Psychology License from New Mexico to North Carolina: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Last verified: 2026-08-07 · source: North Carolina Psychology Board ↗
A psychology license transfers from New Mexico to North Carolina by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the North Carolina Psychology Board, verify your New Mexico license, and meet North Carolina's endorsement requirements. The EPPP is not required at all for an applicant whose credentials are approved under the mobility-credential provision (21 NCAC 54 .1701(b)); other out-of-state applicants transfer their EPPP score through the ASPPB Score Transfer Service rather than retesting. Every applicant must still pass the Board-developed State Examination on the North Carolina Practice Act, selected Board rules and the APA Ethics Code — a two-hour, 50-item computer-based exam with a $200 fee..
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Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
This direction has a payoff worth planning around. New Mexico is outside PSYPACT, so you have had no compact authorizations to work with — but North Carolina participates. Endorse into North Carolina through the North Carolina Psychology 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, North Carolina's jurisprudence requirement applied — but what it unlocks afterwards is considerably more than a single state.
What changes, New Mexico → North Carolina
| New Mexico (current) | North Carolina (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| PSYPACT status | Licensure by endorsement | PSYPACT member — multistate license honored |
| Application fee | $125 (Initial application fee, nonrefundable; the application expires 24 months from receipt. Add the $75 online jurisprudence examination fee (and $75 per re-examination). EPPP fees are set by and payable to ASPPB and the test vendor.) | $100 (Nonrefundable application fee, check or money order only ($20 charge for a returned bank item). Add $38 for the criminal background check and $200 for the State Examination; health services provider (HSP-P) certification, which is mandatory for permanently licensed psychologists rendering health services in North Carolina, costs a further $50.) |
| Processing time | 16.22.5.9(C) NMAC provides only that complete applications are reviewed by the board or its designee and that a notification of approval, denial or need for additional information is issued; the board publishes no turnaround time. | 4–9 weeks (Board rule of thumb: if an application is complete by the last working day of a month it will be reviewed by the last working day of the following month — roughly 4 to 9 weeks depending on when the file completes. Some files must go to the full Board, which follows the published meeting calendar. An incomplete application stays active only three months, then voids.) |
| Licensing authority | New Mexico Board of Psychologist Examiners (Regulation and Licensing Department) | North Carolina Psychology Board |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — North Carolina sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm North Carolina's current requirements on the North Carolina Psychology Board website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the North Carolina Psychology Board (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state via the verification system.
- Hold an ASPPB Certificate of Professional Qualification (CPQ), a National Register of Health Service Psychologists (NRHSPP) registration, or an ABPP diploma to use the mobility-credential application.
- Arrange for ASPPB, the National Register or ABPP to write directly to the Board verifying the credential, and for every jurisdiction where you are or were licensed to report licensure status and any discipline.
- Submit a fingerprint card, an Authority for Release of Information form and the $38 criminal background check fee.
- Submit a completed Supervision Contract Form with the application.
- Pass the Board's State Examination on the NC Practice Act, Board rules and the APA Ethics Code.
- File the application within 30 days of offering to practice or undertaking the practice of psychology in North Carolina (G.S. 90-270.139).
- Pay the fees ($100 (Nonrefundable application fee, check or money order only ($20 charge for a returned bank item). Add $38 for the criminal background check and $200 for the State Examination; health services provider (HSP-P) certification, which is mandatory for permanently licensed psychologists rendering health services in North Carolina, costs a further $50.)) and allow 4–9 weeks (Board rule of thumb: if an application is complete by the last working day of a month it will be reviewed by the last working day of the following month — roughly 4 to 9 weeks depending on when the file completes. Some files must go to the full Board, which follows the published meeting calendar. An incomplete application stays active only three months, then voids.).
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Does North Carolina accept a New Mexico psychology license?
A psychology license transfers from New Mexico to North Carolina by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the North Carolina Psychology Board, verify your New Mexico license, and meet North Carolina's endorsement requirements. The EPPP is not required at all for an applicant whose credentials are approved under the mobility-credential provision (21 NCAC 54 .1701(b)); other out-of-state applicants transfer their EPPP score through the ASPPB Score Transfer Service rather than retesting. Every applicant must still pass the Board-developed State Examination on the North Carolina Practice Act, selected Board rules and the APA Ethics Code — a two-hour, 50-item computer-based exam with a $200 fee..
Do I retake the EPPP moving from New Mexico to North Carolina?
No — the EPPP is passed once and your score is verified rather than retaken. The EPPP is not required at all for an applicant whose credentials are approved under the mobility-credential provision (21 NCAC 54 .1701(b)); other out-of-state applicants transfer their EPPP score through the ASPPB Score Transfer Service rather than retesting. Every applicant must still pass the Board-developed State Examination on the North Carolina Practice Act, selected Board rules and the APA Ethics Code — a two-hour, 50-item computer-based exam with a $200 fee..
What does the move cost?
$100 (Nonrefundable application fee, check or money order only ($20 charge for a returned bank item). Add $38 for the criminal background check and $200 for the State Examination; health services provider (HSP-P) certification, which is mandatory for permanently licensed psychologists rendering health services in North Carolina, costs a further $50.) (Nonrefundable application fee, check or money order only ($20 charge for a returned bank item). Add $38 for the criminal background check and $200 for the State Examination; health services provider (HSP-P) certification, which is mandatory for permanently licensed psychologists rendering health services in North Carolina, costs a further $50.).
How long will it take?
4–9 weeks (Board rule of thumb: if an application is complete by the last working day of a month it will be reviewed by the last working day of the following month — roughly 4 to 9 weeks depending on when the file completes. Some files must go to the full Board, which follows the published meeting calendar. An incomplete application stays active only three months, then voids.) — Board rule of thumb: if an application is complete by the last working day of a month it will be reviewed by the last working day of the following month — roughly 4 to 9 weeks depending on when the file completes. Some files must go to the full Board, which follows the published meeting calendar. An incomplete application stays active only three months, then voids..
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-08-07.
- NC Psychology Board — Application for Licensure Based on Mobility Credential (eligibility, fees, EPPP waiver, documentation) ↗ (accessed 2026-08-07)
- NC Psychology Board — Applications ('There are no reciprocity agreements between North Carolina and other jurisdictions') ↗ (accessed 2026-08-07)
- NC Psychology Board — Application for Licensure (standard route, fees, senior psychologist provision, review timing) ↗ (accessed 2026-08-07)
- NC Psychology Board — Examinations (EPPP and the $200 Board State Examination) ↗ (accessed 2026-08-07)
- 16.22.5 NMAC — Psychologists: licensure requirements, incl. 16.22.5.9 (application), 16.22.5.10 (applicants licensed in another state two years or more) and 16.22.5.11 (CPQ / National Register / ABPP holders) ↗ (accessed 2026-08-07)
- 16.22.7 NMAC — Examination requirements (EPPP, online jurisprudence exam, New Mexico cultures) ↗ (accessed 2026-08-07)
- 16.22.4 NMAC — Education requirements (Part 4 does not apply to reciprocity applicants under 16.22.5.10 and 16.22.5.11) ↗ (accessed 2026-08-07)
- NM Board of Psychologist Examiners — Fees ↗ (accessed 2026-08-07)
- NM Board of Psychologist Examiners — Licensing, Registration and Renewal (application guides, EPPP score transfer, 16.22.7.8 NMAC text) ↗ (accessed 2026-08-07)
Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-08-07
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