Social Work License from California to New Hampshire: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Does New Hampshire accept a California social work license?
A social work license transfers from California to New Hampshire by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the New Hampshire Board of Mental Health Practice (Office of Professional Licensure and Certification), verify your California license, and meet New Hampshire's endorsement requirements. On the HB 594 reciprocity route, applicants from qualifying jurisdictions no longer submit examination results, transcripts, experience or references. On the standard application the ASWB Clinical exam is required (have ASWB send your score if you tested out of state or more than two years ago). No New Hampshire jurisprudence exam is listed.
Verify this exact pair in the checker
Same data, interactive — with share link and board links.
Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
Only New Hampshire has enacted the Social Work Licensure Compact, and since the compact is not issuing multistate licenses anywhere, that difference does not affect this move. You apply to the New Hampshire Board of Mental Health Practice (Office of Professional Licensure and Certification) by endorsement, with your California license verified and your ASWB score transferred.
What's different between California and New Hampshire
Computed from both states' verified data rows, in both directions, and from the route every other origin gets into New Hampshire. Exam notes are our summary of each board's published rules, with sources below.
- Route, each way
California to New Hampshire (this page): Licensure by endorsement.
New Hampshire to California (the reverse move): Licensure by endorsement.
The route is the same in both directions.
- Does coming from California matter?
Coming from California matters here: only 18 of 50 origins (the other 49 states and DC) get this result for a move into New Hampshire.
The others get: compact enacted — not yet issuing; until it issues, licensure by endorsement (32).
- SW Compact membership
New Hampshire has enacted the Social Work Licensure Compact; California has not.
- Application fee
New Hampshire lists $325 for an out-of-state applicant and California lists $250 for the reverse move; neither may be the full cost.
- Exam rules on record
New Hampshire and California carry different exam notes (our summaries, below); any state law or jurisprudence exam is listed with each state's requirements.
- New Hampshire (this move): On the HB 594 reciprocity route, applicants from qualifying jurisdictions no longer submit examination results, transcripts, experience or references. On the standard application the ASWB Clinical exam is required (have ASWB send your score if you tested out of state or more than two years ago). No New Hampshire jurisprudence exam is listed.
- California (the reverse move): The national clinical exam is waived for applicants who qualify under Bus. & Prof. Code 4996.17.1, so the ASWB Clinical exam is not retaken. California requires its own board-administered California Law and Ethics Examination on top of that ($150 statutory exam fee), and the applicant must pass it before licensure.
What changes, California → New Hampshire
| California (current) | New Hampshire (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| SW Compact status | Licensure by endorsement | SW Compact enacted — not yet issuing |
| Application fee | $250 (Statutory LCSW application fee under Bus. & Prof. Code 4996.3(a)(3) ($250; the Board may raise it by regulation up to $500). Also: $150 California Law and Ethics exam fee, $200 initial license fee, and fingerprint processing fees. The BBS website refused connections on 2026-09-27, so the current regulatory fee schedule could not be confirmed there.) | $325 (Clinical social worker (including conditional) application fee $325, which includes the mandatory $28 Professional Health Program fee; renewal $325 (active) or $105 (inactive). Criminal background check fees are paid separately (amount not stated on the pages reviewed).) |
| Processing time | Not verified. The Board of Behavioral Sciences website (bbs.ca.gov) refused connections throughout 2026-09-27, so its published processing times could not be read | No processing time is published. Under Plc 313.07(c) OPLC may issue an 'Active-Provisional' license to an endorsement-qualified applicant while criminal-record results are pending |
| Licensing authority | California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) | New Hampshire Board of Mental Health Practice (Office of Professional Licensure and Certification) |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — New Hampshire sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm New Hampshire's current requirements on the New Hampshire Board of Mental Health Practice (Office of Professional Licensure and Certification) website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the New Hampshire Board of Mental Health Practice (Office of Professional Licensure and Certification) (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state via the verification system.
- Submit the OPLC Universal Application for Initial License by mail with the application fee.
- Provide verification of your active license in good standing in a qualifying jurisdiction (a screenshot or printout of the licensing board's portal is accepted under Plc 313.05(a)).
- Complete the FBI/New Hampshire criminal history records check required for clinical social workers.
- Pay the fees listed above, and allow for the processing time shown there.
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Does the Social Work Licensure Compact help with this move?
No. New Hampshire has enacted it and California has not, and the compact was not issuing multistate licenses anywhere as of 2026-09-27. Endorsement through the New Hampshire Board of Mental Health Practice (Office of Professional Licensure and Certification) is the route.
Will New Hampshire accept the supervised hours I completed in California?
Most boards credit supervised experience completed under another state's rules, but some compare it with their own requirement. New Hampshire's rule, where the New Hampshire Board of Mental Health Practice (Office of Professional Licensure and Certification) publishes one, is in the requirements on this page; confirm with the board if your hours were logged under a different structure.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-09-27.
- NH OPLC — New Changes for Reciprocity in New Hampshire (HB 594 license types incl. Clinical Social Worker; application process) (Internet Archive copy captured 2026-08-21; oplc.nh.gov returned HTTP 403 to automated fetches) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- NH OPLC — Board of Mental Health Practice License Fees (Internet Archive copy captured 2026-04-29) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- NH OPLC — FAQs about new Reciprocity Rules (HB 594) (Internet Archive copy captured 2025-06-07) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- NH OPLC — Instructions and Checklist, Licensure as an Independent Clinical Social Worker (Internet Archive copy captured 2026-05-18) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Social Work Licensure Compact — compact jurisdictions ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- California Business and Professions Code 4996.17.1 — Licensure of out-of-state clinical social workers (California Legislative Information) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- California Business and Professions Code 4996.17.2 — Out-of-state education or experience (California Legislative Information) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- California Business and Professions Code 4996.3 — LCSW fees (California Legislative Information) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- ASWB — Look up a license (board license-search directory) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
Reviewed by the License Reciprocity Editorial Team · verified against primary sources 2026-09-27
How we verify · All sources · Corrections log · spot an error? hello@licensereciprocity.com