5048. Livescan fingerprinting paid separately to the vendor; NBCC score-report fee separate. Florida is not an operational compact state, so no privilege fee applies.) | $150 (LPCC application fee per NDAC 97-02-01.1-04 and the LPCC application form. Because the LPCC is a specialty license issued only to ND LPCs, an out-of-state applicant also files the LPC reciprocity application ($150, of which $50 is non-refundable per the form; NDAC 97-02-01-01.1), so the realistic total is $300. LPCC renewal $75 biennially on top of the $150 LPC renewal. NBCC score-report and transcript fees are separate. North Dakota is a pending Counseling Compact state, so no privilege fee applies yet.) |
| Processing time | the Board states only that Florida law requires an initial application to be reviewed within 30 days and that a license issues within 7 days after all documentation is received (s. 456.0145(2)(e)); no end-to-end processing range is published | no processing timeframe published in the Board's rules or application forms; applications are valid for one year from submission |
| Licensing authority | Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, and Mental Health Counseling (Florida Department of Health), Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) | North Dakota Board of Counselor Examiners (NDBCE) |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — North Dakota sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm North Dakota's current requirements on the North Dakota Board of Counselor Examiners (NDBCE) website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the North Dakota Board of Counselor Examiners (NDBCE) (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state.
- Obtain the North Dakota LPC first (by reciprocity, which requires a state whose law requires a 60-semester-hour counseling master's, a 100-hour practicum plus 600-hour internship, the NCE, and 100 hours of supervision by a licensed counselor); the LPCC application requires an ND LAPC or LPC license number.
- Hold a current LPCC-equivalent clinical license from a state whose requirements are equal to or more stringent than North Dakota's (NDAC 97-02-01.1-03).
- Submit a copy of the other state's license and a copy of its licensing statute and rules, with the name and address of its licensing board (NDAC 97-02-01-04).
- Have an official graduate transcript sent directly to the Board and list all 60 required semester hours by content area.
- Submit proof of a passing NCMHCE score for the LPCC tier.
- Pay the fees ($150 (LPCC application fee per NDAC 97-02-01.1-04 and the LPCC application form. Because the LPCC is a specialty license issued only to ND LPCs, an out-of-state applicant also files the LPC reciprocity application ($150, of which $50 is non-refundable per the form; NDAC 97-02-01-01.1), so the realistic total is $300. LPCC renewal $75 biennially on top of the $150 LPC renewal. NBCC score-report and transcript fees are separate. North Dakota is a pending Counseling Compact state, so no privilege fee applies yet.)) and allow no processing timeframe published in the Board's rules or application forms; applications are valid for one year from submission.
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Does North Dakota accept a Florida counseling license?
A counseling license transfers from Florida to North Dakota by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the North Dakota Board of Counselor Examiners (NDBCE), verify your Florida license, and meet North Dakota's endorsement requirements. National exams are not retaken, but the sending state must have REQUIRED them: the LPC reciprocity route is open only if the applicant's state requires the NCE (the form says the NCMHCE 'does not apply to LPC licensure' and an either/or NCE-or-NCMHCE state does not qualify), and the LPCC tier requires a passing NCMHCE. Proof of passing a board-approved counselor exam is submitted with the reciprocity application. No state jurisprudence exam was found in the Board's rules or forms..
Do I retake the NCE or NCMHCE moving from Florida to North Dakota?
National exams are not retaken, but the sending state must have REQUIRED them: the LPC reciprocity route is open only if the applicant's state requires the NCE (the form says the NCMHCE 'does not apply to LPC licensure' and an either/or NCE-or-NCMHCE state does not qualify), and the LPCC tier requires a passing NCMHCE. Proof of passing a board-approved counselor exam is submitted with the reciprocity application. No state jurisprudence exam was found in the Board's rules or forms.
What does the move cost?
$150 (LPCC application fee per NDAC 97-02-01.1-04 and the LPCC application form. Because the LPCC is a specialty license issued only to ND LPCs, an out-of-state applicant also files the LPC reciprocity application ($150, of which $50 is non-refundable per the form; NDAC 97-02-01-01.1), so the realistic total is $300. LPCC renewal $75 biennially on top of the $150 LPC renewal. NBCC score-report and transcript fees are separate. North Dakota is a pending Counseling Compact state, so no privilege fee applies yet.)
How long will it take?
no processing timeframe published in the Board's rules or application forms; applications are valid for one year from submission.
North Dakota joined the Counseling Compact. Can I use a privilege there?
Not yet. North Dakota had enacted the compact but was not issuing or accepting privileges as of 2026-09-27, so counseling clients located in North Dakota takes North Dakota's own authorization, normally a North Dakota license.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-09-27.
- North Dakota Administrative Code ch. 97-02-01.1 (LPCC requirements, reciprocity 97-02-01.1-03, fees 97-02-01.1-04) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- North Dakota Administrative Code ch. 97-02-01 (LPC requirements, fees, reciprocity 97-02-01-04) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- North Dakota Century Code ch. 43-47 (43-47-06 licenses, qualifications, reciprocity; 43-47-06.1 specialty licenses) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- NDBCE Reciprocity Application for LPC (Internet Archive copy of the official PDF, 2026-05-15 snapshot; live board site refused connections) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- NDBCE LPCC page (Internet Archive copy, 2026-03-10 snapshot) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- NDBCE LPCC Application form (Internet Archive copy of the official PDF) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Florida 491 Board: Licensed Mental Health Counselor (License by MOBILE Endorsement requirements, courses, fees, processing) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Florida 491 Board: Application for Licensure by Endorsement, DH-MQA 5048 (rev. 2/2024; fee breakdown, course and score-report instructions) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Florida Statutes s. 491.006 Licensure or certification by endorsement ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Florida Statutes s. 456.0145 MOBILE Act licensure by endorsement ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Counseling Compact: state privilege fees and jurisprudence requirements ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-09-27
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