Psychology License from California to Illinois: Does It Transfer? (2026)

Last verified: 2026-08-07 · source: Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation — Clinical Psychologists Licensing and Disciplinary Board ↗

A psychology license transfers from California 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 — Clinical Psychologists Licensing and Disciplinary Board, verify your California license, and meet Illinois's endorsement requirements. EPPP passing score transfers (not retaken) — an ENDORSEMENT applicant must have ASPPB send an official original EPPP score report directly to the Department. Illinois has no separate state jurisprudence examination for clinical psychologists..

Verify this exact pair in the checker

Same data, interactive — with share link and board links.

Run the Reciprocity Checker →

Verdict

Licensure by endorsement

This direction has a payoff worth planning around. California is outside PSYPACT, so you have had no compact authorizations to work with — but Illinois participates. Endorse into Illinois through the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation — Clinical Psychologists Licensing and Disciplinary Board, make it your licensed home state, and that license becomes an anchor: from there an ASPPB E.Passport and APIT authorization let you serve clients across every other participating state without another full license. The endorsement itself is still an ordinary application — EPPP score accepted, credentials reviewed, Illinois's jurisprudence requirement applied — but what it unlocks afterwards is considerably more than a single state.

What changes, California → Illinois

Side-by-side: California vs Illinois (Psychology (licensed psychologist)), verified 2026-08-07
	California (current)	Illinois (destination)
PSYPACT status	Licensure by endorsement	PSYPACT member — multistate license honored
Application fee	$236 ($236 psychologist initial application fee (2024 fee schedule, the current schedule published by the Board). Separately + $127 for the CPLEE application and + $231 for initial licensure; out-of-state fingerprint hard card processing is $233)	$100 (ENDORSEMENT licensure-method application fee for profession code 071, per the IDFPR Licensed Clinical Psychologist application packet; the SENIOR PSYCHOLOGIST method is also $100, while EXAMINATION and ACCEPTANCE OF EXAMINATION are $50. Application fees are nonrefundable.)
Processing time	4–6 weeks (Board states processing takes approximately 1.5 months (4-6 weeks) for applications, subsequent documents/correspondence and requested deficiency documents. Because the application, the CPLEE request and the request for initial licensure are each processed separately at that pace, total time from filing to a California license is considerably longer)	~6 weeks (The IDFPR application packet instructs applicants to 'allow 6 weeks from mailing your application before making an inquiry concerning its status.' That is the Department's stated floor for a status inquiry, not a promised decision date, and no upper bound is published — hence the open-ended range.)
Licensing authority	California Board of Psychology (Department of Consumer Affairs)	Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation — Clinical Psychologists Licensing and Disciplinary Board

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 — Clinical Psychologists Licensing and Disciplinary Board website (linked below) — rules change.
Submit the endorsement application to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation — Clinical Psychologists Licensing and Disciplinary Board (application linked below).
Arrange license verification from your current state.
Be actively licensed as a Clinical Psychologist (or equivalent) in another state or U.S. jurisdiction whose requirements were substantially equivalent to Illinois' when the license was issued.
Arrange for ASPPB to send an official EPPP score report directly to the Department.
Have Certification of Licensure (CT form) sent directly from your first state of psychologist licensure and from the state where you have most recently practiced.
Document at least two years of satisfactory supervised experience on VE-PSY forms — one year internship and one year postdoctoral — unless substituting current National Register HSP credentialing plus five years of independent doctoral-level practice.
Submit the ED form and official transcripts from every institution where graduate psychology coursework was completed (APA-accredited program evidence may replace course syllabi).
Pay the fees ($100 (ENDORSEMENT licensure-method application fee for profession code 071, per the IDFPR Licensed Clinical Psychologist application packet; the SENIOR PSYCHOLOGIST method is also $100, while EXAMINATION and ACCEPTANCE OF EXAMINATION are $50. Application fees are nonrefundable.)) and allow ~6 weeks (The IDFPR application packet instructs applicants to 'allow 6 weeks from mailing your application before making an inquiry concerning its status.' That is the Department's stated floor for a status inquiry, not a promised decision date, and no upper bound is published — hence the open-ended range.).

Official links

Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation — Clinical Psychologists Licensing and Disciplinary Board ↗Illinois application ↗Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact ↗

Frequently asked questions

Does Illinois accept a California psychology license?

Do I retake the EPPP moving from California to Illinois?

No — the EPPP is passed once and your score is verified rather than retaken. EPPP passing score transfers (not retaken) — an ENDORSEMENT applicant must have ASPPB send an official original EPPP score report directly to the Department. Illinois has no separate state jurisprudence examination for clinical psychologists..

What does the move cost?

$100 (ENDORSEMENT licensure-method application fee for profession code 071, per the IDFPR Licensed Clinical Psychologist application packet; the SENIOR PSYCHOLOGIST method is also $100, while EXAMINATION and ACCEPTANCE OF EXAMINATION are $50. Application fees are nonrefundable.) (ENDORSEMENT licensure-method application fee for profession code 071, per the IDFPR Licensed Clinical Psychologist application packet; the SENIOR PSYCHOLOGIST method is also $100, while EXAMINATION and ACCEPTANCE OF EXAMINATION are $50. Application fees are nonrefundable.).

How long will it take?

~6 weeks (The IDFPR application packet instructs applicants to 'allow 6 weeks from mailing your application before making an inquiry concerning its status.' That is the Department's stated floor for a status inquiry, not a promised decision date, and no upper bound is published — hence the open-ended range.) — The IDFPR application packet instructs applicants to 'allow 6 weeks from mailing your application before making an inquiry concerning its status.' That is the Department's stated floor for a status inquiry, not a promised decision date, and no upper bound is published — hence the open-ended range..

Sources

Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-08-07.

Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-08-07

How we verify · All sources · spot an error? [email protected]