There is no national social work license yet, so moving to another state means applying for a license there. The good news is that you rarely start from scratch. Most boards license by endorsement, which ASWB says is "sometimes called reciprocity": your current license in good standing counts as evidence that you meet the new state's requirements. Your ASWB exam score travels with you. What often does not travel is a state law exam, state-specific coursework, and an exam level your new license requires but your old one did not.
Reciprocity, endorsement and the Compact
Endorsement is how most states handle it. You apply to the new board, and it accepts an active license in good standing from another state as evidence that you meet its requirements, with conditions of its own. ASWB's member boards adopted endorsement in 2018 as the best mobility model for social work licensing.
Reciprocity in the strict sense means an agreement between two states to honor each other's licenses. Boards and applicants often use the word loosely for endorsement, which is what most states actually offer.
Universal recognition laws go further in some states. Arizona's, for example, issues a license at the same practice level to a new resident who has held a license in good standing elsewhere for at least one year, as long as the other state verifies that its education, experience and supervision requirements were met and any exam it required was passed.
The Social Work Licensure Compact will eventually let a social worker practice in other member states under a multistate license. ASWB says the Compact has been adopted in more than half of U.S. states, but multistate licenses are not available yet, and the Commission's own homepage said the same in October 2026. The Compact in 2026 explains where it stands.
Until the new state licenses you, or grants a temporary permit where it offers one, you generally cannot practice there, and that includes seeing a client located there by telehealth. ASWB tells social workers to apply in the new jurisdiction whether they practice in person or electronically.
What moves with you
Your ASWB exam score. ASWB says a passing result is valid in any state or province that uses that exam, so a Clinical pass counts toward a clinical license anywhere that requires the Clinical exam. You request a transfer in your ASWBCentral account after you apply to the new board. Each transfer costs a non-refundable US$40, and ASWB sends the score within 7 to 10 business days. Members of ASWB's Social Work Registry get one record transfer per enrollment period. New York accepts scores only directly from ASWB, not from the candidate or another state.
Your supervised experience, often. Many states count time licensed elsewhere in place of their own supervised-experience rules:
- Texas treats its experience requirements as met if you have held another state's equivalent of its LCSW, in good standing, for at least one year immediately before you apply.
- Washington treats its supervised-experience requirement as met after a year or more as an independent clinical social worker elsewhere, with no disciplinary record.
- California's Path A asks for a clinical license held for at least two years, at the highest level for independent clinical practice.
- Florida's MOBILE endorsement asks for at least two years of practice in the four years before you apply.
- New York's endorsement asks for at least 10 years of clinical practice in the 15 years before you apply.
What does not move
State law exams. Several states test their own laws and rules, and a pass elsewhere does not count:
- California requires its Law and Ethics Exam, plus a separate 12-hour California law and ethics course.
- Texas requires its social work jurisprudence exam, an online, open-book test of about two hours, completed no earlier than six months before your application arrives.
- Louisiana requires endorsement applicants to pass a 50-item open-book exam on its practice act and rules, with three hours to finish and 70% to pass.
Our state pages record jurisprudence exams in other states too, such as New Mexico and Vermont.
State-specific coursework. California's Path A applicants also complete courses in child abuse assessment and reporting (7 hours), California cultures and the implications of socioeconomic position (15 hours), and suicide risk assessment and intervention (6 hours).
A level you never tested at. Some endorsement rules look at how you got your first license. The District of Columbia's requires that you were first licensed by passing an exam at the level you are applying for, and New York's requires that your original clinical license rested on requirements similar to its own, including the ASWB Clinical exam. That matters because several licenses are now issued without an ASWB exam, and some titles mean different levels in different states:
- Rhode Island's clinical license requires no ASWB exam until after August 15, 2030, and the Illinois and Colorado LSWs and the District's LGSW are issued without one. Licenses without the ASWB exam tracks every change.
- In West Virginia and Massachusetts, LCSW means Licensed Certified Social Worker, not a clinical license, and the exams differ. In Michigan, the LMSW's macro designation takes the Advanced Generalist exam.
If your license came without the exam your new state's license requires, be ready to sit that exam, and ask the new board early. Which ASWB exam do I need and types of social work licenses map the titles to the exams.
Eight states, checked at source
| State | Route for a clinical social worker licensed elsewhere | What you still need |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Universal recognition (A.R.S. 32-4302) for a new resident licensed at the same level for at least one year, in good standing, who passed any exam the other state required | No revoked license, unresolved discipline or pending complaint; fees |
| California | Path A, licensure by credential: a clinical license at the highest level, held at least two years, active and unrestricted for the two years before you apply, on a CSWE-accredited MSW | California coursework and the California Law and Ethics Exam; Path B (with the ASWB Clinical exam) if you do not qualify |
| District of Columbia | License by endorsement (17 DCMR 7007): a current license in good standing from a state with substantially equivalent requirements, first obtained by an exam at the same level | A verification sent by your original board, and your exam results |
| Florida | MOBILE endorsement (s. 456.0145, F.S.): an active, unencumbered license, a passing score on a national exam, two years of practice in the last four, and no discipline in the last five | A complete application; the department checks the National Practitioner Data Bank |
| Louisiana | Endorsement for the equivalent credential | Verification from every board that has licensed you, verification of supervision hours for the LCSW, an ASWB score transfer, and the open-book exam |
| New York | Endorsement after at least 10 years of clinical practice in the past 15, on an original license based on an MSW with clinical content, supervised clinical experience and the ASWB Clinical exam | Otherwise the standard route, where an LMSW lets you practice under supervision while you qualify |
| Texas | A year or more as the equivalent of a Texas LCSW, in good standing, immediately before you apply counts as meeting the experience requirements | The ASWB Clinical exam (by score transfer), the jurisprudence exam, a National Practitioner Data Bank self-query and fingerprints |
| Washington | A year or more as an independent clinical social worker elsewhere counts as meeting the supervised-experience requirement; a one-year probationary license is available to applicants from states on the department's list | The ASWB Clinical exam and Washington's other application requirements |
For every other state, the board's own endorsement rules decide, and our state pages link each board.
How to move your license
- Contact the new board first. That is ASWB's advice, and the rules differ more than the word "reciprocity" suggests.
- Check that your license and exam match. Compare your license level and the exam you passed with what the new license requires.
- Apply, then request your score transfer from ASWB.
- Ask every board that has licensed you for a verification. The District and Louisiana want one from each, sent by the board itself.
- Find your supervision records. Louisiana asks LCSW applicants for verification of supervision hours, and other states may ask if you were licensed recently.
- Book the state law exam and any required courses early, since some must be finished before the license is issued.
- Do not see clients located in the new state until you are licensed there, including by telehealth.
How to become an LCSW covers the first license, and supervision hours by state compares the experience rules.
Read at source on October 23, 2026: ASWB's pages on getting licensed in another state, on sending exam results to another state, and on licensure by endorsement; the Social Work Licensure Compact Commission's homepage, in the Internet Archive's copy of October 12, 2026; California's Board of Behavioral Sciences guide for out-of-state LCSW applicants (revised September 2025); 17 DCMR 7007 and DC Health's endorsement checklist; section 456.0145, Florida Statutes; the Louisiana board's application information; New York's Office of the Professions LCSW requirements; the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council's requirements for holders of a non-Texas LCSW and its jurisprudence exam page; WAC 246-809-095 and 246-809-330; and A.R.S. 32-4302. Rules change, so confirm with the board before you apply. ASWB Master is not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by the Association of Social Work Boards or the Social Work Licensure Compact Commission.