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LicenseReciprocity

Counseling License from Texas to North Dakota: Does It Transfer? (2026)

Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: North Dakota Board of Counselor Examiners (NDBCE) ↗

A counseling license transfers from Texas to North Dakota by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the North Dakota Board of Counselor Examiners (NDBCE), verify your Texas license, and meet North Dakota's endorsement requirements. National exams are not retaken, but the sending state must have REQUIRED them: the LPC reciprocity route is open only if the applicant's state requires the NCE (the form says the NCMHCE 'does not apply to LPC licensure' and an either/or NCE-or-NCMHCE state does not qualify), and the LPCC tier requires a passing NCMHCE. Proof of passing a board-approved counselor exam is submitted with the reciprocity application. No state jurisprudence exam was found in the Board's rules or forms..

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Verdict

Licensure 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. The route is endorsement through the North Dakota Board of Counselor Examiners (NDBCE): your Texas license is verified, your NCE or NCMHCE score is credited under North Dakota's own exam rule, and North Dakota applies any jurisprudence and background checks it requires. Check which North Dakota tier corresponds to your Texas license before you file, because the titles do not map one to one.

What changes, Texas → North Dakota

Side-by-side: Texas vs North Dakota (Counseling (LPC / LMHC)), verified 2026-09-27
Texas (current)North Dakota (destination)
Counseling Compact statusFull re-application requiredCounseling Compact enacted — not yet issuing
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. Jurisprudence exam $39; fingerprinting paid to the vendor. Texas has not enacted the Counseling Compact.)$150 (LPCC application fee per NDAC 97-02-01.1-04 and the LPCC application form. Because the LPCC is a specialty license issued only to ND LPCs, an out-of-state applicant also files the LPC reciprocity application ($150, of which $50 is non-refundable per the form; NDAC 97-02-01-01.1), so the realistic total is $300. LPCC renewal $75 biennially on top of the $150 LPC renewal. NBCC score-report and transcript fees are separate. North Dakota is a pending Counseling Compact state, so no privilege fee applies yet.)
Processing time~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)no processing timeframe published in the Board's rules or application forms; applications are valid for one year from submission
Licensing authorityTexas Behavioral Health Executive Council (BHEC), Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional CounselorsNorth Dakota Board of Counselor Examiners (NDBCE)

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

Step by step

  1. Confirm North Dakota's current requirements on the North Dakota Board of Counselor Examiners (NDBCE) website (linked below) — rules change.
  2. Submit the endorsement application to the North Dakota Board of Counselor Examiners (NDBCE) (application linked below).
  3. Arrange license verification from your current state.
  4. Obtain the North Dakota LPC first (by reciprocity, which requires a state whose law requires a 60-semester-hour counseling master's, a 100-hour practicum plus 600-hour internship, the NCE, and 100 hours of supervision by a licensed counselor); the LPCC application requires an ND LAPC or LPC license number.
  5. Hold a current LPCC-equivalent clinical license from a state whose requirements are equal to or more stringent than North Dakota's (NDAC 97-02-01.1-03).
  6. Submit a copy of the other state's license and a copy of its licensing statute and rules, with the name and address of its licensing board (NDAC 97-02-01-04).
  7. Have an official graduate transcript sent directly to the Board and list all 60 required semester hours by content area.
  8. Submit proof of a passing NCMHCE score for the LPCC tier.
  9. Pay the fees ($150 (LPCC application fee per NDAC 97-02-01.1-04 and the LPCC application form. Because the LPCC is a specialty license issued only to ND LPCs, an out-of-state applicant also files the LPC reciprocity application ($150, of which $50 is non-refundable per the form; NDAC 97-02-01-01.1), so the realistic total is $300. LPCC renewal $75 biennially on top of the $150 LPC renewal. NBCC score-report and transcript fees are separate. North Dakota is a pending Counseling Compact state, so no privilege fee applies yet.)) and allow no processing timeframe published in the Board's rules or application forms; applications are valid for one year from submission.

Official links

North Dakota Board of Counselor Examiners (NDBCE) ↗North Dakota application ↗

Related guides

Reverse: North Dakota → TexasCounseling in TexasCounseling in North DakotaAll counseling statesThe Counseling Compact explained

Frequently asked questions

Does North Dakota accept a Texas counseling license?

A counseling license transfers from Texas to North Dakota by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the North Dakota Board of Counselor Examiners (NDBCE), verify your Texas license, and meet North Dakota's endorsement requirements. National exams are not retaken, but the sending state must have REQUIRED them: the LPC reciprocity route is open only if the applicant's state requires the NCE (the form says the NCMHCE 'does not apply to LPC licensure' and an either/or NCE-or-NCMHCE state does not qualify), and the LPCC tier requires a passing NCMHCE. Proof of passing a board-approved counselor exam is submitted with the reciprocity application. No state jurisprudence exam was found in the Board's rules or forms..

Do I retake the NCE or NCMHCE moving from Texas to North Dakota?

National exams are not retaken, but the sending state must have REQUIRED them: the LPC reciprocity route is open only if the applicant's state requires the NCE (the form says the NCMHCE 'does not apply to LPC licensure' and an either/or NCE-or-NCMHCE state does not qualify), and the LPCC tier requires a passing NCMHCE. Proof of passing a board-approved counselor exam is submitted with the reciprocity application. No state jurisprudence exam was found in the Board's rules or forms.

What does the move cost?

$150 (LPCC application fee per NDAC 97-02-01.1-04 and the LPCC application form. Because the LPCC is a specialty license issued only to ND LPCs, an out-of-state applicant also files the LPC reciprocity application ($150, of which $50 is non-refundable per the form; NDAC 97-02-01-01.1), so the realistic total is $300. LPCC renewal $75 biennially on top of the $150 LPC renewal. NBCC score-report and transcript fees are separate. North Dakota is a pending Counseling Compact state, so no privilege fee applies yet.)

How long will it take?

no processing timeframe published in the Board's rules or application forms; applications are valid for one year from submission.

North Dakota joined the Counseling Compact. Can I use a privilege there?

Not yet. North Dakota had enacted the compact but was not issuing or accepting privileges as of 2026-09-27, so counseling clients located in North Dakota takes North Dakota's own authorization, normally a North Dakota license.

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]