Counseling License from Illinois to Delaware: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: Delaware Board of Mental Health and Chemical Dependency Professionals, Division of Professional Regulation, Licensed Professional Counselor of Mental Health (LPCMH) ↗
A counseling license transfers from Illinois to Delaware by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Delaware Board of Mental Health and Chemical Dependency Professionals, Division of Professional Regulation, Licensed Professional Counselor of Mental Health (LPCMH), verify your Illinois license, and meet Delaware's endorsement requirements. National exam is not retaken: NCE or NCMHCE scores are requested from NBCC and sent to the Board, and scores from another exam the Board accepts as equivalent are sent by that organization. An applicant from a state whose standards are not substantially similar must have held the license 5 years and passed the NCE or another exam the Board accepts (24 Del. C. 3034(b)). No Delaware jurisprudence exam..
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Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
Neither state gives you a working compact route here: a state that has enacted the Counseling Compact but is not yet operational behaves like a non-member. The route is endorsement through the Delaware Board of Mental Health and Chemical Dependency Professionals, Division of Professional Regulation, Licensed Professional Counselor of Mental Health (LPCMH): your Illinois license is verified, your NCE or NCMHCE score is credited under Delaware's own exam rule, and Delaware applies any jurisprudence and background checks it requires. Check which Delaware tier corresponds to your Illinois license before you file, because the titles do not map one to one.
What changes, Illinois → Delaware
| Illinois (current) | Delaware (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| Counseling Compact status | Licensure by endorsement | Counseling Compact enacted — not yet issuing |
| Application fee | $150 (LCPC application fee (all methods, incl. endorsement) per 68 IAC 1375.205(a)(1) and the IDFPR LPC/LCPC instruction packet; nonrefundable. No separate license-issuance fee listed. Other-state certification fees are charged by those boards. Illinois is not a Counseling Compact state, so there is no privilege fee.) | $272 (Professional Counselor (LPCMH) application fee per the Board's Fee Schedule, paid in DELPROS; the same fee applies by examination or reciprocity. Fingerprinting (State and FBI background check) is paid separately to IdentoGO; NBCC score-report fee separate.) |
| Processing time | IDFPR publishes no processing timeframe. The instruction packet only says to allow 6 weeks from mailing before asking about status. Applications are valid for 3 years. | the Board publishes no processing timeframe for reciprocity applications; applicants track status with 'View Application Status' in DELPROS |
| Licensing authority | Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) | Delaware Board of Mental Health and Chemical Dependency Professionals, Division of Professional Regulation, Licensed Professional Counselor of Mental Health (LPCMH) |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Delaware sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm Delaware's current requirements on the Delaware Board of Mental Health and Chemical Dependency Professionals, Division of Professional Regulation, Licensed Professional Counselor of Mental Health (LPCMH) website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Delaware Board of Mental Health and Chemical Dependency Professionals, Division of Professional Regulation, Licensed Professional Counselor of Mental Health (LPCMH) (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state.
- Hold a current Professional Counselor of Mental Health (or equivalent independent) license in good standing in another state, DC or U.S. territory.
- If licensed under 5 years in every jurisdiction, submit the other states' licensing laws and rules so the Board can decide whether any has substantially similar standards.
- Complete a State of Delaware and FBI fingerprint criminal background check through IdentoGO using the Board's service code.
- Have license verification sent directly from every jurisdiction where a license is or was held.
- Submit NCE or NCMHCE scores through NBCC score reporting.
- Pay the fees ($272 (Professional Counselor (LPCMH) application fee per the Board's Fee Schedule, paid in DELPROS; the same fee applies by examination or reciprocity. Fingerprinting (State and FBI background check) is paid separately to IdentoGO; NBCC score-report fee separate.)) and allow the Board publishes no processing timeframe for reciprocity applications; applicants track status with 'View Application Status' in DELPROS.
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Does Delaware accept an Illinois counseling license?
A counseling license transfers from Illinois to Delaware by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Delaware Board of Mental Health and Chemical Dependency Professionals, Division of Professional Regulation, Licensed Professional Counselor of Mental Health (LPCMH), verify your Illinois license, and meet Delaware's endorsement requirements. National exam is not retaken: NCE or NCMHCE scores are requested from NBCC and sent to the Board, and scores from another exam the Board accepts as equivalent are sent by that organization. An applicant from a state whose standards are not substantially similar must have held the license 5 years and passed the NCE or another exam the Board accepts (24 Del. C. 3034(b)). No Delaware jurisprudence exam..
Do I retake the NCE or NCMHCE moving from Illinois to Delaware?
National exam is not retaken: NCE or NCMHCE scores are requested from NBCC and sent to the Board, and scores from another exam the Board accepts as equivalent are sent by that organization. An applicant from a state whose standards are not substantially similar must have held the license 5 years and passed the NCE or another exam the Board accepts (24 Del. C. 3034(b)). No Delaware jurisprudence exam.
What does the move cost?
$272 (Professional Counselor (LPCMH) application fee per the Board's Fee Schedule, paid in DELPROS; the same fee applies by examination or reciprocity. Fingerprinting (State and FBI background check) is paid separately to IdentoGO; NBCC score-report fee separate.)
How long will it take?
the Board publishes no processing timeframe for reciprocity applications; applicants track status with 'View Application Status' in DELPROS.
Delaware joined the Counseling Compact. Can I use a privilege there?
Not yet. Delaware had enacted the compact but was not issuing or accepting privileges as of 2026-09-27, so counseling clients located in Delaware takes Delaware's own authorization, normally a Delaware license.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-09-27.
- Delaware DPR: Professional Counselor of Mental Health Licensure (examination and reciprocity requirements) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Delaware DPR: Board of Mental Health and Chemical Dependency Professionals Fee Schedule ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Delaware Code Title 24, Chapter 30, Subchapter II (24 Del. C. 3034 Reciprocity) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Delaware DPR: Board of Mental Health and Chemical Dependency Professionals homepage (Counseling Compact not live) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- IDFPR: Professional Counselor (license types, CORE online applications) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- IDFPR: LPC/LCPC application instruction sheet (Examination, Acceptance of Examination, Endorsement; packet updated 8/1/24) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- 68 IAC 1375.160 Licensure by Endorsement as a Clinical Professional Counselor (ILGA JCAR; Internet Archive capture 2025-03-30) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- 68 IAC 1375.205 Fees (ILGA JCAR; Internet Archive capture 2025-03-26) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-09-27
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