Counseling License from Wisconsin to Georgia: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Does Georgia accept a Wisconsin counseling license?
A counseling license transfers from Wisconsin to Georgia by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers and Marriage & Family Therapists (Secretary of State), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), verify your Wisconsin license, and meet Georgia's endorsement requirements. National exam is not retaken: the applicant submits an official passing score on the NBCC NCE or NCMHCE. An applicant who has not passed either exam may be required to pass one before endorsement is considered. No Georgia jurisprudence exam is required for endorsement or for a compact privilege.
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Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
Georgia is operational in the Counseling Compact, but Wisconsin is not, so there is no home-state license here to anchor a privilege. Once you hold a Georgia license and live in Georgia, it can anchor privileges into the other operational states. The route is endorsement through the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers and Marriage & Family Therapists (Secretary of State), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC): your Wisconsin license is verified, your NCE or NCMHCE score is credited under Georgia's own exam rule, and Georgia applies any jurisprudence and background checks it requires. Check which Georgia tier corresponds to your Wisconsin license before you file, because the titles do not map one to one.
What's different between Wisconsin and Georgia
Computed from both states' verified data rows, in both directions, and from the route every other origin gets into Georgia. Exam notes are our summary of each board's published rules, with sources below.
- Route, each way
Wisconsin to Georgia (this page): Licensure by endorsement.
Georgia to Wisconsin (the reverse move): Licensure by endorsement.
The route is the same in both directions.
- Does coming from Wisconsin matter?
Wisconsin gets Georgia's most common result: 40 of 50 origins (the other 49 states and DC) get the same one, so for most movers the origin does not change the answer.
The others get: compact privilege — work there without a second license (10).
- Counseling Compact membership
Wisconsin has enacted the Counseling Compact but is not issuing under it yet; Georgia is a Counseling Compact member state.
Because they are not both active members, the Counseling Compact does not cover this move.
- Application fee
Georgia lists $100 for an out-of-state applicant and Wisconsin lists $62 for the reverse move; neither may be the full cost.
- Processing time
Georgia lists up to 4 weeks; Wisconsin has no verified processing-time figure on file, so the two cannot be compared here.
- Exam rules on record
Georgia and Wisconsin carry different exam notes (our summaries, below); any state law or jurisprudence exam is listed with each state's requirements.
- Georgia (this move): National exam is not retaken: the applicant submits an official passing score on the NBCC NCE or NCMHCE. An applicant who has not passed either exam may be required to pass one before endorsement is considered. No Georgia jurisprudence exam is required for endorsement or for a compact privilege.
- Wisconsin (the reverse move): DSPS's Licensure by Reciprocity page lists only third-party license verification and a passing Wisconsin Statutes and Rules Exam score (85% to pass); exam access is sent after the application is submitted and the fee paid. It asks for no new national-exam score.
What changes, Wisconsin → Georgia
| Wisconsin (current) | Georgia (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| Counseling Compact status | Licensure by endorsement · Counseling Compact enacted — not yet issuing | Licensure by endorsement · Counseling Compact privilege (not a license) |
| Application fee | $62 (Licensed Professional Counselor initial credential fee per DSPS's Credential Fees and Renewal Dates table, which notes that additional fees may apply (the 2023 key-steps form #12503 listed a $60 reciprocal application fee; that form now returns 404). The Wisconsin Statutes and Rules Exam is paid separately after the application is submitted (the 2023 form listed $75; the DSPS pages read on 2026-10-29 do not state the amount). License-verification fees are charged by the other state. Wisconsin is a pending Counseling Compact state, so no privilege fee applies yet.) | $100 ($100 non-refundable LPC endorsement application fee per the Board's fee schedule (dated 04/18/2023: '$100 application fee + $10 processing fee = $110'); the $10 is a mail-in application processing fee. Applications are now filed in the GOALS portal, and the online GOALS fee schedule (goals.sos.ga.gov) returned HTTP 403 on 2026-10-29, so the portal amount could not be checked. Fingerprint background check paid separately to the vendor; NBCC score-report fee separate. NOT the Counseling Compact privilege fee (Georgia charges $100 + $30 commission admin fee = $130 for a privilege; no jurisprudence exam).) |
| Processing time | no end-to-end timeframe; DSPS says submitted materials are reviewed by a credentialing team member within approximately 10 days (some licenses take longer) and posts current review dates by profession on its LicensE performance dashboard | up to 4 weeks (the Board's How-to Guide says applications are 'generally processed within 20 business days of receipt' (about 4 weeks), and the count restarts after a deficiency letter. Completed applications may also go to a Board meeting and must be complete at least 15 days before it to be placed on the agenda. Incomplete applications may be withdrawn if deficiencies are not fixed within 60 days of notice.) |
| Licensing authority | Wisconsin Marriage and Family Therapy, Professional Counseling and Social Work Examining Board (Professional Counselor Section), Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) | Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers and Marriage & Family Therapists (Secretary of State), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Georgia sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm Georgia's current requirements on the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers and Marriage & Family Therapists (Secretary of State), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers and Marriage & Family Therapists (Secretary of State), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state.
- Hold a current, unencumbered clinical-level (independent) professional counselor license in another state; associate-level licenses are not eligible.
- Verify at least 2 years of unrestricted licensure at the Georgia LPC level from every state ever licensed (Form N or the state's own verification, including any discipline).
- Verify at least 2 years of active, unrestricted practice at the LPC level immediately preceding the application.
- Submit an official passing NCE or NCMHCE score, an official conferred master's or doctoral transcript sent directly by the school, and the practicum-internship verification.
- Complete the national fingerprint background check on the Board's endorsement checklist, at the applicant's expense.
- Pay the fees listed above, and allow for the processing time shown there.
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Will a Georgia license get me into other compact states?
Yes, once Georgia is your home state. Georgia is operational, so an active, unencumbered Georgia license held while you live there can anchor privileges into the other operational states through CompactConnect.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-10-29.
- Georgia SOS: How to Guide, Professional Counselor (Endorsement checklist, 20-business-day processing; read live) ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- Georgia Composite Board: Policy Statements, VII Endorsement - Professional Counselors (read live) ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- Georgia Composite Board: Fee Schedule (04/18/2023; endorsement $100 + $10 processing fee) ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- Georgia Composite Board: Verification of Licensure from Another State/Jurisdiction, Form N ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- Georgia Composite Board: board page (Counseling Compact now live; GOALS portal) ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 135-3-.04 Licensure by Endorsement (Georgia Rules and Regulations) ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- Counseling Compact: state privilege fees and jurisprudence requirements ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- DSPS: Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) profession page (application methods incl. Licensure by Reciprocity and Bridge temporary credential) ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- DSPS: LPC Licensure by Reciprocity (eligibility, required documents, Statutes and Rules Exam, review timeline) ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- DSPS: Reciprocity and Endorsement, table of credentials not reciprocal ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- DSPS: Credential Fees and Renewal Dates (Licensed Professional Counselor $62) ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- DSPS: Bridge Temporary Credential (2021 Act 10, 90 days) ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
Reviewed by the License Reciprocity Editorial Team · verified against primary sources 2026-10-29
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