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LicenseReciprocity

Transfer Your Counseling License to Illinois: Reciprocity & Endorsement (2026)

Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) ↗

Illinois has not enacted the Counseling Compact, so no privilege reaches it and an incoming counselor applies to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) for a license by endorsement. How Illinois treats your NCE or NCMHCE score is in the exam question below. 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.). Processing: 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..

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Verdict

Licensure by endorsement

Illinois has not enacted the Counseling Compact, so the planning is simple, if slower. There is no compact privilege to fall back on, including for telehealth: you cannot lawfully counsel a client located in Illinois until Illinois authorizes you, which for most counselors means a license from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) (check the notes below for any telehealth-only registration). Start the application before you need the income.

Illinois' independent counselor license is the LCPC. The LPC 'may NOT practice independently' and works under an LCPC, LCSW, clinical psychologist or psychiatrist. Endorsement (Professional Counselor Act Section 70, rule 68 IAC 1375.160, amended effective 2024-06-04) applies to anyone ACTIVELY licensed as an LPC/LCPC or equivalent elsewhere. The rule normally re-checks the Illinois education, 2 years of full-time post-degree supervised experience and the exams. Under 1375.160(b), an applicant licensed at the independent level for 5 consecutive years without discipline is excused from proving education and supervised experience and submits certification of licensure instead. The exam requirement still applies, so an NCMHCE-only or NCE-only counselor must take the missing exam (CRCE is the alternative). This is credential-based endorsement, not full reciprocity. IDFPR moved professional counselor applications to its CORE online system on 2024-10-30. The instruction packet predates CORE, but its fee and document list match the current rules. No general universal-recognition statute applying to counselors was identified. Illinois has not enacted the Counseling Compact (assembler-provided non_member). No fingerprint requirement appears in the counselor instructions. ilga.gov refused connections on 2026-09-27, so rule text was read from Internet Archive captures of the official ILGA pages (both show the 2024-06-04 amendment as the latest source note).

Illinois requirements at a glance

Out-of-state counseling license transfer requirements for Illinois, verified 2026-09-27
ExamNational exams are not retaken but must be complete. The Illinois LCPC requires either the CRCE (CRCC) or BOTH the NCE and the NCMHCE (NBCC). An endorsement applicant who passed only one of the NCE/NCMHCE must pass the other as part of the Illinois process. Official score reports must be sent directly to IDFPR. No state jurisprudence exam is required.
Additional requirements
  • Hold an ACTIVE LPC/LCPC or equivalent counselor license in another U.S. state or jurisdiction
  • Have Certification of Licensure sent directly from your original licensing state and the state where you most recently practiced
  • Have official score reports for the CRCE, or for both the NCE and the NCMHCE, sent directly to IDFPR
  • Document the graduate counseling degree (ED-PC form) and 2 years of post-degree supervised experience (VE-LCPC form), unless licensed at the independent level for 5 consecutive years without discipline
  • Complete the Personal History Questions (PHQ) form
Fees$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.)
Processing timeIDFPR 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.

Step by step

  1. Confirm Illinois's current requirements on the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) website — rules change.
  2. Submit the endorsement application to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) (application linked on this page).
  3. Arrange license verification from your current state.
  4. Hold an ACTIVE LPC/LCPC or equivalent counselor license in another U.S. state or jurisdiction.
  5. Have Certification of Licensure sent directly from your original licensing state and the state where you most recently practiced.
  6. Have official score reports for the CRCE, or for both the NCE and the NCMHCE, sent directly to IDFPR.
  7. Document the graduate counseling degree (ED-PC form) and 2 years of post-degree supervised experience (VE-LCPC form), unless licensed at the independent level for 5 consecutive years without discipline.
  8. Complete the Personal History Questions (PHQ) form.
  9. Pay the fees ($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.)) and allow 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..

Official links

Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) ↗Illinois application ↗

Coming from a specific state?

Direction matters — these guides cover the exact move into Illinois:

Alabama → IllinoisAlaska → IllinoisArizona → IllinoisArkansas → IllinoisCalifornia → IllinoisColorado → IllinoisConnecticut → IllinoisDelaware → IllinoisDistrict of Columbia → IllinoisFlorida → IllinoisGeorgia → IllinoisHawaii → IllinoisIdaho → IllinoisIndiana → IllinoisIowa → IllinoisKansas → IllinoisKentucky → IllinoisLouisiana → IllinoisMaine → IllinoisMaryland → Illinois
All 50 origin states
Massachusetts → IllinoisMichigan → IllinoisMinnesota → IllinoisMississippi → IllinoisMissouri → IllinoisMontana → IllinoisNebraska → IllinoisNevada → IllinoisNew Hampshire → IllinoisNew Jersey → IllinoisNew Mexico → IllinoisNew York → IllinoisNorth Carolina → IllinoisNorth Dakota → IllinoisOhio → IllinoisOklahoma → IllinoisOregon → IllinoisPennsylvania → IllinoisRhode Island → IllinoisSouth Carolina → IllinoisSouth Dakota → IllinoisTennessee → IllinoisTexas → IllinoisUtah → IllinoisVermont → IllinoisVirginia → IllinoisWashington → IllinoisWest Virginia → IllinoisWisconsin → IllinoisWyoming → Illinois

Nearby states

Counseling license transfer into the states bordering Illinois:

Illinois for other professions

Frequently asked questions

Does my counseling license transfer to Illinois?

Illinois has not enacted the Counseling Compact, so no privilege reaches it and an incoming counselor applies to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) for a license by endorsement. How Illinois treats your NCE or NCMHCE score is in the exam question below. 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.). Processing: 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..

Do I have to retake the NCE or NCMHCE to get licensed in Illinois?

National exams are not retaken but must be complete. The Illinois LCPC requires either the CRCE (CRCC) or BOTH the NCE and the NCMHCE (NBCC). An endorsement applicant who passed only one of the NCE/NCMHCE must pass the other as part of the Illinois process. Official score reports must be sent directly to IDFPR. No state jurisprudence exam is required.

How much does an Illinois counseling license cost by endorsement?

$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.)

How long does Illinois take to process the application?

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.

Is Illinois in the Counseling Compact?

No. Illinois had not enacted the compact as of 2026-09-27. No privilege reaches Illinois, including for telehealth, so an Illinois license is required to counsel clients located there.

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]