Counseling License from Wisconsin to Illinois: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Does Illinois accept a Wisconsin counseling license?
A counseling license transfers from Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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
A counseling license moves from Wisconsin to Illinois 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 Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC), which verifies your Wisconsin license and standing, matches it to Illinois's independent tier, and applies its own rule on crediting your national exam score, plus any Illinois jurisprudence and background requirements.
What's different between Wisconsin and Illinois
Computed from both states' verified data rows, in both directions, and from the route every other origin gets into Illinois. Exam notes are our summary of each board's published rules, with sources below.
- Route, each way
Wisconsin to Illinois (this page): Licensure by endorsement.
Illinois to Wisconsin (the reverse move): Licensure by endorsement.
The route is the same in both directions.
- Does coming from Wisconsin matter?
Coming from Wisconsin does not change the answer: every origin (the other 49 states and DC) gets the same result for a move into Illinois.
- Counseling Compact membership
Wisconsin has enacted the Counseling Compact but is not issuing under it yet; Illinois is not in the Counseling Compact.
Because they are not both active members, the Counseling Compact does not cover this move.
- Application fee
Illinois lists $150 for an out-of-state applicant and Wisconsin lists $62 for the reverse move; neither may be the full cost.
- Exam rules on record
Illinois and Wisconsin carry different exam notes (our summaries, below); any state law or jurisprudence exam is listed with each state's requirements.
- Illinois (this move): 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.
- 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 → Illinois
| Wisconsin (current) | Illinois (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| Counseling Compact status | Licensure by endorsement · Counseling Compact enacted — not yet issuing | Licensure by endorsement |
| 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.) | $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 | 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 | 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 | Wisconsin Marriage and Family Therapy, Professional Counseling and Social Work Examining Board (Professional Counselor Section), Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) | 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 listed above, and allow for the processing time shown there.
Official links
Related guides
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-10-29.
- IDFPR: Professional Counselor (license types, CORE online applications) ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- IDFPR: LPC/LCPC application instruction sheet (Examination, Acceptance of Examination, Endorsement; packet updated 8/1/24) ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- 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)
- 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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