Counseling License from Massachusetts to Georgia: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers and Marriage & Family Therapists (Secretary of State), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) ↗
A counseling license transfers from Massachusetts to Georgia by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers and Marriage & Family Therapists (Secretary of State), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), verify your Massachusetts license, and meet Georgia's endorsement requirements. National exam is not retaken: the applicant submits an official passing score on the NBCC NCE or NCMHCE. An applicant who has not passed either exam may be required to pass one before endorsement is considered. No Georgia jurisprudence exam is required for endorsement or for a compact privilege..
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Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
Georgia is operational in the Counseling Compact, but Massachusetts is not, so there is no home-state license here to anchor a privilege. Once you hold a Georgia license and live in Georgia, it can anchor privileges into the other operational states. The route is endorsement through the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers and Marriage & Family Therapists (Secretary of State), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC): your Massachusetts license is verified, your NCE or NCMHCE score is credited under Georgia's own exam rule, and Georgia applies any jurisprudence and background checks it requires. Check which Georgia tier corresponds to your Massachusetts license before you file, because the titles do not map one to one.
What changes, Massachusetts → Georgia
| Massachusetts (current) | Georgia (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| Counseling Compact status | Licensure by endorsement | Counseling Compact member — compact privilege to practice |
| Application fee | $117 (non-refundable LMHC application fee paid online (LMHC Application Guide); + $155 license fee paid after staff find the application complete and eligible. Massachusetts has not enacted the Counseling Compact.) | $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).) |
| Processing time | no processing timeframe published; if the application is incomplete, staff re-review it 30 days after notifying the applicant and close it if still incomplete | ~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.) |
| Licensing authority | Massachusetts Board of Registration of Allied Mental Health and Human Services Professions (Licensed Mental Health Counselor, LMHC) | Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers and Marriage & Family Therapists (Secretary of State), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Georgia sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm Georgia's current requirements on the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers and Marriage & Family Therapists (Secretary of State), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers and Marriage & Family Therapists (Secretary of State), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state.
- Hold a current, unencumbered clinical-level (independent) professional counselor license in another state; associate-level licenses are not eligible.
- Verify at least 2 years of unrestricted licensure at the Georgia LPC level from every state ever licensed (Form N or the state's own verification, including any discipline).
- Verify at least 2 years of active, unrestricted practice at the LPC level immediately preceding the application.
- Submit an official passing NCE or NCMHCE score and an official master's or doctoral transcript sent directly by the school.
- Complete a nationwide fingerprint criminal background check at the applicant's expense (O.C.G.A. 43-10A-5(i)).
- Pay the fees ($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).)) and allow ~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.).
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Does Georgia accept a Massachusetts counseling license?
A counseling license transfers from Massachusetts to Georgia by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers and Marriage & Family Therapists (Secretary of State), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), verify your Massachusetts license, and meet Georgia's endorsement requirements. National exam is not retaken: the applicant submits an official passing score on the NBCC NCE or NCMHCE. An applicant who has not passed either exam may be required to pass one before endorsement is considered. No Georgia jurisprudence exam is required for endorsement or for a compact privilege..
Do I retake the NCE or NCMHCE moving from Massachusetts to Georgia?
National exam is not retaken: the applicant submits an official passing score on the NBCC NCE or NCMHCE. An applicant who has not passed either exam may be required to pass one before endorsement is considered. No Georgia jurisprudence exam is required for endorsement or for a compact privilege.
What does the move cost?
$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).)
How long will it take?
~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.)
Will a Georgia license get me into other compact states?
Yes, once Georgia is your home state. Georgia is operational, so an active, unencumbered Georgia license held while you live there can anchor privileges into the other operational states through CompactConnect.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 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)
- 262 CMR 2.00 Requirements for licensure as a mental health counselor (reciprocal recognition, 2.03(2); Internet Archive capture of the official mass.gov PDF) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Mass. Board: Licensed Mental Health Counselor Application Guide ($117 application, $155 license, reciprocal recognition; Internet Archive capture 2026-01-16) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Mass. DPH: Am I Eligible for MA LMHC? Triage and application instructions, Nov 2024 (reciprocity requirements; Internet Archive capture 2026-02-13) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-09-27
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