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LicenseReciprocity

Counseling License from Tennessee 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 Tennessee 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 Tennessee 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 Tennessee to Illinois by endorsement. Illinois has not enacted the Counseling Compact, so no privilege anchored to your Tennessee license reaches it. You apply to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC), which verifies your Tennessee 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, Tennessee → Illinois

Side-by-side: Tennessee vs Illinois (Counseling (LPC / LMHC)), verified 2026-09-27
Tennessee (current)Illinois (destination)
Counseling Compact statusCounseling Compact member — compact privilege to practiceLicensure by endorsement
Application fee$200 (LPC/MHSP application fee per Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0450-01-.06(4)(c) and the application checklist; + $10 state regulatory fee ($210 total at application); background-check vendor fee separate. NOT the Counseling Compact privilege fee (Tennessee's total privilege cost is $210 including the $30 commission fee, and it requires a jurisprudence exam, per the commission's fee table).)$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 timeno timeframe published; files completed at least 30 days before a Board meeting are ordinarily processed at that meeting (0450-01-.05(5)(c)), and the application asks applicants to allow 14 working days for mailed documents to be filedIDFPR 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 authorityTennessee Board for Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Marital and Family Therapists, and Licensed Clinical Pastoral TherapistsIllinois 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 → TennesseeCounseling in TennesseeCounseling in IllinoisAll counseling statesThe Counseling Compact explained

Frequently asked questions

Does Illinois accept a Tennessee counseling license?

A counseling license transfers from Tennessee 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 Tennessee 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 Tennessee 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]