How to Transfer a Psychology License to Another State: Endorsement vs PSYPACT
A psychologist license does not transfer between states. To practice permanently in a new state you apply to its board for licensure by endorsement, which accepts your doctoral degree and your national EPPP score rather than re-testing you, and almost always adds that state's own jurisprudence exam. Separately, the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact (PSYPACT) — active in 41 jurisdictions — lets you practice telepsychology into other participating states and work in person there for up to 30 days a year, but it grants no license and never covers a relocation, not even between two PSYPACT states.
Check your exact transfer pathway
Pathway, requirements, fees, and board links for your specific state pair.
Psychology has an active interstate compact and almost no license portability, and confusing the two is the most expensive mistake in this profession. PSYPACT is real, it works, and 40 states plus the District of Columbia participate — but read what it actually issues. An Authority to Practice Interjurisdictional Telepsychology (APIT) lets you see clients by telehealth in other participating states. A Temporary Authority to Practice (TAP) lets you work in person in a receiving state for up to 30 days in a calendar year. Neither is a license. Neither makes you licensed in that state. Neither survives your moving there.
So the question "does my psychology license transfer?" has two different answers depending on what you are doing. If you are staying put and want to serve clients across state lines, PSYPACT is probably your whole answer, and it is fast — you obtain an ASPPB E.Passport or Interjurisdictional Practice Certificate, then the corresponding authorization from the commission. If you are actually moving, PSYPACT does nothing for you: you apply to the destination board for licensure by endorsement, exactly as you would if the compact did not exist. The EPPP you already passed travels, your doctorate travels, your supervised hours travel; the license itself does not.
What varies state to state is the endorsement pathway. Most boards want an active unrestricted license, verification of the doctoral degree from a qualifying program, evidence of supervised professional experience, and a pass on their own jurisprudence or law exam. Many will shortcut most of that if you hold an ASPPB Certificate of Professional Qualification (CPQ), ABPP diplomate status, or a National Register listing — these exist precisely to make psychologist mobility survivable, and where a state honors one, it is almost always the fastest route in. The state pages below carry each board's actual fee, timeline, and pathway as verified on the date shown.
The four transfer pathways (and where PSYPACT fits)
Licensure by endorsement (the only route to a full license)
Every permanent move runs through the destination board. It verifies that your license is active and unrestricted, that your doctoral degree came from a qualifying program, and that your supervised professional experience meets its standard; it accepts your EPPP passing score rather than re-testing you; and it applies its own jurisprudence exam and criminal background check. Boards call this endorsement, reciprocity, licensure by credentials, or comity — the labels differ, the substance does not. Nothing about it is automatic, and no state issues a license simply because another state did.
Mobility credentials (CPQ, ABPP, National Register)
The profession's answer to a slow endorsement file is a portable credential assembled once and accepted many times. The ASPPB Certificate of Professional Qualification (CPQ) is the most widely recognized; ABPP board certification and National Register listing serve a similar role. Where a board accepts one, it generally stops re-auditing your degree, hours, and exam and moves straight to its own state requirements. If you expect to move more than once in your career, obtaining one early is usually the highest-leverage thing you can do.
PSYPACT authorizations (practice across lines without moving)
For psychologists who are not relocating, the compact solves a different problem: serving clients in other participating states. An E.Passport plus an APIT authorization covers telepsychology into any participating state; an Interjurisdictional Practice Certificate plus a TAP covers up to 30 days per calendar year of in-person practice in a given receiving state. Both require an active unrestricted license in a participating home state, and both end when that license does. They are practice authority, not licensure — and they never accumulate into one.
The jurisprudence exam is the near-universal add-on
Almost every board requires you to pass its own examination on that state's psychology practice act, rules, and ethics before licensing you, regardless of how long you have practiced elsewhere. It is short and open-book in many states and a genuine gate in others, and it is the requirement most often missed when psychologists plan a move around the EPPP alone. The state pages record whether the board publishes one and what it involves.
Definitions in depth: how psychology transfer works · PSYPACT explained · compact membership map· full reciprocity overview
Every state, one table
Sorted A-Z. Each state links to its full transfer guide with requirements, fees, steps, and board links. For how psychology (licensed psychologist) compares with every other licensed profession — median transfer fees, the share of moves that go to an honor-all state or through a compact, and the hardest states to enter — see the license reciprocity statistics.
Frequently asked questions
Does my psychology license transfer to another state?
A psychologist license does not transfer between states. To practice permanently in a new state you apply to its board for licensure by endorsement, which accepts your doctoral degree and your national EPPP score rather than re-testing you, and almost always adds that state's own jurisprudence exam. Separately, the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact (PSYPACT) — active in 41 jurisdictions — lets you practice telepsychology into other participating states and work in person there for up to 30 days a year, but it grants no license and never covers a relocation, not even between two PSYPACT states.
Is PSYPACT the same as license reciprocity?
No, and this is the single most common misunderstanding in psychology licensing. PSYPACT grants two narrow authorizations — telepsychology into participating states (APIT) and up to 30 days per year of in-person practice in a receiving state (TAP). It does not grant, transfer, or replace a license. If you move to another state, you need that state's license by endorsement even if both states participate.
Which states participate in PSYPACT?
41 jurisdictions are effective and participating as of 2026-07-21: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming. Montana, Alaska, Iowa have enacted PSYPACT but are not yet participating. California, Hawaii, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon have not joined.
Do I have to retake the EPPP to get licensed in another state?
No. The EPPP is a national examination passed once; boards verify your existing passing score through license verification or the ASPPB score transfer service rather than making you sit it again. What most states do add is their own jurisprudence or law exam covering that state's practice act, which is a separate, much smaller test.
What is the fastest way to get licensed in a new state?
For most psychologists it is a mobility credential. An ASPPB Certificate of Professional Qualification (CPQ), ABPP board certification, or National Register listing packages your degree, exam, and supervised experience into a single verified credential that many boards accept in place of reassembling the whole file. Where a board honors one, endorsement usually collapses to an application, a background check, and the state jurisprudence exam.
Can I see clients in another state by telehealth?
If both your home state and the client's state participate in PSYPACT, yes — that is exactly what the APIT authorization is for, obtained with an ASPPB E.Passport. If either state is outside PSYPACT, you generally need to be licensed in the state where the client is physically located, because practice is regulated where the client sits, not where you sit.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-08-07.
- PSYPACT — Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact (official commission site) ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- ASPPB — Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (EPPP, CPQ, E.Passport/IPC, mobility) ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- CSG National Center for Interstate Compacts — Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
Per-state sources are listed on each state's page — this hub cites the national bodies; the full source registry is at /sources/.
Reviewed by the License Reciprocity Editorial Team · verified against primary sources 2026-08-07
How we verify · All sources · spot an error? [email protected]