Counseling License from New York to Texas: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Does Texas accept a New York counseling license?
No — Texas has no reciprocity or endorsement path for New York counseling license holders. You must apply to the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council (BHEC), Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors as a new applicant and meet Texas's full licensing requirements, including any exams it requires that you have not already passed.
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Verdict
Full re-application
Texas has no endorsement path for counselors licensed in New York or anywhere else, so plan for a full application to the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council (BHEC), Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors. Your New York license does not stand in for Texas's requirements: expect the board to review your graduate degree, national exam, and post-degree supervised experience against its own standard, as it would for a first-time applicant. Neither New York nor Texas is operational in the Counseling Compact, so it plays no part in this move.
What's different between New York and Texas
Computed from both states' verified data rows, in both directions, and from the route every other origin gets into Texas. Exam notes are our summary of each board's published rules, with sources below.
- Route, each way
New York to Texas (this page): Full re-application.
Texas to New York (the reverse move): Licensure by endorsement.
The two directions differ: New York and Texas do not give each other's licensees the same route.
- Does coming from New York matter?
Coming from New York does not change the answer: every origin (the other 49 states and DC) gets the same result for a move into Texas.
- Counseling Compact membership
Neither New York nor Texas is in the Counseling Compact.
- Application fee
Texas lists $165 for an out-of-state applicant and New York lists $371 for the reverse move; neither may be the full cost.
- Processing time
Texas lists 6+ weeks; New York has no verified processing-time figure on file, so the two cannot be compared here.
- Exam rules on record
Texas and New York carry different exam notes (our summaries, below); any state law or jurisprudence exam is listed with each state's requirements.
- Texas (this move): No endorsement route. The national exam already passed (NCE or NCMHCE) is not retaken: scores are requested from NBCC for direct submission to the Texas portal. Every applicant must also pass the Texas Jurisprudence Examination within six months before applying.
- New York (the reverse move): NCMHCE only: the endorsement applicant has NBCC send passing NCMHCE scores directly to NYSED; the NCE is not acceptable. An exam passed elsewhere under non-standard conditions may have to be retaken. No New York jurisprudence exam.
What changes, New York → Texas
| New York (current) | Texas (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| Counseling Compact status | Licensure by endorsement | Full re-application required |
| Application fee | $371 (fee for licensure and first registration, paid with Form 1; no fingerprint requirement listed; the separate LMHC diagnostic privilege costs $175 to issue. New York has not enacted the Counseling Compact.) | $165 (LPC Associate/LPC/Provisional License Application fee per 22 TAC 885.1(b) as amended in the 2026-03-13 Texas Register ($154 base + $6 Texas.gov + $5 OPP); this is the ordinary LPC application fee, since Texas has no separate endorsement fee. Jurisprudence exam $39; fingerprinting paid to the vendor. Texas has not enacted the Counseling Compact.) |
| Processing time | NYSED publishes no processing timeframe for LMHC endorsement applications | 6+ weeks (BHEC's out-of-state LPC application guide says 'Please allow at least 6 weeks for processing before contacting BHEC for a status update'; no maximum is stated) |
| Licensing authority | New York State Education Department, Office of the Professions (State Board for Mental Health Practitioners) (Licensed Mental Health Counselor, LMHC) | Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council (BHEC), Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Texas sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Review Texas's initial-licensure requirements on the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council (BHEC), Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors website (linked below).
- Expect to meet Texas's education/experience requirements and pass any required exams you have not already passed — a national exam you passed often still counts, as can prior out-of-state licensure toward experience.
- Submit the standard (new applicant) application with fees listed above, and allow for the processing time shown there.
- Allow 6+ weeks (BHEC's out-of-state LPC application guide says 'Please allow at least 6 weeks for processing before contacting BHEC for a status update'; no maximum is stated).
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
What does the move cost?
Application fee: $165 (LPC Associate/LPC/Provisional License Application fee per 22 TAC 885.1(b) as amended in the 2026-03-13 Texas Register ($154 base + $6 Texas.gov + $5 OPP); this is the ordinary LPC application fee, since Texas has no separate endorsement fee. Add the cost of documenting Texas's full requirements, such as transcripts and supervised-hour verification.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-10-29.
- BHEC: Applying for an LPC License, Licensed in Another Jurisdiction (no reciprocity, endorsement or temporary licensure) ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- BHEC: How to Apply for an LPC License from Out of State (online application guide, 6-week processing note) ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- Texas Register 2026-03-13: Figure 22 TAC 885.1(b), BHEC fee schedule ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- NYSED Office of the Professions: Mental Health Counseling License Requirements (licensure by endorsement, NCMHCE only, $371 fee) ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- NYSED: Form 4E Endorsement Applicant Experience Record ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- NYSED: Commissioner's Regulations Subpart 79-9 (79-9.7 licensure by endorsement; diagnostic privilege) ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
Reviewed by the License Reciprocity Editorial Team · verified against primary sources 2026-10-29
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