If you’re thinking about becoming an insurance agent in Arizona, the first step you’ll need to take in order to kickstart your career is to obtain an Arizona insurance license.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the step-by-step process of how to become an insurance agent in Arizona, as well as what to do once you get licensed.

Arizona Insurance License

In order to get your Arizona insurance license, you’ll need to complete the following seven steps:

1. Ensure You Qualify for Licensure
2. Figure Out Which Insurance License You’ll Need
3. Complete a Pre-Licensing Education Course
4. Pass the Relevant Arizona Insurance License Exam(s)
5. Complete a Fingerprint and Background Check
6. Provide Proof of Lawful Presence in the US
7. Submit Your Insurance License Application

Below we have explored each step in more detail.

Step 1: Qualify for Licensure

The first thing you need to do before starting out is ensure that you will not be precluded from becoming licensed in the state of Arizona.

This is important because — in accordance with the Arizona Revised Statutes (“ARS”) § 20-295 — not everyone will qualify for an insurance license, and the Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions can in fact deny licensure for a number of reasons, including having prior felony convictions and/or having shown fraudulent behavior in the past.

Note: You will also need to be at least 18 years old.

Step 2: Decide Which Insurance Licenses You Need

The first step will be deciding what type of insurance policies you’ll want to sell — at least at the start of your career.

This is because the type of insurance policies you’re hoping to sell will dictate the type of license you’ll need. For example, you’d need a Property & Casualty (P&C) license to be able to sell auto, home, or business insurance.

Here’s a list of all the different types of insurance agent licenses that are available in the state of Arizona:

• Life
• Accident and Health
• Life, Accident and Health
• Property
• Casualty
• Property and Casualty
• Bail Bond
• Surplus Lines
• Crop Insurance

While there are a large number of different licenses to choose from, the vast majority of insurance agents will either obtain a Property and Casualty (P&C) or Life and Health license.

In fact, many agents actually opt to go for both of these licenses as it allows them to offer clients a much wider range of the most common insurance products.

However, if you already know you want to specialize in one particular type of policy, you’ll of course only have to focus on the specific license that’s relevant to this insurance type.

It’s worth noting at this point that if you’re looking to work as an insurance adjuster, you’ll need to obtain a separate license — which you can find more information about in our Arizona Adjuster License overview.

Step 3: Complete a Arizona Pre-Licensing Education Course

The next step you’ll want to take toward becoming a licensed insurance agent in Arizona is completing a pre-licensing education course.

It’s important to note that — in accordance with Arizona law — you will not be required to complete a certain number of pre-licensing education credits in order to be allowed to sit an insurance exam.

Having said that, doing so is (generally speaking) almost always recommended for aspiring insurance agents. This is because it can go a long way in both: helping you pass on your first attempt and teaching you what you’ll need to know to operate successfully as an insurance agent post licensing.

Due to the sheer number of pre-licensing education courses available, it’s normal to feel a little overwhelmed when deciding which one is right for you. To avoid this, we typically recommend making a decision based on the following factors:

• The course’s flexibility (e.g., does it allow flexible learning, does it require completing within a short time-window, etc.)
• The course’s price: This one is obvious; our only tip here is to not go too low, as from our experience you tend to get what you pay for when it comes to these
• The course’s reputation: How reliable is each provider? The last thing you want is insufficient and/or incomplete resources before your exam

If you want more information before getting started, you can also have a look at our in-depth overview of the five best pre-license education courses in 2024.

Step 4: Pass the Relevant Arizona Insurance License Exam(s)

After completing your pre-licensing education course, you will likely need to take (and pass) the relevant Arizona insurance license exam.

We say “relevant” because this will depend on the line you wish to specialize in; for example, if you’re planning to become a Life and Health insurance producer, you will need to pass the Life, Accident, and Health (13-33) insurance exam — which has 150 scored questions and needs to be completed within 2.5 hours.

In Arizona, all insurance exams are multiple-choice, administered by Prometric, and can be done either in-person at a registered test center or remotely via Prometric’s ProProctor Application.

In accordance with statutory law (ARS §20-284(H)), you will be able to sit each exam line four times within each 12 month period. If you fail four times, you will be prevented from retaking for a full-year.

You should also note that you will need to apply for your license within 12 months of passing — if you don’t, you’ll need to re-take. For individuals in military service, this can be extended to 18 months.

Keep in mind that you will not need to sit (and pass) an Arizona insurance exam if:

• You are only applying for a limited-line credit insurance producer license
• You are adding variable life and variable annuity to an existing life insurance producer license
• You are applying to become a health insurance navigator or certified application counselor (federal certification required)
• You hold the equivalent license in a different state, are in good standing, and have followed all legal rigmarole successfully (e.g., submitted an application in Arizona within 90 days of moving, submitted a clearance letter to your former state, etc.)

For more information, you can have a look at our Arizona Insurance License Exam guide.

Step 5: Complete a Fingerprinting And Background Check

In accordance with state law (ARS §§ 20-142(E) and 41-1750(G)(2)), the next step you’ll need to complete is submit your fingerprints to the Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions, which will be reviewed against both Arizona’s and the FBI’s criminal history databases.

To organize a fingerprinting appointment, you can use the Department of Public Safety Public Service Portal and complete the following steps:

• Log in or create an account for an “Individual”
• Enter the appropriate fingerprinting code: For life, health, property, or casualty, this is INS-055.A
• Follow the remaining prompts and pay the $22.44 processing fee

During your fingerprinting appointment you’ll be given a reference number beginning with the letter “A”. Do not throw this away as you’ll need it for the next steps.

Next up, you’ll want to head over to the Fieldprint Arizona site where you’ll be able to complete the livescan portion of the fingerprinting process. To get started, you will need to:

• Click on “Schedule Appointment”
• Sign up or Log in
• Scroll down and select “Don’t have a Fieldprint Code” and “Continue with this Reason” options
• Enter in your reference number from earlier
• Follow the remaining prompts and pay the required $8.25 processing fee

Keep in mind that you will have the right to obtain copies of both your state and your federal criminal history record if you choose to (e.g., if you need to review them following a proposed denial).

Below you can find information in relation to how to go about doing this:

• Arizona Criminal History Record: Contacting the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s (ADPS) Criminal History Records Unit at the following number: 602) 223-2222
• Federal Identity History Summary Checks: Submitting a written request to the FBI’s Criminal Justice information Services (CJIS) Division via mail at the following address: SCU, Mod. D–2, 1000 Custer Hollow Road, Clarksburg, WV 26306. There is an $18 fee for this

For more information, have a look at the Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions Fingerprinting page.

Step 6: Provide Proof of Lawful Presence in the United States (If Applicable)

In accordance with ARS § 41-1080, you will need to submit Form L-152 with the Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions in conjunction with the relevant forms of identification in order to prove that you are legally residing in the US.

Note: This step is not mandatory for candidates that chose to submit their fingerprints electronically.

Step 7: Submit Your Insurance License Application

With your Arizona insurance exams and fingerprinting out of the way, you’ll be ready to actually apply for your license. Applications can either be submitted online to the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR) or via mail to the Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions.

For paper filings, you will need to download and complete this NAIC Uniform Application for Individual Producer License form and submit it to the following address:

Insurance Licensing Section
SUITE 102
100 NORTH 15TH AVENUE
PHOENIX, AZ 85007-2624

The fee for new insurance producer applications is $120, plus a $22 FBI background check fee.

Step 8: Application Review

And that’s it! After satisfying all the other requirements and submitting a license application to the Arizona Department of Insurance or to NIPR, all that’s left to do is wait.

If everything on your application has been filled out correctly, your license should be issued within one month — which is the amount of time it typically takes for a license application and background check to be reviewed.

It’s important to be aware that the issuance of your insurance license can take a bit longer than this if there are any items from your background check that need to be looked over. However, the state will likely get in touch with you to give some context if they run into any issues.

In any case, the state will send you an email regarding the status of your license once this review has been completed, so keep an eye out for that, and make sure that you do not conduct any insurance business-related activity until after your application has been approved.

After Getting Your Arizona Insurance License

Once you’ve passed all your exams and your licensing application has been approved, you’ll be a qualified insurance agent in Arizona.

At this point, there are four main steps that we recommend new insurance agents to take:

1. Obtain Any Relevant Securities Licenses: If you’re planning on selling advanced life insurance products, you’ll need to pass the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) exam and obtain the relevant securities licenses (e.g., Series 6, 7, and 63).
2. Choose a Means of Selling: You’ll have to decide whether you’d prefer working as a captive agent employed by one company, or running your own business as an independent agent.
3. Develop Your Marketing Approach: To succeed as an insurance agent, you’ll need to adopt a marketing approach that’s effective for you. Finding and sticking to a niche, as well organizing all client appointments for the start of your week, are two great ways to do this.
4. Keep Your License Valid: Arizona residents (e.g., Life and health producer, surplus lines broker, etc.) are required to complete 48 hours of approved continuing education (CE) training during each license term, with at least six hours being focused on ethics-related training.

Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions Contact Information

Mailing Address:
100 North 15th Avenue, Suite 261
Phoenix, Arizona 85007-2630

Phone: (602) 364-4457

Email: insurancelicensing@difi.az.gov

Website: https://difi.az.gov/producers

License Search: Arizona Insurance License Search and Lookup