Counseling License from Georgia to West Virginia: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: West Virginia Board of Examiners in Counseling (WVBEC) ↗
A counseling license transfers from Georgia to West Virginia by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the West Virginia Board of Examiners in Counseling (WVBEC), verify your Georgia license, and meet West Virginia's endorsement requirements. National exam is not retaken: the Board 'recognizes the National Counselor Examination (NCE)', and exam scores must be in the certified file sent by the current licensing board or sent directly by the exam organization. No state jurisprudence exam is listed in the endorsement packet..
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Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
A counseling license moves from Georgia to West Virginia by endorsement. West Virginia 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 West Virginia Board of Examiners in Counseling (WVBEC), which verifies your Georgia license and standing, matches it to West Virginia's independent tier, and applies its own rule on crediting your national exam score, plus any West Virginia jurisprudence and background requirements.
What changes, Georgia → West Virginia
| Georgia (current) | West Virginia (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).) | $300 (non-refundable endorsement application fee per the Board's LPC Endorsement Application packet (2023) and Series 1 LPC Licensing Rule 27-1-5.2.a.5. West Virginia 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 end-to-end timeframe; the packet says applicants are emailed within 7-10 business days after documents are received and reviewed, the Credentialing Committee typically meets every two months, and complete files go to the next Board meeting (also typically every two months) |
| Licensing authority | Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers and Marriage & Family Therapists (Secretary of State), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) | West Virginia Board of Examiners in Counseling (WVBEC) |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — West Virginia sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm West Virginia's current requirements on the West Virginia Board of Examiners in Counseling (WVBEC) website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the West Virginia Board of Examiners in Counseling (WVBEC) (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state.
- Hold a current LPC license in another state whose licensing requirements are greater than or equal to West Virginia's, as determined by the Board.
- Have a certified copy of your file sent from the state where currently licensed, including license verification for every jurisdiction ever licensed (Attachment A), exam scores and supervision records, plus that state's licensing rule in effect when the license was issued.
- Option 1 (actively practiced as an LPC with an ongoing caseload for 5 of the last 7 years): submit Attachment B verification of active clinical practice; recommendations, transcripts, transcript review and supervision records are waived.
- Option 2 (licensed under 5 years): submit official graduate transcripts with the 60-hour transcript review sheet and course descriptions, and two professional recommendation forms.
- Submit a notarized six-page application with photograph.
- Pay the fees ($300 (non-refundable endorsement application fee per the Board's LPC Endorsement Application packet (2023) and Series 1 LPC Licensing Rule 27-1-5.2.a.5. West Virginia is a pending Counseling Compact state, so no privilege fee applies yet.)) and allow no end-to-end timeframe; the packet says applicants are emailed within 7-10 business days after documents are received and reviewed, the Credentialing Committee typically meets every two months, and complete files go to the next Board meeting (also typically every two months).
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Does West Virginia accept a Georgia counseling license?
A counseling license transfers from Georgia to West Virginia by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the West Virginia Board of Examiners in Counseling (WVBEC), verify your Georgia license, and meet West Virginia's endorsement requirements. National exam is not retaken: the Board 'recognizes the National Counselor Examination (NCE)', and exam scores must be in the certified file sent by the current licensing board or sent directly by the exam organization. No state jurisprudence exam is listed in the endorsement packet..
Do I retake the NCE or NCMHCE moving from Georgia to West Virginia?
National exam is not retaken: the Board 'recognizes the National Counselor Examination (NCE)', and exam scores must be in the certified file sent by the current licensing board or sent directly by the exam organization. No state jurisprudence exam is listed in the endorsement packet.
What does the move cost?
$300 (non-refundable endorsement application fee per the Board's LPC Endorsement Application packet (2023) and Series 1 LPC Licensing Rule 27-1-5.2.a.5. West Virginia is a pending Counseling Compact state, so no privilege fee applies yet.)
How long will it take?
no end-to-end timeframe; the packet says applicants are emailed within 7-10 business days after documents are received and reviewed, the Credentialing Committee typically meets every two months, and complete files go to the next Board meeting (also typically every two months)
West Virginia joined the Counseling Compact. Can I use a privilege there?
Not yet. West Virginia had enacted the compact but was not issuing or accepting privileges as of 2026-09-27, so counseling clients located in West Virginia takes West Virginia's own authorization, normally a West Virginia license.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-09-27.
- WVBEC: LPC Application for Licensure by Endorsement packet (2023; Options 1 and 2, $300 fee) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Georgia SOS: How to Guide, Professional Counselor (Endorsement checklist; Internet Archive copy of 2026-04-24, live page returned 403) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Georgia Composite Board: Application for Licensure as a Professional Counselor by Endorsement, 05/02/2023 (Internet Archive copy of the official PDF; live file returned 403) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Georgia Composite Board: Policy Statements, VII Endorsement - Professional Counselors (Internet Archive copy of 2026-04-24) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 135-3-.04 Licensure by Endorsement (Georgia Rules and Regulations) ↗ (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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