Transfer Your Counseling License to Virginia: Reciprocity & Endorsement (2026)

Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: Virginia Board of Counseling (Department of Health Professions) ↗

Virginia has enacted the Counseling Compact, but it was not yet issuing or accepting privileges as of 2026-09-27, so no privilege authorizes practice here. An out-of-state counselor needs a Virginia license, normally by endorsement from the Virginia Board of Counseling (Department of Health Professions); how Virginia treats your NCE or NCMHCE score is in the exam question below. 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.). Processing: 6–9 weeks (board-stated '45 to 60 days from complete application' for Board approval, converted to weeks).

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Verdict

Counseling Compact enacted — not yet issuing

Virginia has passed the Counseling Compact into law, and its board may describe the state as having joined, but as of 2026-09-27 it was not issuing or accepting privileges. That makes Virginia a non-compact state in practice: no privilege lets you see a client located here, in person or by telehealth, and a Virginia license cannot yet anchor privileges elsewhere. Plan on a Virginia license by endorsement, and check the commission's announcements, because states have been switching on every few weeks.

Virginia licenses a single independent counselor tier, the Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC); the Resident in Counseling is the supervised registration. 18VAC115-20-45 as amended effective 2026-07-02 requires an endorsement applicant to hold or have held a professional counselor license in another U.S. jurisdiction that allows independent assessment, diagnosis and treatment, and to submit the application and fee, verification of every license ever held (no unresolved action; discipline considered case by case), verification of a passing score on the exam the licensing jurisdiction required, a current NPDB report, and an official graduate-degree transcript. The amendment dropped the three endorsement pathways that the Board's page still described in its 2026-05-13 archived version (24 months of post-licensure practice in the last 60 months; education and supervised experience checked against 18VAC115-20-49, -51 and -52; or a current NBCC CCMHC). The live Board page may lag the rule, so re-confirm it. This is endorsement, not full reciprocity. The live dhp.virginia.gov and law.lis.virginia.gov hosts could not be reached on 2026-09-27, so the rule text was read from Internet Archive snapshots of the official LIS pages. Virginia has enacted the Counseling Compact but is not yet issuing or accepting privileges; compact_member and compact_status are assembler-provided.

Virginia requirements at a glance

Out-of-state counseling license transfer requirements for Virginia, verified 2026-09-27
Exam	National exam is not retaken: 18VAC115-20-45 requires verification of a passing score on the exam required for counseling licensure in the jurisdiction where the applicant was licensed. No separate Virginia jurisprudence exam is listed for endorsement.
Additional requirements	Hold or have held a professional counselor license in another U.S. jurisdiction that allows independent assessment, diagnosis and treatment of behavioral health conditions, with no unresolved action against any license Verify all mental health or health professional licenses, certificates or registrations ever held Submit verification of a passing score on the exam required for counseling licensure in the jurisdiction where you were licensed Submit a current National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) self-query report Submit an official transcript documenting completion of a graduate degree program
Fees	$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.)
Processing time	6–9 weeks (board-stated '45 to 60 days from complete application' for Board approval, converted to weeks)

Step by step

Confirm Virginia's current requirements on the Virginia Board of Counseling (Department of Health Professions) website — rules change.
Submit the endorsement application to the Virginia Board of Counseling (Department of Health Professions) (application linked on this page).
Arrange license verification from your current state.
Hold or have held a professional counselor license in another U.S. jurisdiction that allows independent assessment, diagnosis and treatment of behavioral health conditions, with no unresolved action against any license.
Verify all mental health or health professional licenses, certificates or registrations ever held.
Submit verification of a passing score on the exam required for counseling licensure in the jurisdiction where you were licensed.
Submit a current National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) self-query report.
Submit an official transcript documenting completion of a graduate degree program.
Pay the fees ($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.)) and allow 6–9 weeks (board-stated '45 to 60 days from complete application' for Board approval, converted to weeks).

Official links

Virginia Board of Counseling (Department of Health Professions) ↗Virginia application ↗

Coming from a specific state?

Direction matters — these guides cover the exact move into Virginia:

California → Virginia Florida → Virginia Georgia → Virginia Illinois → Virginia Michigan → Virginia New York → Virginia North Carolina → Virginia Ohio → Virginia Pennsylvania → Virginia Texas → Virginia

Nearby states

Counseling license transfer into the states bordering Virginia:

Virginia for other professions

Frequently asked questions

Does my counseling license transfer to Virginia?

Do I have to retake the NCE or NCMHCE to get licensed in Virginia?

National exam is not retaken: 18VAC115-20-45 requires verification of a passing score on the exam required for counseling licensure in the jurisdiction where the applicant was licensed. No separate Virginia jurisprudence exam is listed for endorsement.

How much does a Virginia counseling license cost by endorsement?

$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.)

How long does Virginia take to process the application?

6–9 weeks (board-stated '45 to 60 days from complete application' for Board approval, converted to weeks)

Is Virginia in the Counseling Compact?

Virginia has enacted the compact but was not yet operational as of 2026-09-27, so it neither issues nor accepts privileges. For now you need Virginia's own authorization, normally a Virginia license, to practice with clients located in Virginia.

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

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