National certification is a voluntary professional credential; it is not a membership. In order to maintain certification, counselors must first meet the established qualification standards and then must maintain annual fees and compliance with NBCC ethical standards. As part of the maintenance of certification, counselors attest to compliance with NBCC ethics policies, including disclosure requirements, each year.

In order to maintain certification, you must:

• Adhere to NBCC’s ethics standards, including the NBCC Code of Ethics

• Pay annual certification fee

• Complete required continuing education

Adherence to NBCC Ethical Standards

As a part of the payment of annual certification fees and recertification processes, you must review the required ethical disclosure areas, indicate if you have any matters to disclose and attest your adherence with NBCC ethics standards.

Annual Certification Fee

You will receive notification of your annual certification fee statement at the email address on file approximately 45 days before the payment due date. For this reason, you are encouraged to keep your contact information current. If you need to update your e-mail address or other contact information, log in to Credentialing Gateway. To ensure delivery of NBCC communications to your inbox, please add nbcc@nbcc.org to your address book.

You may pay your annual certification fee online through Credentialin Gateway, or print out your invoice and submit by mail. The invoice is available in your Credentialing Gateway account. If you would like to request a change in your certification status, complete that process before paying your fees. All fees are nonrefundable and nontransferable.

Continuing Education

During your certification cycle, you should continue to accumulate continuing education hours in order to complete the requirement in time to recertify. It is recommended that you take advantage of the continuing education tracker in Credentialing Gateway by entering the program information and uploading your documentation of completion. If you hold a specialty certification, a percentage of the clock hours must be within your specialty area.

Every month, 10 percent of recertifying NCCs are selected for a continuing education audit. You are not required to submit your continuing education documentation to NBCC unless randomly selected for audit. If selected for an audit, there will be a notification in your Credentialing Gateway account.

Log in to Credentialing Gateway today to view your contact information, start uploading your continuing education certificates and view your invoice.