The Distinction That Trips Up Most Employers
A compact being "enacted" means a state passed a law agreeing to join it. It does not mean a clinician can actually use it yet. Every one of the compacts below requires a Compact Commission to build a shared licensure data system and finalize operating rules before any state actually starts issuing multistate privileges — a process that routinely takes 12–24 months after enactment. Treating "enacted" as "usable" is the single most common licensing mistake we see hiring managers make.
Compact status changes frequently. This guide reflects publicly available information as of August 2026 and should be verified against each compact's official site before making a hiring decision.
Psychiatrists (MD/DO) — The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact
This is the good news story. The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC) is genuinely operational, with over 40 member states actively issuing licenses through it — and all three of Saltlanding's core states are members: Georgia (since 2019), Florida (since 2024), and South Carolina.
- How it works: A physician selects a "State of Principal Licensure," is issued a Letter of Qualification, then obtains full individual state licenses in every additional member state selected — through one streamlined application instead of separate applications per state.
- Typical timeline: Reported turnaround runs anywhere from roughly 2–6 weeks in many cases, though this varies by state board workload and applicant history. Confirm current processing times at imlcc.com.
- What this means for hiring: A psychiatrist already IMLC-qualified from another member state can often be licensed in Georgia, Florida, or South Carolina significantly faster than a traditional from-scratch application — a real, usable advantage today.
PMHNPs — The APRN Compact Is Not Usable Yet, Anywhere Relevant
This is the one that surprises people. Unlike the RN/LPN Nurse Licensure Compact (which has existed for years), advanced practice nurses — including PMHNPs — fall under a separate APRN Compact that is still far from operational.
- Current status: As of mid-2026, only five states have enacted it (Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming) — two short of the seven needed just to activate the compact, let alone make it operational.
- Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina are not among the enacted states.
- What this means for hiring: Every PMHNP you hire needs a full, individually-issued state license in Georgia, Florida, or South Carolina — there is no compact shortcut available today, regardless of what license the candidate already holds elsewhere.
Psychiatric PAs — Compact Enacted, but Not in Your Core States
The PA Licensure Compact has real momentum nationally — roughly 26 states have enacted it as of mid-2026 — but Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina are not currently among them.
- What this means for hiring: Same as PMHNPs — full individual state licensure required for psychiatric PAs practicing in GA, FL, or SC, regardless of the compact's national progress.
- Worth monitoring: this list is expanding quickly. Check pacompact.org for current member states before assuming this hasn't changed.
Therapists — Two Different Compacts, Two Different Answers
"Licensed Therapist" covers more than one license type, and the compact picture is genuinely different for each:
- LPCs (Licensed Professional Counselors) — the Counseling Compact: Enacted in around 40 states, including Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. But operational status is much narrower — as of mid-2026, the compact is only actually live (issuing privileges) in a handful of states, and Georgia is the only one of Saltlanding's three core states currently live. Florida and South Carolina have enacted it but aren't issuing privileges yet.
- LCSWs (Licensed Clinical Social Workers) — the Social Work Licensure Compact: This is a separate compact. Georgia and South Carolina have enacted it; Florida has not. Critically, no state is issuing multistate social work licenses yet anywhere in the country — the compact commission is still building the system. Every LCSW hire currently requires individual state licensure, full stop.
Quick Reference: What This Means Today
How Saltlanding Handles This
Every candidate we present already accounts for the real licensure timeline for the state you're hiring in — not the optimistic compact-adjacent version. When a compact genuinely applies (like IMLC for psychiatrists), we factor that into how fast we can realistically get someone credentialed and seeing patients. When it doesn't apply yet — which, right now, is most of the professions we place — we plan the search timeline around individual state licensure from the start, so there are no surprises three weeks into onboarding.
Reach out to talk through the licensure timeline for your specific search.