Counseling License from Illinois to Nevada: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: Nevada Board of Examiners for Marriage and Family Therapists and Clinical Professional Counselors ↗
A counseling license transfers from Illinois to Nevada by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Nevada Board of Examiners for Marriage and Family Therapists and Clinical Professional Counselors, verify your Illinois license, and meet Nevada's endorsement requirements. No exam is retaken. Nevada's license by endorsement (NRS 641A.241) requires a corresponding valid, unrestricted CPC license from another state or DC, and the Board's reciprocity page asks for no NBCC score report. Nevada's own CPC exam is the NCMHCE. No Nevada jurisprudence exam is listed for reciprocity applicants..
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Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
A counseling license moves from Illinois to Nevada 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 Nevada Board of Examiners for Marriage and Family Therapists and Clinical Professional Counselors, which verifies your Illinois license and standing, matches it to Nevada's independent tier, and applies its own rule on crediting your national exam score, plus any Nevada jurisprudence and background requirements.
What changes, Illinois → Nevada
| Illinois (current) | Nevada (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.) | $75 (CPC License by Reciprocity application fee per the Board's page; + $30 registration fee at license issuance; + $39 fingerprint fee (money order to Department of Public Safety); NPDB self-query about $4; renewal $450) |
| 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 page says the background check takes 8 weeks; NRS 641A.241 requires issuance within 45 days of receiving all required information unless denied for good cause; no end-to-end range stated |
| Licensing authority | Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) | Nevada Board of Examiners for Marriage and Family Therapists and Clinical Professional Counselors |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Nevada sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm Nevada's current requirements on the Nevada Board of Examiners for Marriage and Family Therapists and Clinical Professional Counselors website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Nevada Board of Examiners for Marriage and Family Therapists and Clinical Professional Counselors (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state.
- Hold a corresponding valid and unrestricted clinical professional counselor license in another state, territory or DC.
- Have no discipline or investigation by any licensing authority and no civil or criminal malpractice liability.
- Submit a fingerprint card with the $39 Department of Public Safety fee.
- Provide license verification from the current state licensing board and a copy of a state-issued ID.
- Obtain a National Practitioner Data Bank self-query.
- Pay the fees ($75 (CPC License by Reciprocity application fee per the Board's page; + $30 registration fee at license issuance; + $39 fingerprint fee (money order to Department of Public Safety); NPDB self-query about $4; renewal $450)) and allow the Board page says the background check takes 8 weeks; NRS 641A.241 requires issuance within 45 days of receiving all required information unless denied for good cause; no end-to-end range stated.
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Does Nevada accept an Illinois counseling license?
A counseling license transfers from Illinois to Nevada by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Nevada Board of Examiners for Marriage and Family Therapists and Clinical Professional Counselors, verify your Illinois license, and meet Nevada's endorsement requirements. No exam is retaken. Nevada's license by endorsement (NRS 641A.241) requires a corresponding valid, unrestricted CPC license from another state or DC, and the Board's reciprocity page asks for no NBCC score report. Nevada's own CPC exam is the NCMHCE. No Nevada jurisprudence exam is listed for reciprocity applicants..
Do I retake the NCE or NCMHCE moving from Illinois to Nevada?
No exam is retaken. Nevada's license by endorsement (NRS 641A.241) requires a corresponding valid, unrestricted CPC license from another state or DC, and the Board's reciprocity page asks for no NBCC score report. Nevada's own CPC exam is the NCMHCE. No Nevada jurisprudence exam is listed for reciprocity applicants.
What does the move cost?
$75 (CPC License by Reciprocity application fee per the Board's page; + $30 registration fee at license issuance; + $39 fingerprint fee (money order to Department of Public Safety); NPDB self-query about $4; renewal $450)
How long will it take?
the Board page says the background check takes 8 weeks; NRS 641A.241 requires issuance within 45 days of receiving all required information unless denied for good cause; no end-to-end range stated.
Nevada joined the Counseling Compact. Can I use a privilege there?
Not yet. Nevada had enacted the compact but was not issuing or accepting privileges as of 2026-09-27, so counseling clients located in Nevada takes Nevada's own authorization, normally a Nevada license.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-09-27.
- Nevada MFT & CPC Board: Licensure by Reciprocity ($75 application, $30 issuance, $39 fingerprint, 8-week background check) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Nevada MFT & CPC Board: CPC Testing (NCMHCE) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Nevada MFT & CPC Board: Counseling Compact Privilege to Practice ↗ (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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