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LicenseReciprocity

Counseling License from Florida to Rhode Island: Does It Transfer? (2026)

Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: Rhode Island Department of Health, Board of Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists ↗

A counseling license transfers from Florida to Rhode Island by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Rhode Island Department of Health, Board of Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists, verify your Florida license, and meet Rhode Island's endorsement requirements. Licensure by endorsement may be issued 'without examination' at the Board's discretion (R.I. Gen. Laws 5-63.2-15); Rhode Island's own exam for the clinical tier is the NCMHCE (216-RICR-40-05-11 §11.3.3(A)(4)), which an endorsement applicant is not required to retake. No state jurisprudence exam was found in the regulation..

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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 Rhode Island license. The route is endorsement through the Rhode Island Department of Health, Board of Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists: your Florida license is verified, your NCE or NCMHCE score is credited under Rhode Island's own exam rule, and Rhode Island applies any jurisprudence and background checks it requires. Check which Rhode Island tier corresponds to your Florida license before you file, because the titles do not map one to one.

What changes, Florida → Rhode Island

Side-by-side: Florida vs Rhode Island (Counseling (LPC / LMHC)), verified 2026-09-27
Florida (current)Rhode Island (destination)
Counseling Compact statusCounseling Compact enacted — not yet issuingCounseling 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a $75 initial licensure fee + $5 unlicensed activity fee at submission ($180 total, $80 refundable if denied or withdrawn), per the Board's LMHC page and form DH-MQA 5048.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.)$70 (Clinical Mental Health Counselor application fee per 216-RICR-10-05-2 (RIDOH fee regulation, current version effective 2026-03-25); no separate endorsement fee is listed; renewal $50. Rhode Island is a pending Counseling Compact state, so no privilege fee applies yet.)
Processing timethe 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 publishedno timeframe published; complete applications are reviewed at a Board meeting and must be filed 30 days before that meeting (216-RICR-40-05-11 §11.3.7)
Licensing authorityFlorida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, and Mental Health Counseling (Florida Department of Health), Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC)Rhode Island Department of Health, Board of Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists

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

Step by step

  1. Confirm Rhode Island's current requirements on the Rhode Island Department of Health, Board of Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists website (linked below) — rules change.
  2. Submit the endorsement application to the Rhode Island Department of Health, Board of Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists (application linked below).
  3. Arrange license verification from your current state.
  4. Hold a clinical mental health counselor license or certification in another state whose requirements are equivalent to or exceed Rhode Island's (R.I. Gen. Laws 5-63.2-15).
  5. Show a qualifying graduate degree; a 60-plus-semester-hour CACREP-accredited clinical mental health counseling degree is deemed equivalent (216-RICR-40-05-11 §11.3.9).
  6. Submit the completed application with the non-refundable application fee at least 30 days before the Board meeting at which it will be reviewed (§11.3.7).
  7. Pay the fees ($70 (Clinical Mental Health Counselor application fee per 216-RICR-10-05-2 (RIDOH fee regulation, current version effective 2026-03-25); no separate endorsement fee is listed; renewal $50. Rhode Island is a pending Counseling Compact state, so no privilege fee applies yet.)) and allow no timeframe published; complete applications are reviewed at a Board meeting and must be filed 30 days before that meeting (216-RICR-40-05-11 §11.3.7).

Official links

Rhode Island Department of Health, Board of Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists ↗Rhode Island application ↗

Related guides

Reverse: Rhode Island → FloridaCounseling in FloridaCounseling in Rhode IslandAll counseling statesThe Counseling Compact explained

Frequently asked questions

Does Rhode Island accept a Florida counseling license?

A counseling license transfers from Florida to Rhode Island by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Rhode Island Department of Health, Board of Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists, verify your Florida license, and meet Rhode Island's endorsement requirements. Licensure by endorsement may be issued 'without examination' at the Board's discretion (R.I. Gen. Laws 5-63.2-15); Rhode Island's own exam for the clinical tier is the NCMHCE (216-RICR-40-05-11 §11.3.3(A)(4)), which an endorsement applicant is not required to retake. No state jurisprudence exam was found in the regulation..

Do I retake the NCE or NCMHCE moving from Florida to Rhode Island?

Licensure by endorsement may be issued 'without examination' at the Board's discretion (R.I. Gen. Laws 5-63.2-15); Rhode Island's own exam for the clinical tier is the NCMHCE (216-RICR-40-05-11 §11.3.3(A)(4)), which an endorsement applicant is not required to retake. No state jurisprudence exam was found in the regulation.

What does the move cost?

$70 (Clinical Mental Health Counselor application fee per 216-RICR-10-05-2 (RIDOH fee regulation, current version effective 2026-03-25); no separate endorsement fee is listed; renewal $50. Rhode Island is a pending Counseling Compact state, so no privilege fee applies yet.)

How long will it take?

no timeframe published; complete applications are reviewed at a Board meeting and must be filed 30 days before that meeting (216-RICR-40-05-11 §11.3.7)

Rhode Island joined the Counseling Compact. Can I use a privilege there?

Not yet. Rhode Island had enacted the compact but was not issuing or accepting privileges as of 2026-09-27, so counseling clients located in Rhode Island takes Rhode Island's own authorization, normally a Rhode Island license.

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]