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LicenseReciprocity

Counseling License from Georgia to South Carolina: Does It Transfer? (2026)

Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: South Carolina Board of Examiners for Licensure of Professional Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, Addiction Counselors and Psycho-Educational Specialists (SC LLR) ↗

A counseling license transfers from Georgia to South Carolina by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the South Carolina Board of Examiners for Licensure of Professional Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, Addiction Counselors and Psycho-Educational Specialists (SC LLR), verify your Georgia license, and meet South Carolina's endorsement requirements. No exam retake and no exam verification requested: the endorsement application asks only for an official license verification from the state where actively licensed. No jurisprudence exam; the applicant instead certifies having read the Board's statutes, regulations and Code of Ethics..

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Verdict

Licensure by endorsement

South Carolina 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 South Carolina Board of Examiners for Licensure of Professional Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, Addiction Counselors and Psycho-Educational Specialists (SC LLR): your Georgia license is verified, your NCE or NCMHCE score is credited under South Carolina's own exam rule, and South Carolina applies any jurisprudence and background checks it requires. Check which South Carolina tier corresponds to your Georgia license before you file, because the titles do not map one to one.

What changes, Georgia → South Carolina

Side-by-side: Georgia vs South Carolina (Counseling (LPC / LMHC)), verified 2026-09-27
Georgia (current)South Carolina (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).)$130 (non-refundable endorsement application fee per the Board's Counselors Endorsement Application (05/21/2025 v1); the Board's LPC initial license fee under S.C. Code Regs. 10-33(B)(2) is also $130. Returned-check fee up to $30. Applicants disclosing a conviction must add a SLED and other-state background check. South Carolina 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.)the Board publishes no processing timeframe for endorsement applications
Licensing authorityGeorgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers and Marriage & Family Therapists (Secretary of State), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)South Carolina Board of Examiners for Licensure of Professional Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, Addiction Counselors and Psycho-Educational Specialists (SC LLR)

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

Step by step

  1. Confirm South Carolina's current requirements on the South Carolina Board of Examiners for Licensure of Professional Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, Addiction Counselors and Psycho-Educational Specialists (SC LLR) website (linked below) — rules change.
  2. Submit the endorsement application to the South Carolina Board of Examiners for Licensure of Professional Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, Addiction Counselors and Psycho-Educational Specialists (SC LLR) (application linked below).
  3. Arrange license verification from your current state.
  4. Hold a current, active and unrestricted LPC-equivalent (independent-level) license in good standing in another state, with no current or pending investigation (S.C. Code Regs. 36-14(A)).
  5. Have an official license verification sent directly to the Board by the state board where actively licensed.
  6. Certify on the application that you have read and understand the Board's statutes, regulations and Code of Ethics.
  7. Submit a copy of a driver's license or other photo ID, a copy of the Social Security card, and a notarized Verification of Lawful Presence.
  8. Pay the fees ($130 (non-refundable endorsement application fee per the Board's Counselors Endorsement Application (05/21/2025 v1); the Board's LPC initial license fee under S.C. Code Regs. 10-33(B)(2) is also $130. Returned-check fee up to $30. Applicants disclosing a conviction must add a SLED and other-state background check. South Carolina is a pending Counseling Compact state, so no privilege fee applies yet.)) and allow the Board publishes no processing timeframe for endorsement applications.

Official links

South Carolina Board of Examiners for Licensure of Professional Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, Addiction Counselors and Psycho-Educational Specialists (SC LLR) ↗South Carolina application ↗

Related guides

Reverse: South Carolina → GeorgiaCounseling in GeorgiaCounseling in South CarolinaAll counseling statesThe Counseling Compact explained

Frequently asked questions

Does South Carolina accept a Georgia counseling license?

A counseling license transfers from Georgia to South Carolina by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the South Carolina Board of Examiners for Licensure of Professional Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, Addiction Counselors and Psycho-Educational Specialists (SC LLR), verify your Georgia license, and meet South Carolina's endorsement requirements. No exam retake and no exam verification requested: the endorsement application asks only for an official license verification from the state where actively licensed. No jurisprudence exam; the applicant instead certifies having read the Board's statutes, regulations and Code of Ethics..

Do I retake the NCE or NCMHCE moving from Georgia to South Carolina?

No exam retake and no exam verification requested: the endorsement application asks only for an official license verification from the state where actively licensed. No jurisprudence exam; the applicant instead certifies having read the Board's statutes, regulations and Code of Ethics.

What does the move cost?

$130 (non-refundable endorsement application fee per the Board's Counselors Endorsement Application (05/21/2025 v1); the Board's LPC initial license fee under S.C. Code Regs. 10-33(B)(2) is also $130. Returned-check fee up to $30. Applicants disclosing a conviction must add a SLED and other-state background check. South Carolina is a pending Counseling Compact state, so no privilege fee applies yet.)

How long will it take?

the Board publishes no processing timeframe for endorsement applications.

South Carolina joined the Counseling Compact. Can I use a privilege there?

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