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LicenseReciprocity

Counseling License from Nebraska to Illinois: Does It Transfer? (2026)

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

A counseling license transfers from Nebraska to Illinois by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC), verify your Nebraska license, and meet Illinois's endorsement requirements. 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..

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Verdict

Licensure by endorsement

A counseling license moves from Nebraska to Illinois 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 Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC), which verifies your Nebraska license and standing, matches it to Illinois's independent tier, and applies its own rule on crediting your national exam score, plus any Illinois jurisprudence and background requirements.

What changes, Nebraska → Illinois

Side-by-side: Nebraska vs Illinois (Counseling (LPC / LMHC)), verified 2026-09-27
Nebraska (current)Illinois (destination)
Counseling Compact statusCounseling Compact enacted — not yet issuingLicensure by endorsement
Application fee$155 (initial LIMHP license fee per the DHHS LIMHP and 5-year reciprocity applications; $38.75 if issued March-August of an even-numbered year; $205 for both LIMHP and LMHP; optional Certified Professional Counselor certificate (needed to use that title) + $50; Nebraska State Patrol fingerprint fee $55; payment by check or money order)$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 timeDHHS notifies the applicant within about 10 days (LIMHP application) or about 30 business days (5-year reciprocity application) after review whether the license issued or the file is incomplete; FBI check may take up to 30 days; no board-stated end-to-end rangeIDFPR 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.
Licensing authorityNebraska DHHS Licensure Unit, Board of Mental Health Practice (Licensed Independent Mental Health Practitioner, LIMHP)Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC)

The destination column is what you must satisfy — Illinois sets the rules for this move.

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 (linked below) — 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 below).
  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 ↗

Related guides

Reverse: Illinois → NebraskaCounseling in NebraskaCounseling in IllinoisAll counseling statesThe Counseling Compact explained

Frequently asked questions

Does Illinois accept a Nebraska counseling license?

A counseling license transfers from Nebraska to Illinois by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC), verify your Nebraska license, and meet Illinois's endorsement requirements. 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..

Do I retake the NCE or NCMHCE moving from Nebraska to 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.

What does the move cost?

$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 will it take?

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.

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]