Counseling License from Texas 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 Texas 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 Texas 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
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 Rhode Island Department of Health, Board of Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists: your Texas license is verified, your NCE or NCMHCE score is credited under Rhode Island's own exam rule, and Rhode Island applies any jurisprudence and background checks it requires. Check which Rhode Island tier corresponds to your Texas license before you file, because the titles do not map one to one.
What changes, Texas → Rhode Island
| Texas (current) | Rhode Island (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| Counseling Compact status | Full re-application required | Counseling 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.) | $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 | ~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 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 | Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council (BHEC), Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors | 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 Texas counseling license?
A counseling license transfers from Texas 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 Texas 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 Texas 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)
- BHEC: Applying for an LPC License, Licensed in Another Jurisdiction (no reciprocity, endorsement or temporary licensure) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- BHEC: How to Apply for an LPC License from Out of State (online application guide, 6-week processing note) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Texas Register 2026-03-13: Figure 22 TAC 885.1(b), BHEC fee schedule ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-09-27
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