AMFT to LMFT in California: the requirements

The degree

A qualifying master's or doctorate of at least 60 semester or 90 quarter units, with a practicum that includes at least 150 hours of face-to-face counseling, plus 75 more hours of counseling or client-centered advocacy (Business and Professions Code §4980.36). Your school certifies that the program qualifies.

Hours can start once you have completed 12 semester or 18 quarter units of graduate study, as a trainee (§4980.43(c)(6)).

The 3,000 hours: minimums and caps

All in Business and Professions Code §4980.43(c):

• At least 3,000 hours over at least 104 weeks
• At most 40 hours in any seven consecutive days
• At least 1,700 hours after your degree was awarded
• At most 1,300 hours before it, and of those at most 750 hours of counseling and direct supervisor contact
• At least 1,750 hours of direct clinical counseling with individuals, groups, couples or families, including at least 500 hours diagnosing and treating couples, families and children
• At most 1,250 hours of nonclinical practice: direct supervisor contact, psychological testing, clinical reports, progress or process notes, client-centered advocacy, and workshops your supervisor approves
• At most 1,200 hours under a licensed educational psychologist

How old the hours can be

Hours can't be more than six years old on the date the Board receives your licensure application, except up to 500 hours from your practicum. From January 1, 2027, that becomes seven years.

California's 2027 LMFT law changes: AB 1598 and SB 1445

Telehealth and group therapy

The Board's FAQ: “There is no limit on the number of telehealth hours that can be counted toward the supervised experience requirements.” We found no separate cap on group therapy hours in the law; group therapy is part of the direct clinical counseling above.

The 90-day rule

Hours after your degree and before your AMFT registration count only if the Board receives your registration application within 90 days of the degree's award, the registration is later granted, and, if you finished graduate study on or after January 1, 2020, your workplace required Live Scan fingerprinting before you started (§4980.43(b)). Never in a private practice or professional corporation before you are registered.

The Board's 90-day rule FAQ says such hours count only after the date on your employer's “Request for Live Scan Service” form; a copy goes with your licensure application.

Your AMFT registration

• It expires one year from the last day of the month it was issued, and you renew it every year (§4984.01(a)), with three hours of California law and ethics continuing education each renewal period
• Through December 31, 2026: at most five renewals, and none beyond six years from the month of issue. From January 1, 2027: six renewals and seven years
• After that, a subsequent registration number, which needs a Law and Ethics Exam pass and can't be used in a private practice (from 2027, apart from a one-time two-year hardship extension the Board approves)
• The Board's handbook: “Hours earned under an expired AMFT registration will not count.”

Work rules

• As an employee (W-2) or volunteer only, never as an independent contractor (§4980.43.3(a))
• Paid only by your employer, never by clients
• As a trainee, never in a private practice or professional corporation
• Hours under a supervisor who is your spouse, relative or domestic partner aren't credited

Supervision

Every week you count hours, in each setting, you need at least one hour of individual or triadic supervision or two hours of group supervision in that same week, and your supervisor signs your weekly log each week.

As an associate, a week with more than 10 hours of direct clinical counseling in a setting needs one more unit of supervision there that week, and 52 of your 104 weeks must include individual or triadic supervision.

California AMFT supervision: the weekly rule and the Weekly Log of Experience Hours

The exams

• The California Law and Ethics Exam: through 2026, taken within your first year of registration and at least once each renewal cycle until passed; from 2027, the new law ends the yearly attempt, but it must be passed before the Clinical Exam (the Board's regulation still describes the yearly attempt; ask the Board how it applies it). 90 days between attempts
• The LMFT Clinical Exam, administered by the Board, after all of your hours, your education and a Law and Ethics pass (§4980.397(c))
• Once approved, take a required exam (Law and Ethics or Clinical) at least once every 365 days, or your application is treated as abandoned (16 CCR 1806(b))
• The law allows the Board to adopt the AMFTRB national exam by regulation. The Board has proposed it from July 1, 2027 or later, but the proposal is on hold, and the Board's next meeting is on November 19–20, 2026; nothing is adopted

Fees, July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2030

The Board's fees are reduced for these four years:

• AMFT registration application: $75; each renewal: $75
• Law and Ethics Exam: $75
• Licensure application: $125, plus $125 for the Clinical Exam
• Initial license: $100
• Fingerprinting fees are separate and not reduced

How long the Board takes

By regulation, the Board has 30 business days to say whether an AMFT application is complete, 60 business days for a licensure application, and 30 business days to say whether your request for the license is complete (16 CCR 1805.1). Pay the initial license fee within one year of the Board's notice that you passed the exams (16 CCR 1806(c)).