Social Work License from South Carolina to Georgia: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage & Family Therapists ↗
No — Georgia has no reciprocity or endorsement path for South Carolina 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.
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Verdict
Full re-application
Georgia has no endorsement route for a clinical social worker licensed in South Carolina, 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 changes, South Carolina → Georgia
| South Carolina (current) | Georgia (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| SW Compact status | Licensure by endorsement | SW Compact enacted — not yet issuing |
| Application fee | $45 (Initial application fee per the Board's fee page and its Out-of-State LISW requirements sheet (both viewed as Internet Archive copies; llr.sc.gov refused automated connections on 2026-09-27).) | $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 | No processing time is published. The Board holds regular meetings four times a year (S.C. Code 40-63-50), and files with 'yes' answers are reviewed case by case. | ~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 | South Carolina Board of Social Work Examiners (SC Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation) | 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 ($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'.)).
- Allow ~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.).
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Does Georgia accept a South Carolina social work license?
No — Georgia has no reciprocity or endorsement path for South Carolina 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.
Do I retake the ASWB exam moving from South Carolina to Georgia?
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. ASWB sends the score for $40 per transfer, requested in ASWBCentral, and delivery takes 7-10 business days.
What does the South Carolina-to-Georgia move cost and how long does it take?
$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: ~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.)
Does the Social Work Licensure Compact help with this move?
No. Georgia has enacted it and South Carolina 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 South Carolina?
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)
- SC Board of Social Work Examiners — Requirements for Independent Level Licensure, Out of State Applicants (Internet Archive copy of 2026-03-07) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- SC Board of Social Work Examiners — Requirements for LISW-CP (Internet Archive copy of 2026-03-07) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- SC Board of Social Work Examiners — Licensure Fees (Internet Archive copy of 2025-12-01) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- S.C. Code Title 40 Chapter 63 (incl. 40-63-260 applicants licensed in another jurisdiction; Social Work Interstate Compact, Article 3) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-09-27
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