Counseling License from Virginia 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 Virginia 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 Virginia 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
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 Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC): your Virginia license is verified, your NCE or NCMHCE score is credited under Illinois's own exam rule, and Illinois applies any jurisprudence and background checks it requires. Check which Illinois tier corresponds to your Virginia license before you file, because the titles do not map one to one.
What changes, Virginia → Illinois
| Virginia (current) | Illinois (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| Counseling Compact status | Counseling Compact enacted — not yet issuing | Licensure by endorsement |
| Application fee | $175 (LPC 'Initial licensure by endorsement: application processing and initial licensure' fee per 18VAC115-20-20 (re-read 2026-09-27) and the Board's endorsement page; all fees nonrefundable. Virginia is a pending Counseling Compact state, so no privilege fee applies yet.) | $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 time | 6–9 weeks (board-stated '45 to 60 days from complete application' for Board approval, converted to weeks) | 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. |
| Licensing authority | Virginia Board of Counseling (Department of Health Professions) | Illinois 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
- 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.
- 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).
- Arrange license verification from your current state.
- Hold an ACTIVE LPC/LCPC or equivalent counselor license in another U.S. state or jurisdiction.
- Have Certification of Licensure sent directly from your original licensing state and the state where you most recently practiced.
- Have official score reports for the CRCE, or for both the NCE and the NCMHCE, sent directly to IDFPR.
- 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.
- Complete the Personal History Questions (PHQ) form.
- 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
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Does Illinois accept a Virginia counseling license?
A counseling license transfers from Virginia 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 Virginia 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 Virginia 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.
- IDFPR: Professional Counselor (license types, CORE online applications) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- IDFPR: LPC/LCPC application instruction sheet (Examination, Acceptance of Examination, Endorsement; packet updated 8/1/24) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- 68 IAC 1375.160 Licensure by Endorsement as a Clinical Professional Counselor (ILGA JCAR; Internet Archive capture 2025-03-30) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- 68 IAC 1375.205 Fees (ILGA JCAR; Internet Archive capture 2025-03-26) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Virginia Administrative Code 18VAC115-20-45, Licensure by endorsement (as amended eff. 2026-07-02, Virginia Register Vol. 42 Iss. 20; Internet Archive copy of law.lis.virginia.gov, 2026-07-27 snapshot) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Virginia Administrative Code 18VAC115-20-20, Fees required by the board ($175 initial licensure by endorsement; Internet Archive copy, 2026-07-27 snapshot) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Virginia Board of Counseling: LPC by Endorsement (Internet Archive copy, 2026-05-13 snapshot, pre-amendment; live dhp.virginia.gov unreachable on 2026-09-27) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-09-27
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