Counseling License from Michigan to Rhode Island: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: Rhode Island Department of Health, Board of Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists ↗
A counseling license transfers from Michigan to Rhode Island by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Rhode Island Department of Health, Board of Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists, verify your Michigan license, and meet Rhode Island's endorsement requirements. Licensure by endorsement may be issued 'without examination' at the Board's discretion (R.I. Gen. Laws 5-63.2-15); Rhode Island's own exam for the clinical tier is the NCMHCE (216-RICR-40-05-11 §11.3.3(A)(4)), which an endorsement applicant is not required to retake. No state jurisprudence exam was found in the regulation..
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Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
A counseling license moves from Michigan to Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island Department of Health, Board of Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists, which verifies your Michigan license and standing, matches it to Rhode Island's independent tier, and applies its own rule on crediting your national exam score, plus any Rhode Island jurisprudence and background requirements.
What changes, Michigan → Rhode Island
| Michigan (current) | Rhode Island (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| Counseling Compact status | Licensure by endorsement | Counseling Compact enacted — not yet issuing |
| Application fee | $259.05 ('Professional Counselor By Endorsement - $259.05' per the LARA licensing guide (rev. 4/17/25). This is a combined application fee plus 3-year license fee, paid by card. Fingerprint fees are paid separately under the instructions LARA sends after the application. Michigan has not enacted the Counseling Compact.) | $70 (Clinical Mental Health Counselor application fee per 216-RICR-10-05-2 (RIDOH fee regulation, current version effective 2026-03-25); no separate endorsement fee is listed; renewal $50. Rhode Island is a pending Counseling Compact state, so no privilege fee applies yet.) |
| Processing time | the LARA licensing guide states no processing timeframe for endorsement applications | no timeframe published; complete applications are reviewed at a Board meeting and must be filed 30 days before that meeting (216-RICR-40-05-11 §11.3.7) |
| Licensing authority | Michigan Board of Counseling (Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Bureau of Professional Licensing) (Licensed Professional Counselor, LPC) | Rhode Island Department of Health, Board of Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Rhode Island sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm Rhode Island's current requirements on the Rhode Island Department of Health, Board of Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Rhode Island Department of Health, Board of Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state.
- Hold a clinical mental health counselor license or certification in another state whose requirements are equivalent to or exceed Rhode Island's (R.I. Gen. Laws 5-63.2-15).
- Show a qualifying graduate degree; a 60-plus-semester-hour CACREP-accredited clinical mental health counseling degree is deemed equivalent (216-RICR-40-05-11 §11.3.9).
- Submit the completed application with the non-refundable application fee at least 30 days before the Board meeting at which it will be reviewed (§11.3.7).
- Pay the fees ($70 (Clinical Mental Health Counselor application fee per 216-RICR-10-05-2 (RIDOH fee regulation, current version effective 2026-03-25); no separate endorsement fee is listed; renewal $50. Rhode Island is a pending Counseling Compact state, so no privilege fee applies yet.)) and allow no timeframe published; complete applications are reviewed at a Board meeting and must be filed 30 days before that meeting (216-RICR-40-05-11 §11.3.7).
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Does Rhode Island accept a Michigan counseling license?
A counseling license transfers from Michigan to Rhode Island by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Rhode Island Department of Health, Board of Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists, verify your Michigan license, and meet Rhode Island's endorsement requirements. Licensure by endorsement may be issued 'without examination' at the Board's discretion (R.I. Gen. Laws 5-63.2-15); Rhode Island's own exam for the clinical tier is the NCMHCE (216-RICR-40-05-11 §11.3.3(A)(4)), which an endorsement applicant is not required to retake. No state jurisprudence exam was found in the regulation..
Do I retake the NCE or NCMHCE moving from Michigan to Rhode Island?
Licensure by endorsement may be issued 'without examination' at the Board's discretion (R.I. Gen. Laws 5-63.2-15); Rhode Island's own exam for the clinical tier is the NCMHCE (216-RICR-40-05-11 §11.3.3(A)(4)), which an endorsement applicant is not required to retake. No state jurisprudence exam was found in the regulation.
What does the move cost?
$70 (Clinical Mental Health Counselor application fee per 216-RICR-10-05-2 (RIDOH fee regulation, current version effective 2026-03-25); no separate endorsement fee is listed; renewal $50. Rhode Island is a pending Counseling Compact state, so no privilege fee applies yet.)
How long will it take?
no timeframe published; complete applications are reviewed at a Board meeting and must be filed 30 days before that meeting (216-RICR-40-05-11 §11.3.7)
Rhode Island joined the Counseling Compact. Can I use a privilege there?
Not yet. Rhode Island had enacted the compact but was not issuing or accepting privileges as of 2026-09-27, so counseling clients located in Rhode Island takes Rhode Island's own authorization, normally a Rhode Island license.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-09-27.
- RI Dept. of State: 216-RICR-40-05-11, Licensing Clinical Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists (effective 2023-05-15; §§11.3.3, 11.3.7, 11.3.9) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- RI Dept. of State: 216-RICR-10-05-2, RIDOH fee structure (Clinical Mental Health Counselor application $70) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- R.I. Gen. Laws 5-63.2-15, Licensure by endorsement (Internet Archive copy of the official legislature page; live site refused connections) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- RIDOH: Marriage, Family and Mental Health Therapy licensing page (Internet Archive copy, 2026-04-12 snapshot; live page returned 403) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- LARA: Michigan Professional Counselor Licensing Guide, rev. 4/17/25 (endorsement requirements, $259.05 fee; Internet Archive capture 2026-03-29) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Michigan Admin. Code R 338.1751-R 338.1781, Counseling General Rules (R 338.1773 exams; R 338.1775 licensure by endorsement; Internet Archive capture 2026-02-11 of the official ARS compilation) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- LARA: Counseling licensing page (Internet Archive capture 2026-01-16) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-09-27
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