Counseling License from Utah to New York: Does It Transfer? (2026)

Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: New York State Education Department, Office of the Professions (State Board for Mental Health Practitioners) (Licensed Mental Health Counselor, LMHC) ↗

A counseling license transfers from Utah to New York by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the New York State Education Department, Office of the Professions (State Board for Mental Health Practitioners) (Licensed Mental Health Counselor, LMHC), verify your Utah license, and meet New York's endorsement requirements. 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..

Verify this exact pair in the checker

Same data, interactive — with share link and board links.

Run the Reciprocity Checker →

Verdict

Licensure by endorsement

A counseling license moves from Utah to New York 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 New York State Education Department, Office of the Professions (State Board for Mental Health Practitioners) (Licensed Mental Health Counselor, LMHC), which verifies your Utah license and standing, matches it to New York's independent tier, and applies its own rule on crediting your national exam score, plus any New York jurisprudence and background requirements.

What changes, Utah → New York

Side-by-side: Utah vs New York (Counseling (LPC / LMHC)), verified 2026-09-27
	Utah (current)	New York (destination)
Counseling Compact status	Counseling Compact enacted — not yet issuing	Licensure by endorsement
Application fee	$152 (non-refundable application processing fee per DOPL's Clinical Mental Health Counselor Initial/Endorsement Application (form v20251211); fingerprint processing paid separately. Read from an Internet Archive copy (2026-05-26) because DOPL's live site returned Cloudflare 403 on 2026-09-27. Utah is a pending Counseling Compact state, so no privilege fee applies yet.)	$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.)
Processing time	no processing timeframe found on the DOPL pages that could be read	NYSED publishes no processing timeframe for LMHC endorsement applications
Licensing authority	Utah Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL), Clinical Mental Health Counseling	New York State Education Department, Office of the Professions (State Board for Mental Health Practitioners) (Licensed Mental Health Counselor, LMHC)

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

Step by step

Confirm New York's current requirements on the New York State Education Department, Office of the Professions (State Board for Mental Health Practitioners) (Licensed Mental Health Counselor, LMHC) website (linked below) — rules change.
Submit the endorsement application to the New York State Education Department, Office of the Professions (State Board for Mental Health Practitioners) (Licensed Mental Health Counselor, LMHC) (application linked below).
Arrange license verification from your current state.
Show at least 5 years of licensed mental health counseling practice within the 10 years before applying, attested on Forms 4E/4F.
Have NBCC send passing NCMHCE scores directly to the Office of the Professions.
Have every jurisdiction where you are or were licensed submit Form 3 license verification directly to NYSED.
Have your graduate school submit Form 2 (Certification of Professional Education).
Complete NYSED-approved coursework or training in identifying and reporting child abuse (or document an exemption).
Pay the fees ($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.)) and allow NYSED publishes no processing timeframe for LMHC endorsement applications.

Official links

New York State Education Department, Office of the Professions (State Board for Mental Health Practitioners) (Licensed Mental Health Counselor, LMHC) ↗New York application ↗

Frequently asked questions

Does New York accept an Utah counseling license?

Do I retake the NCE or NCMHCE moving from Utah to New York?

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 does the move cost?

$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.)

How long will it take?

NYSED publishes no processing timeframe for LMHC endorsement applications.

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]