Social Work License from Illinois to Georgia: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Does Georgia accept an Illinois social work license?
No — Georgia has no reciprocity or endorsement path for Illinois social work license holders. You must apply to the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage & Family Therapists as a new applicant and meet Georgia's full licensing requirements, including any exams it requires that you have not already passed.
Verify this exact pair in the checker
Same data, interactive — with share link and board links.
Verdict
Full re-application
Georgia has no endorsement route for a clinical social worker licensed in Illinois, so this is a full application to the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage & Family Therapists. Your ASWB score still stands, but expect the board to review your MSW and supervised experience against Georgia's own standard as if you were applying for the first time. Leave extra time.
What's different between Illinois and Georgia
Computed from both states' verified data rows, in both directions, and from the route every other origin gets into Georgia. Exam notes are our summary of each board's published rules, with sources below.
- Route, each way
Illinois to Georgia (this page): Full re-application.
Georgia to Illinois (the reverse move): Licensure by endorsement.
The two directions differ: Illinois and Georgia do not give each other's licensees the same route.
- Does coming from Illinois matter?
Coming from Illinois matters here: only 18 of 50 origins (the other 49 states and DC) get this result for a move into Georgia.
The others get: compact enacted — not yet issuing; until it issues, full re-application (32).
- SW Compact membership
Georgia has enacted the Social Work Licensure Compact; Illinois has not.
- Application fee
Georgia lists $100 for an out-of-state applicant and Illinois lists $200 for the reverse move; neither may be the full cost.
- Processing time
Georgia lists up to 4 weeks; Illinois has no verified processing-time figure on file, so the two cannot be compared here.
- Exam rules on record
Georgia and Illinois carry different exam notes (our summaries, below); any state law or jurisprudence exam is listed with each state's requirements.
- Georgia (this move): The ASWB Clinical exam is not retaken: an out-of-state LCSW applies by 'Exam Waiver' and submits the national exam passing score report. No Georgia jurisprudence exam is listed. However, the Board does NOT offer clinical social work licensure by endorsement or reciprocity; you must otherwise meet all of Georgia's CSW requirements.
- Illinois (the reverse move): The ASWB Clinical exam is not retaken; applicants who passed it in another state have ASWB send an official score transfer to IDFPR. Illinois also allows an 'Exam Alternative' (3,000 additional supervised professional hours after an ASWB Clinical attempt made after 2019-01-01). No Illinois jurisprudence exam is required.
What changes, Illinois → Georgia
| Illinois (current) | Georgia (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| SW Compact status | Licensure by endorsement | SW Compact enacted — not yet issuing |
| Application fee | $200 (Endorsement licensure application fee per IDFPR's Social Worker/LCSW instructions; non-refundable. The Acceptance of Examination and Examination methods cost $50 but apply only to people not currently licensed elsewhere.) | $100 (The Board's fee schedule (04/18/2023) lists a $100 application fee for CSW applications, plus a $10 processing fee on mail-in applications. The Board no longer accepts paper applications, and GOALS shows the current fee schedule. The schedule's separate $350 licensure-by-endorsement fee is marked 'NOT APPLICABLE TO SOCIAL WORKERS'.) |
| Processing time | IDFPR states no processing time. Its instructions ask applicants to allow 6 weeks from mailing before inquiring about status, and an application stays active for three years | up to 4 weeks (The Board says applications are generally processed within 20 business days of receipt (about 4 weeks). The count restarts after a deficiency letter. Complete applications then go to the next Board meeting and must arrive at least 15 days before it.) |
| Licensing authority | Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) — Social Work Examining and Disciplinary Board | Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage & Family Therapists |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Georgia sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Review Georgia's initial-licensure requirements on the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage & Family Therapists website (linked below).
- Expect to meet Georgia's education/experience requirements and pass any required exams you have not already passed — a national exam you passed often still counts, as can prior out-of-state licensure toward experience.
- Submit the standard (new applicant) application with fees listed above, and allow for the processing time shown there.
- Allow up to 4 weeks (The Board says applications are generally processed within 20 business days of receipt (about 4 weeks).
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Does the Social Work Licensure Compact help with this move?
No. Georgia has enacted it and Illinois has not, and the compact was not issuing multistate licenses anywhere as of 2026-09-27. A full new-applicant application to the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage & Family Therapists is the route.
Will Georgia accept the supervised hours I completed in Illinois?
Most boards credit supervised experience completed under another state's rules, but some compare it with their own requirement. Georgia's rule, where the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage & Family Therapists 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.
- Georgia Secretary of State — How to Guide: Clinical Social Worker ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Georgia Composite Board — Fee Schedule (04/18/2023) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 135-5-.04 — Clinical Social Workers (official rule text via Cornell LII) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 135-3-.04 — Licensure by Endorsement (PC and MFT only) (official rule text via Cornell LII) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Georgia Composite Board — Clinical Social Worker Form N (verification of licensure) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Social Work Licensure Compact — compact jurisdictions ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- IDFPR — Qualifications for Licensure, Licensed Clinical Social Worker (149), effective 05/2025 ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- IDFPR — Instructions, Licensed Social Worker or Licensed Clinical Social Worker application ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- IDFPR — Social Work profession page ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
Reviewed by the License Reciprocity Editorial Team · verified against primary sources 2026-09-27
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