Out-of-state psychologist · California · checked August 31, 2026
Your EPPP travels. Your California category still matters.
The Board of Psychology uses three out-of-state categories, not the BBS Path A/Path B system. Choose the right category first; then separate the 3,000-hour total from the 1,500-hour postdoctoral floor.
Check my category →Seeking LMFT, LCSW or LPCC instead?
Those licenses are controlled by the Board of Behavioral Sciences and use Path A or Path B. They do not use the psychologist categories below.
The useful distinction
Licensed elsewhere changes the exam sequence. It does not erase the hour floors.
Applicants licensed elsewhere generally bring an EPPP score and take the CPLEE. But the Board still publishes the 3,000-hour total, the 1,500-hour postdoctoral minimum, the qualifying doctorate, six prelicensure subjects, fingerprints and final-license request. A portable national credential can simplify proof in Category C; it does not create a fourth route.
Private migration checker
Which category, which proof, and which hour floor is still open?
Use estimates to organize the packet. No account, license number, employer, supervisor name or client information is requested; nothing is stored or submitted.
Your route
Your documented experience
Nothing entered here leaves this page. The result organizes the Board’s published categories; only the Board can decide whether a degree, score, hour, credential or course is accepted.
The Board’s three categories
A, B and C are about license history, not professional seniority.
| Category | Who it is for | Examination path | Experience proof |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Never licensed as a psychologist in another state, Canadian province or U.S. territory | EPPP eligibility/exam, then CPLEE | Supervision agreements and out-of-state VOE forms |
| B | Licensed there for less than two years | EPPP score transfer, then CPLEE | Supervision agreements and out-of-state VOE forms |
| C | Licensed there for more than two years | EPPP score transfer, then CPLEE | VOE forms, unless CPQ, National Register HSP or ABPP verification is accepted in their place |
The Board page labels B as less than two years and C as more than two years. It does not resolve exactly two years on that page; ask the Board to classify that boundary. A credential may substitute for experience forms in Category C; the published 3,000/1,500-hour requirements remain on the route.
Two simultaneous floors
Three thousand total does not answer the postdoctoral question.
The license requires 3,000 hours of supervised professional experience and at least 1,500 postdoctoral hours. These are separate tests. Someone with 3,400 total and 1,200 postdoctoral is still 300 postdoctoral hours short.
The Board’s out-of-state instructions ask for 1,500 pre- or postdoctoral hours at the EPPP step, then all 3,000 with at least 1,500 postdoctoral before CPLEE approval.
Prior licensure changes the examination path. It does not turn years licensed into a published month-to-hour conversion.
The published route calls for original supervision agreements, if any, and three-page VOE forms in supervisor-sealed envelopes unless the Category C credential exception applies.
The preventable loss
The Board states that California SPE earned before completion of the supervision agreement is not accepted. For old out-of-state experience, retrieve the agreement and VOE evidence before assuming a total on a résumé is a licensure total.
Before initial licensure
Six subjects, with one academic-institution rule and one date split.
| Subject | Published length | What changes the answer |
|---|---|---|
| Human sexuality | 10 hours | May be documented through qualifying prior training. |
| Alcohol and chemical dependency detection and treatment | 15 hours | The Board says this course must be completed at an academic institution. |
| Child abuse assessment and reporting | 7 hours | Assessment, reporting and treatment duties. |
| Spousal or partner abuse assessment, detection and intervention | 2 or 15 hours | Two hours for graduate training begun in 1995–2003; 15 hours for training begun in 2004 or later. |
| Aging and long-term care | 6 hours | The Board lists this as a separate prelicensure subject. |
| Suicide risk assessment and intervention | 6 hours | A separate six-hour prelicensure requirement. |
The Board says these can be completed throughout the application process but must be complete before licensure. Acceptance of prior coursework is a Board decision.
Practice while waiting
Thirty days and 180 days are different statutes, not a general reciprocity period.
| Boundary | What the Board publishes | Do not turn it into |
|---|---|---|
| Temporary out-of-state psychologist license · up to 30 consecutive days per calendar year | Advance Board approval through BreEZe; current active unrestricted doctoral-level license; an established client relationship before the client is in California; required disclosures | A way to open a California practice or begin with new California clients |
| After applying for California licensure · up to 180 calendar days | A psychologist licensed in another state, territory or province who has applied may perform psychological activities for up to 180 days from application or California residency, whichever occurs first | A promise that every payer, employer, telehealth fact pattern or scope question is cleared |
These provisions overlap only in ordinary language. The Board publishes separate eligibility and timing rules; verify the one you intend to rely on before serving anyone in California.
Build the packet
Request the documents that depend on somebody else first.
The dependency order
- Official qualifying-degree transcript showing the degree and conferral date.
- Official certification of every psychologist license held elsewhere.
- ASPPB EPPP score transfer for licensed applicants.
- Original supervision agreements and supervisor-sealed VOE forms, unless the Board accepts the Category C credential substitution.
- CPQ, National Register HSP or ABPP verification sent by the issuing body when used.
- Evidence for all six prelicensure subjects.
- Out-of-state fingerprint hard cards requested from the Board, or California Live Scan paperwork if fingerprinted in California.
- A dated copy of every submission, deficiency response and delivery record.
2026 published fees and timing
The Board-controlled floor is $594 before fingerprints, vendor charges or courses.
The 2026 schedule lists $236 for the initial application, $127 for the CPLEE application and $231 for initial licensure. Category A may also owe the EPPP and test-center fees. This arithmetic excludes fingerprints, score transfer, transcripts, credentials, coursework, retakes, supervision and lost work time.
| Board charge | 2026 amount |
|---|---|
| Psychologist initial application | $236 |
| CPLEE application | $127 |
| Initial psychologist license | $231 |
| Board-controlled floor | $594 |
Read the current Board fee schedule before paying. The fee page also lists the EPPP and test-center amounts and the out-of-state hard-card charge.
Processing is a moving queue
The Board’s processing page is updated about every two weeks and publishes the received dates currently being worked for out-of-state/EPPP eligibility, CPLEE requests, initial licensure and supporting documents.
Where every figure came from
Sources.
California Board of Psychology — controlling route
Temporary practice, fees and timing
Checked August 31, 2026. This page organizes the Board’s current public instructions; it is not reciprocity, legal advice, a credential evaluation or a promise that any degree, score, hour, course or temporary-practice fact pattern will be accepted.
