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LicenseReciprocity

Counseling License from Georgia to New Jersey: Does It Transfer? (2026)

Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: New Jersey Professional Counselor Examiners Committee (State Board of Marriage and Family Therapy Examiners, Division of Consumer Affairs) (Licensed Professional Counselor, LPC) ↗

A counseling license transfers from Georgia to New Jersey by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the New Jersey Professional Counselor Examiners Committee (State Board of Marriage and Family Therapy Examiners, Division of Consumer Affairs) (Licensed Professional Counselor, LPC), verify your Georgia license, and meet New Jersey's endorsement requirements. National exam is not retaken. The Committee's LPC exam is the NCE, and NBCC/CCE can release scores to the state portal. The out-of-state route requires that the other state's exam requirements be substantially equivalent (N.J.S.A. 45:1-7.5). No New Jersey jurisprudence exam appears in the Committee's application materials..

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Verdict

Licensure by endorsement

New Jersey has enacted the Counseling Compact but was not issuing or accepting privileges as of 2026-09-27, so your Georgia license cannot reach it through the compact yet. The route is endorsement through the New Jersey Professional Counselor Examiners Committee (State Board of Marriage and Family Therapy Examiners, Division of Consumer Affairs) (Licensed Professional Counselor, LPC): your Georgia license is verified, your NCE or NCMHCE score is credited under New Jersey's own exam rule, and New Jersey applies any jurisprudence and background checks it requires. Check which New Jersey tier corresponds to your Georgia license before you file, because the titles do not map one to one.

What changes, Georgia → New Jersey

Side-by-side: Georgia vs New Jersey (Counseling (LPC / LMHC)), verified 2026-09-27
Georgia (current)New Jersey (destination)
Counseling Compact statusCounseling Compact member — compact privilege to practiceCounseling Compact enacted — not yet issuing
Application fee$100 ($100 non-refundable LPC endorsement application fee; the 05/02/2023 paper form lists $110, which includes a $10 mail-in processing fee. The current online GOALS fee schedule (goals.sos.ga.gov) returned HTTP 403 and could not be checked. Fingerprint background check paid separately to the vendor; NBCC score-report fee separate. NOT the Counseling Compact privilege fee (Georgia charges $100 + $30 commission admin fee = $130 for a privilege; no jurisprudence exam).)$75 (nonrefundable application fee per the Committee's application form and Application Process Overview; criminal history check fee separate ($18.75 for applicants already fingerprinted for a DCA board, per the paper form rev. 1/2/19); initial LPC license fee not verified on an official page)
Processing time~5 weeks (the endorsement application form says to allow up to 25 business days (about 5 weeks) to process a complete application. The Board may also take up the file at a meeting, and an application must be complete 15 days before a meeting to be placed on its agenda. Incomplete applications are withdrawn after 60 days.)the Committee publishes no processing timeframe for reciprocity applications
Licensing authorityGeorgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers and Marriage & Family Therapists (Secretary of State), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)New Jersey Professional Counselor Examiners Committee (State Board of Marriage and Family Therapy Examiners, Division of Consumer Affairs) (Licensed Professional Counselor, LPC)

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

Step by step

  1. Confirm New Jersey's current requirements on the New Jersey Professional Counselor Examiners Committee (State Board of Marriage and Family Therapy Examiners, Division of Consumer Affairs) (Licensed Professional Counselor, LPC) website (linked below) — rules change.
  2. Submit the endorsement application to the New Jersey Professional Counselor Examiners Committee (State Board of Marriage and Family Therapy Examiners, Division of Consumer Affairs) (Licensed Professional Counselor, LPC) (application linked below).
  3. Arrange license verification from your current state.
  4. Hold a valid, current professional counselor license in good standing in another state whose education, training and exam requirements are substantially equivalent to New Jersey's (N.J.S.A. 45:1-7.5).
  5. Have practiced professional counseling within the five years before applying.
  6. Have the other state's licensing board send license verification directly to the Committee.
  7. Have official graduate transcripts sent directly from the college or university.
  8. Complete the Division of Consumer Affairs criminal history background check (fingerprinting).
  9. Pay the fees ($75 (nonrefundable application fee per the Committee's application form and Application Process Overview; criminal history check fee separate ($18.75 for applicants already fingerprinted for a DCA board, per the paper form rev. 1/2/19); initial LPC license fee not verified on an official page)) and allow the Committee publishes no processing timeframe for reciprocity applications.

Official links

New Jersey Professional Counselor Examiners Committee (State Board of Marriage and Family Therapy Examiners, Division of Consumer Affairs) (Licensed Professional Counselor, LPC) ↗New Jersey application ↗

Related guides

Reverse: New Jersey → GeorgiaCounseling in GeorgiaCounseling in New JerseyAll counseling statesThe Counseling Compact explained

Frequently asked questions

Does New Jersey accept a Georgia counseling license?

A counseling license transfers from Georgia to New Jersey by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the New Jersey Professional Counselor Examiners Committee (State Board of Marriage and Family Therapy Examiners, Division of Consumer Affairs) (Licensed Professional Counselor, LPC), verify your Georgia license, and meet New Jersey's endorsement requirements. National exam is not retaken. The Committee's LPC exam is the NCE, and NBCC/CCE can release scores to the state portal. The out-of-state route requires that the other state's exam requirements be substantially equivalent (N.J.S.A. 45:1-7.5). No New Jersey jurisprudence exam appears in the Committee's application materials..

Do I retake the NCE or NCMHCE moving from Georgia to New Jersey?

National exam is not retaken. The Committee's LPC exam is the NCE, and NBCC/CCE can release scores to the state portal. The out-of-state route requires that the other state's exam requirements be substantially equivalent (N.J.S.A. 45:1-7.5). No New Jersey jurisprudence exam appears in the Committee's application materials.

What does the move cost?

$75 (nonrefundable application fee per the Committee's application form and Application Process Overview; criminal history check fee separate ($18.75 for applicants already fingerprinted for a DCA board, per the paper form rev. 1/2/19); initial LPC license fee not verified on an official page)

How long will it take?

the Committee publishes no processing timeframe for reciprocity applications.

New Jersey joined the Counseling Compact. Can I use a privilege there?

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