Counseling License from Georgia 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 Georgia 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 Georgia 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

A counseling license moves from Georgia to Rhode Island by endorsement. Rhode Island 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. You apply to the Rhode Island Department of Health, Board of Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists, which verifies your Georgia license and standing, matches it to Rhode Island's independent tier, and applies its own rule on crediting your national exam score, plus any Rhode Island jurisprudence and background requirements.

What changes, Georgia → Rhode Island

Side-by-side: Georgia vs Rhode Island (Counseling (LPC / LMHC)), verified 2026-09-27
	Georgia (current)	Rhode Island (destination)
Counseling Compact status	Counseling Compact member — compact privilege to practice	Counseling 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).)	$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 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.)	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)
Licensing authority	Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers and Marriage & Family Therapists (Secretary of State), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)	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

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.
Submit the endorsement application to the Rhode Island Department of Health, Board of Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists (application linked below).
Arrange license verification from your current state.
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).
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).
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).
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 ↗

Frequently asked questions

Does Rhode Island accept a Georgia counseling license?

Do I retake the NCE or NCMHCE moving from Georgia 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

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