Counseling License from Illinois to District of Columbia: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: District of Columbia Board of Professional Counseling (DC Health), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) ↗
A counseling license transfers from Illinois to District of Columbia by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the District of Columbia Board of Professional Counseling (DC Health), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), verify your Illinois license, and meet District of Columbia's endorsement requirements. National exam is not retaken: the official national exam score must be transferred electronically from NBCC. 17 DCMR 6605.2 exempts an applicant who already passed a professional counselor licensure board exam in another US jurisdiction, the CRCC exam, or the NACCMHC (now NBCC) clinical exam from taking the NCE, so NCE or NCMHCE results are accepted. No DC jurisprudence exam or laws-and-rules course is listed on the endorsement checklist, and the Counseling Compact commission lists no jurisprudence requirement for DC..
Verify this exact pair in the checker
Same data, interactive — with share link and board links.
Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
A counseling license moves from Illinois to District of Columbia 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. You apply to the District of Columbia Board of Professional Counseling (DC Health), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), which verifies your Illinois license and standing, matches it to District of Columbia's independent tier, and applies its own rule on crediting your national exam score, plus any District of Columbia jurisprudence and background requirements.
What changes, Illinois → District of Columbia
| Illinois (current) | District of Columbia (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.) | $230 (DC charges a combined $230 application and license fee for LPC endorsement (DC Health endorsement checklist and Licensure-by-Endorsement policy); the two parts are not published separately. + $50 criminal background check fee paid online with the application; NBCC score-transfer fee separate. DC is not an operational compact state, so no privilege fee applies.) |
| 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 current LPC licensing page and endorsement checklist publish no processing timeframe; a legacy 2015 DC Health instruction PDF (30-60 days) was not relied on because it predates the 2024 endorsement changes |
| Licensing authority | Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) | District of Columbia Board of Professional Counseling (DC Health), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — District of Columbia sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm District of Columbia's current requirements on the District of Columbia Board of Professional Counseling (DC Health), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the District of Columbia Board of Professional Counseling (DC Health), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state.
- Hold a current, good-standing independent professional counselor license in another state (official verification from every jurisdiction ever licensed).
- Show either 5 years of independent clinical counseling practice under that license (written attestation + resume in lieu of supervision forms) or 3 years of independent licensure plus the NBCC National Certified Counselor credential; otherwise document the full 3,500 post-graduate supervised hours.
- Have NBCC transfer the official national exam score electronically.
- Submit an official transcript for a master's or higher in counseling or a related field (minimum 60 hours) plus the Coursework Completion Form.
- Complete a fingerprint criminal background check ($50) and submit an NPDB self-query report dated within 30 days.
- Pay the fees ($230 (DC charges a combined $230 application and license fee for LPC endorsement (DC Health endorsement checklist and Licensure-by-Endorsement policy); the two parts are not published separately. + $50 criminal background check fee paid online with the application; NBCC score-transfer fee separate. DC is not an operational compact state, so no privilege fee applies.)) and allow the current LPC licensing page and endorsement checklist publish no processing timeframe; a legacy 2015 DC Health instruction PDF (30-60 days) was not relied on because it predates the 2024 endorsement changes.
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Does District of Columbia accept an Illinois counseling license?
A counseling license transfers from Illinois to District of Columbia by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the District of Columbia Board of Professional Counseling (DC Health), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), verify your Illinois license, and meet District of Columbia's endorsement requirements. National exam is not retaken: the official national exam score must be transferred electronically from NBCC. 17 DCMR 6605.2 exempts an applicant who already passed a professional counselor licensure board exam in another US jurisdiction, the CRCC exam, or the NACCMHC (now NBCC) clinical exam from taking the NCE, so NCE or NCMHCE results are accepted. No DC jurisprudence exam or laws-and-rules course is listed on the endorsement checklist, and the Counseling Compact commission lists no jurisprudence requirement for DC..
Do I retake the NCE or NCMHCE moving from Illinois to District of Columbia?
National exam is not retaken: the official national exam score must be transferred electronically from NBCC. 17 DCMR 6605.2 exempts an applicant who already passed a professional counselor licensure board exam in another US jurisdiction, the CRCC exam, or the NACCMHC (now NBCC) clinical exam from taking the NCE, so NCE or NCMHCE results are accepted. No DC jurisprudence exam or laws-and-rules course is listed on the endorsement checklist, and the Counseling Compact commission lists no jurisprudence requirement for DC.
What does the move cost?
$230 (DC charges a combined $230 application and license fee for LPC endorsement (DC Health endorsement checklist and Licensure-by-Endorsement policy); the two parts are not published separately. + $50 criminal background check fee paid online with the application; NBCC score-transfer fee separate. DC is not an operational compact state, so no privilege fee applies.)
How long will it take?
the current LPC licensing page and endorsement checklist publish no processing timeframe; a legacy 2015 DC Health instruction PDF (30-60 days) was not relied on because it predates the 2024 endorsement changes.
District of Columbia joined the Counseling Compact. Can I use a privilege there?
Not yet. District of Columbia had enacted the compact but was not issuing or accepting privileges as of 2026-09-27, so counseling clients located in District of Columbia takes District of Columbia's own authorization, normally a District of Columbia license.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-09-27.
- DC Health: Professional Counseling Licensing (LPC/LGPC tiers, endorsement checklists, DCMR links) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- DC Board of Professional Counseling: Licensure-by-Endorsement policy (D.C. Code 3-1207.10(c) as amended 2024; $230 fee; 5-year / 3-year+NCC routes) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- DC Board of Professional Counseling: LPC New License Application Checklist by Endorsement ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- D.C. Code 3-1207.10 Qualifications for licensure (subsection (c), professional counselor endorsement) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- 17 DCMR 6605 National Examination (DC Register rule text) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Counseling Compact: state privilege fees and jurisprudence requirements ↗ (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
How we verify · All sources · spot an error? [email protected]