Social Work License from California to New Mexico: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Does New Mexico accept a California social work license?
A social work license transfers from California to New Mexico by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the New Mexico Board of Social Work Examiners (Regulation & Licensing Department), verify your California license, and meet New Mexico's endorsement requirements. The ASWB exam is not retaken by out-of-state licensees on the reciprocity/expedited route (Clinical exam for the LCSW). All applicants, including reciprocity applicants, must pass New Mexico's online jurisprudence exam inside the application (70% to pass, 3 attempts).
Verify this exact pair in the checker
Same data, interactive — with share link and board links.
Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
Neither California nor New Mexico has enacted the Social Work Licensure Compact, and it is not issuing licenses anywhere in any case, so this is a plain endorsement move. The New Mexico Board of Social Work Examiners (Regulation & Licensing Department) verifies your California license, accepts your ASWB score by transfer, and adds its own requirements.
What's different between California and New Mexico
Computed from both states' verified data rows, in both directions, and from the route every other origin gets into New Mexico. Exam notes are our summary of each board's published rules, with sources below.
- Route, each way
California to New Mexico (this page): Licensure by endorsement.
New Mexico to California (the reverse move): Licensure by endorsement.
The route is the same in both directions.
- Does coming from California matter?
Coming from California does not change the answer: every origin (the other 49 states and DC) gets the same result for a move into New Mexico.
- SW Compact membership
Neither California nor New Mexico has enacted the Social Work Licensure Compact.
- Application fee
New Mexico lists $125 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 Mexico and California carry different exam notes (our summaries, below); any state law or jurisprudence exam is listed with each state's requirements.
- New Mexico (this move): The ASWB exam is not retaken by out-of-state licensees on the reciprocity/expedited route (Clinical exam for the LCSW). All applicants, including reciprocity applicants, must pass New Mexico's online jurisprudence exam inside the application (70% to pass, 3 attempts).
- 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 Mexico
| California (current) | New Mexico (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| SW Compact status | Licensure by endorsement | Licensure by endorsement |
| 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.) | $125 (Clinical Social Worker application for licensure fee $125, nonrefundable (Board fee page). No separate fingerprint fee is stated on the fee page.) |
| 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; the Board says it will decide whether a file goes through Expedited Licensure or Reciprocity and emails status letters listing required documents |
| Licensing authority | California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) | New Mexico Board of Social Work Examiners (Regulation & Licensing Department) |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — New Mexico sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm New Mexico's current requirements on the New Mexico Board of Social Work Examiners (Regulation & Licensing Department) website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the New Mexico Board of Social Work Examiners (Regulation & Licensing Department) (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state via the verification system.
- Apply online for the LCSW, answering 'Yes' to holding a social work license outside New Mexico so the reciprocity section opens.
- Enter your out-of-state license number, issuing state and dates, and upload the documents the portal requests for reciprocity.
- Pass the New Mexico jurisprudence exam within the application.
- Verify that you meet New Mexico's cultural-awareness requirement (the Board offers a 6-hour NM culture course).
- Pay the fees listed above, and allow for the processing time shown there.
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Will New Mexico 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 Mexico's rule, where the New Mexico Board of Social Work Examiners (Regulation & Licensing Department) 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.
- NM Board of Social Work Examiners — LCSW Application Manual (July 2026) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- NM Board of Social Work Examiners — FAQs (out-of-state licensees: expedited licensure or reciprocity) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- NM Board of Social Work Examiners — Fees ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- NM Board of Social Work Examiners — Licensing, Registration, and Renewal ↗ (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