AMFT Registration
How do you register as an AMFT in California?
AMFT registration is the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) registration a marriage and family therapy graduate needs before most post-degree supervised hours count toward the LMFT license. You apply by mailing Form 37A-590 with a sealed transcript, the Degree Program Certification, a Live Scan request and the $75 fee. The Board must receive it within 90 days of your degree date for hours worked before your number arrives to count. Once the number is issued, you renew every year for up to six years.
Clark Gudas
Published · Updated · 9 min read
Reviewed By Evalin Sosa, AMFT
What is AMFT registration?
Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT) registration is the Board of Behavioral Sciences registration that lets a marriage and family therapy graduate gain supervised experience toward the LMFT license. AMFT is not a license and only works under supervision. The Board issues your AMFT registration number once your application is approved.
You use that number for post-degree hours, weekly supervision logs and later your LMFT license application.
Who can apply for AMFT registration?
You can apply for AMFT registration once a master’s or doctoral degree that meets the Board’s LMFT education requirements has been conferred. The degree must be conferred, not just completed. Your transcript must show the degree title and the date of conferral.
For in-state applicants, the degree must come “from a school located within California” or from “an online program that is designed to meet California’s requirements.” Those applicants use the in-state packet that this page covers.
You do not need the suicide risk assessment coursework (6 hours) or the telehealth coursework (3 hours) to register. However, you need both before licensure.
What changes if your degree is from outside California?
A degree from a school outside California, or from an online program not designed for California, follows the Board’s out-of-state AMFT guide instead of the in-state packet. Three things differ:
- You may need a 12-hour California Law and Ethics course.
- You may need additional coursework before licensure.
- A degree from outside the United States needs a foreign credential evaluation from a NACES member service.
If you live outside California, you must send fingerprint hard cards with your application instead of Live Scan, unless you can reach a California Live Scan operator. The processing fee for hard cards is $49.
What goes in the AMFT application packet?
The AMFT application has six items: Form 37A-590, the $75 fee, a sealed or emailed official transcript, a sealed or emailed Degree Program Certification, the Live Scan request or fingerprint cards, and any transcript for transferred units. Each item in the AMFT application packet, its form number and who sends it are listed below.
Item | Form Number | Who Sends It | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Application for Associate Marriage and Family Therapist Registration | Form 37A-590 (Revised 08/2024) or BreEZe online application | You | Signed and dated if mailing Form 37A-590 |
Application fee | None | You | $75: transfer if online, check or money order payable to the Behavioral Sciences Fund if mailed |
Official transcript showing degree title and conferral date | None | Your school, sealed by mail or emailed to BBStranscripts@dca.ca.gov | Plus a transcript for any transferred-in units |
Degree Program Certification | Form 37A-600 (Form A) or Form 37A-601 (Form B) | Your school | Sealed or emailed by the school |
Request for Live Scan Service | You, after the Live Scan appointment | Out of state: two hard cards and $49 instead | |
Checklist | Keep for yourself | Use it to check the packet before submitting |
A missing item is the most common reason an application stops.
Which Degree Program Certification do you need, Form A or Form B?
Most graduates use Form B, Form 37A-601, because it covers anyone who began graduate study on or after August 1, 2012.
- Form A, Form 37A-600: Use if you began graduate study before August 1, 2012, finished on or before December 31, 2018, and your program was not designed to meet the 2012 educational requirements.
- Form B, Form 37A-601: Use if you began graduate study on or after August 1, 2012, or you began before that date and did not finish by December 31, 2018.
If you are unsure, your school can confirm which form applies.
How do you apply for AMFT registration, step by step?
You apply for AMFT registration in seven steps. The Board must receive the application within 90 days of the date your degree was conferred for hours worked before your associate number arrives to count. The steps to apply for AMFT registration are listed below:
- Confirm your degree has been conferred and note the date on the transcript. Your 90 days run from that date.
- Ask your school to send the sealed transcript and the Degree Program Certification by mail or by email to BBStranscripts@dca.ca.gov.
- Complete and sign Form 37A-590.
- Book a Live Scan and bring the Request for Live Scan Service form. Do it no more than 60 days before you mail the application.
- Attach the $75 fee and the completed Live Scan form to the application. Do not send them separately.
- Check the packet against Form 37A-581.
- Submit your application through your BreEZe account, or mail it to the Board at 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite S200, Sacramento, CA 95834, with delivery confirmation, and keep copies.
The application packet warns: “Do not complete fingerprints more than 60 days prior to submitting your application.” Fingerprints without an application on file are held for only 6 months.
How much does AMFT registration cost?
AMFT registration costs $75 for applications postmarked from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2030. Before July 1, 2026, the fee was $150. The application packet states that “This is an earned fee for evaluation of your application and is not refundable.”
Live Scan is paid separately at the Live Scan site: $32 to the California Department of Justice and $17 to the FBI, plus the site’s service charge. Out-of-state fingerprint hard cards cost $49, sent with the application.
Is the Board’s Live Scan the same as your employer’s Live Scan?
No. The Board’s Live Scan is the background check sent with your AMFT application, and your employer’s Live Scan is a separate check that decides when your 90-day hours start.
The Board’s Live Scan uses Form 37A-649. You complete it within 60 days before submitting your application.
Your employer requires its own Live Scan before you start work if you graduated on or after January 1, 2020. Keep a copy of the employer’s Request for Live Scan Service form. You will need it when you apply for your LMFT license. You need one employer Live Scan per employer. Fingerprints taken for one employer do not transfer to another.
Why does the 90-day window matter for your hours?
The 90-Day Rule states that, if the Board receives your AMFT application within 90 days of your degree date, post-degree hours you work before your number is issued can count; if it arrives later, your hours start the day your AMFT number is issued. For degrees conferred on or after January 1, 2020, the hours start after whichever date is later: your degree date or your employer’s Live Scan date.
Hours in a private practice cannot be gained before the AMFT number is issued, under any timing.
What happens after the Board receives your AMFT application?
The Board evaluates your AMFT application and either issues your AMFT registration number or sends a deficiency letter listing what is missing. If you get a deficiency letter, send the missing items as soon as possible.
The Board treats your application as abandoned if you do not clear the deficiencies within one year of the first deficiency letter, or you do not complete the application within one year after it was filed. An abandoned application means you apply again and pay a new fee.
Until your number is issued, “it is against the law for you to provide clinical services in a private practice setting or professional corporation,” according to the AMFT application packet.
Once the number is issued, the Board sends instructions for the Law and Ethics Exam.
How long does AMFT registration take?
AMFT registration takes as long as the Board’s current processing time for associate applications, which the Board reports each quarter. We do not list a number of days here, because the figure changes.
Two things add time. Fingerprint hard cards take 8 or more weeks to process, and fingerprints or fees sent separately from your application delay approval.
What can you do once your AMFT number is issued?
Once your AMFT number is issued, you can gain supervised hours toward the 3,000 the LMFT license needs, including in a private practice that meets the Board’s conditions, per the AMFT hour requirements.
You and each supervisor you work with complete a Supervision Agreement within 60 days of starting supervision. Your supervisor signs your weekly log, and post-degree logs have a box for your AMFT number. You must be a W-2 employee or a volunteer. Hours as an independent contractor do not count.
Hours from before your number arrived and hours after it follow different rules. SparkHours takes your degree date and your registration date and applies the right rules on each side of the line.
How long does an AMFT registration last?
An AMFT registration lasts one year at a time and can be renewed six times, for seven years in total, starting on January 1, 2027 (AB 1598). After seven years, you need a subsequent registration number to keep gaining hours. A subsequent number requires a passed California Law and Ethics Exam.
Hours gained while a registration is lapsed do not count. Renewal steps and fees are on the license renewal page.
Do you need the Law and Ethics Exam to renew your AMFT registration?
Through December 31, 2026, you must attempt the California Law and Ethics Exam during your first year of registration, or the registration cannot be renewed. On or after January 1, 2027, you are no longer required to attempt it (AB 1598).
Passing the exam is required for a subsequent registration number and for licensure. Each renewal also needs three hours of continuing education in California law and ethics.
How is AMFT registration different from APCC registration?
AMFT and APCC registration use different application forms but the same $75 fee, the same Live Scan and the same 90-day rule. AMFT uses Form 37A-590. APCC uses its own form, named on the APCC registration page.
Pre-degree hours can count on the AMFT track and never on the APCC track. Register on the track your degree qualifies you for.
AMFT registration questions
Can you apply for AMFT registration online?
Yes, you can apply online through your BreEZe account.
Can your school email your transcript to the Board?
Yes, to BBStranscripts@dca.ca.gov. The Degree Program Certification can be sent the same way.
Do you need the suicide risk and telehealth courses to register?
No. They are required before the LMFT license, and proof can be sent early.
Do you have to disclose past convictions on the AMFT application?
The application says you are not required to disclose past convictions or pending criminal cases on it. The Live Scan covers the background check.
Can you send your fingerprints separately from the application?
No. Sending fingerprints or the fee separately delays approval.
Can you work as an AMFT before your number is issued?
Yes, outside private practice, and those hours count only if the 90-day conditions are met.
Do you need a new employer Live Scan for each job?
Yes. Each employer requires its own, and you keep a copy of each form.
Can you count hours as an independent contractor?
No. You must be a W-2 employee or a volunteer.
How do you update your address after you apply?
Through your BreEZe account at breeze.ca.gov.
How do you check that your AMFT number has been issued?
Search your name on the Department of Consumer Affairs license search.
Can SparkHours track hours before your AMFT number arrives?
Yes. Hours after your degree date and before your number are treated as post-degree hours, under the 90-Day Rule.
Start tracking your AMFT hours
Once you have registered, every supervised week counts toward the LMFT license, and a clean record of each one saves you trouble at application time. SparkHours is the BBS hours tracker built for California AMFTs, letting you track your hours from your degree date forward. Start your 14-day free trial now, no credit card required.
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