How to get an insurance license in Georgia

Georgia licenses insurance agents and adjusters through the Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire, and earning an insurance license takes five steps: complete a state-approved prelicensing course, pass the Pearson VUE licensing exam, apply online through Sircon, submit electronic fingerprints, and wait for the department to issue the license. The exam fee is $67, the agent license application fee is $120, and prelicensing courses run 8 hours per line of authority, or 16 hours for property and casualty. Georgia does not require prior experience or a college degree; the licensing standard is a minimum age of 18 and good character.

The Georgia insurance licensing process

You complete a prelicensing course for each line of authority you want to sell, pass the Pearson VUE exam for that line, and file an online application at sircon.com/georgia with the $120 fee, a notarized Citizenship Affidavit, and electronic fingerprints. Georgia law calls licensed agents "producers," and the two terms mean the same thing. The path is the same whether you want to sell life insurance, health insurance, or property and casualty coverage.

The steps in order:

1. Choose your line of authority (Life, Accident and Sickness, Property and Casualty, Personal Lines, or a smaller line such as Credit or Title).
2. Complete the required prelicensing course from a state-approved provider.
3. Pass the Pearson VUE licensing exam for that line.
4. Apply online at sircon.com/georgia, pay the $120 fee, and upload the Citizenship Affidavit.
5. Register for electronic fingerprints after your application is on file.

To qualify, you must be at least 18 years old, be a Georgia resident or have a Georgia business address, and be of good character, with denial grounds listed in Georgia's licensing statute (O.C.G.A. § 33-23-21^[1], as summarized in the state's exam handbook). Insurance sales agents earned a median annual wage of $62,280 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics^[2], with employment projected to grow 3%, about as fast as average, from 2025 to 2035.

Life insurance license in Georgia

The Life license authorizes you to sell life insurance and annuities in Georgia, and it requires an 8-hour prelicensing course plus the Pearson VUE Life exam, which has 80 scored questions and 10 unscored pretest questions in a 2-hour session. The license also serves as the foundation for securities-based products: selling variable annuities requires the separate Variable Products license and registration with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

Annuities are a common Life-line product, and Georgia pairs the license with a one-time training requirement for annuity sales, covered under continuing education below.

Accident and sickness license in Georgia (health)

The Accident and Sickness license is Georgia's health insurance license, and it requires an 8-hour prelicensing course plus the Pearson VUE Accident and Sickness exam, which has 80 scored questions and 10 unscored pretest questions in a 2-hour session. Many applicants pursue this line together with Life, and Pearson VUE administers a combined Life and Accident and Sickness exam for that path, described in the property and casualty section's exam table.

Holders of this line are the agents who can help consumers with Affordable Care Act Marketplace enrollment. Under federal rules from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services^[3], agents without an approved health-related line of authority cannot register for Marketplace systems or assist with Marketplace enrollments.

Property and casualty license in Georgia

The property and casualty (P&C) license authorizes you to sell home, auto, and business coverage, and it requires a 16-hour combined prelicensing course made up of 8 hours of property instruction and 8 hours of casualty instruction. Georgia licenses the two lines together as a matter of policy. The Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance resident licensing page^[4] states the rule directly:

"You must select both Property and Casualty when applying. We do not license just Property or just Casualty."

The combined P&C exam (exam code 12-GA-06) has 125 scored questions plus 10 pretest questions with 2.5 hours of testing time. Pearson VUE also administers single-line Property and single-line Casualty exams of 80 scored questions each, but the license you receive covers both lines.

Personal lines license in Georgia

The Personal Lines license authorizes you to sell property and casualty products, such as home and auto coverage, to individuals and households rather than businesses. It requires its own 8-hour prelicensing course and its own Pearson VUE exam (code 12-GA-55), which has 90 scored questions plus 5 pretest questions in a 2-hour session.

Personal Lines is the one narrow property and casualty credential Georgia issues on its own. A full P&C license already covers personal lines authority, so the Personal Lines license mainly serves agents who plan to work only with consumers.

Variable products, credit, title, and travel licenses in Georgia

Georgia's smaller lines carry lighter requirements, and three of them require no prelicensing course and no exam at all. Every line still requires the online application, the $120 fee, the Citizenship Affidavit, and fingerprints.

• Variable Products: requires a Life license, FINRA certification (Series 6, 7, IR, or GS), and an 8-hour course delivered through the sponsoring company, followed by the Pearson VUE exam with 80 scored questions per the exam content outlines^[5], with 1.5 hours allowed.
• Credit insurance: requires 5 hours of self-study.
• Title, Travel Ticket, Travel Accident and Sickness, and Travel Baggage: no prelicensing course and no examination, per the Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance^[4].

Prelicensing education in Georgia

Georgia requires a minimum of 8 hours of prelicensing instruction per major line of authority under Rule 120-2-3-.08^[6] of the state's insurance regulations, with the major lines defined as Life, Accident and Sickness, Property, Casualty, and Personal Lines. The rule was amended effective June 24, 2025, and the 8-hour per line standard is current. Georgia accepts prelicensing courses in either classroom or online format from approved education providers, and your provider reports your completion electronically to the state.

When you choose a provider, confirm the course matches your line and that the provider reports completions to Sircon. RealEstateU's Georgia prelicensing courses cover the required hours for each major line in a self-paced online format that satisfies the state's education requirement for both the course and exam eligibility. Other approved providers, in classroom and online formats, are listed by the department.

A prelicensing course is valid for one year: you must pass the Pearson VUE exam within one year of completing the course, or you must retrain, per the Georgia Candidate Handbook^[1].

Course and exam exemptions

Georgia waives the prelicensing course, and in some cases the exam, for holders of professional designations and insurance degrees:

Exemptions for prior home-state licensure exist as well, and they are covered under transferring a license below.

The Georgia insurance licensing exam

Georgia contracts with Pearson VUE to deliver its licensing exams, and every insurance exam costs $67 and requires a score of 70% to pass, per the Georgia Candidate Handbook^[1] published by the state's insurance department with Pearson. You pay the exam fee at the time of reservation by credit card, debit card, or voucher; fees are not accepted at the test center and are non-refundable and non-transferable. You must reserve at least 24 hours before your test date through your Pearson VUE Georgia insurance account^[7], walk-ins are not available, and all testing is in person at a Pearson VUE test center. Bring two forms of identification on exam day.

Question counts come from the Pearson VUE content outlines^[5], effective October 22, 2024. Exams weight both national insurance content and Georgia law: the Life outline includes 24 questions on Georgia laws and rules, and the property and casualty outlines include 22 questions on Georgia state laws. Spanish-language versions of several exams are available, and candidates with English as a second language can request a 1.5x time extension with documentation.

If you fail, you can schedule a new exam within one day, but you must wait 14 days to retest after the first and second attempts and 60 days after the third and every subsequent attempt. There is no limit on the number of attempts. A passing score is valid for 12 months, according to the National Insurance Producer Registry's Georgia state page^[8], so you must file your license application within that window.

For preparation beyond the required course, Pearson VUE's Georgia insurance page^[7] sells official online practice tests for life, health, property, and casualty for $19.95 each, and offers the Candidate Handbook and content outlines as free downloads.

Applying for your Georgia insurance license

Resident applications are filed online at sircon.com/georgia, and the agent license fee is $120, made up of a $100 license fee plus a $20 processing fee. Along with the application you must upload a notarized Citizenship Affidavit (Form GID-276-EN) with a copy of a secure, verifiable identification document. The Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance^[4] reports an average application turnaround of 14 business days.

Renewal, late, and reinstatement figures come from the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR) Georgia resident renewal requirements page^[9].

Fingerprints and background check

You must submit electronic fingerprints through the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's approved vendor, IdentoGO, using service code 2TGJ6B, and the fingerprint fee is set by the vendor. The order matters: a fingerprint registration appointment is approved only after the state finds your license application on file, so apply for the license first and then register. The Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance renewals page^[10] confirms that fingerprint registration requests are denied when no application exists.

Deficient applications, denials, and appeals

If your application is incomplete, the department sends one deficiency notice by email and gives you 60 days to resolve it; after 60 days the application is closed with no refund. According to the Georgia resident licensing page^[4], denied applicants may file a written petition to appeal within 10 days of the Notice of Denial.

Certificates of authority after licensure

Selling for an insurer requires a Certificate of Authority, the formal appointment between you and the company, which the insurer files and renews annually. A new appointment costs $16, and appointments for new licensees become valid only when the permanent license is issued, per the Candidate Handbook^[1]. Once your license is approved, the department assigns you a National Producer Number (NPN), the identifier used to track your record across states.

Insurance adjuster licenses in Georgia

Georgia requires independent adjusters to be licensed, and the resident claims adjuster license requires a 16-hour Property and Casualty adjuster course (8 hours per major line), a passing score on the Pearson VUE Adjuster exam, a $120 application, and fingerprints. The Adjuster exam (code 12-GA-24) has 100 scored questions plus 5 pretest questions with 2 hours allowed, and the exam appears in the table above. The Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance adjuster licensing page^[11] lists the full requirement set.

Nonresident adjusters pay $120 and must hold a Property and Casualty adjuster license in their home state, per the NIPR nonresident adjuster requirements^[12]. Applicants from states that do not license adjusters may apply for a Designated Home State license, but they must complete the Georgia adjuster course and pass the exam, plus fingerprints.

Public, staff, and disaster adjusters

Public adjusters, who represent policyholders rather than insurers, complete a Property and Casualty public adjuster course, pass the Public Adjuster exam, and post a $5,000 bond. Since July 1, 2021, public adjuster contracts must be pre-approved by the Commissioner before working with consumers, under O.C.G.A. § 33-23-43.2. Crop and hail adjusters qualify through a CAPP card with no course or exam, and workers' compensation adjusters qualify through the CWCP designation.

Staff adjusters, the salaried employees of insurance companies, are not licensed; their employer registers them with the department annually between March 1 and March 31 for $50 per adjuster plus a $5 processing fee, with a $15 late fee after March 31, per the staff adjuster registration page^[13]. During a declared disaster, nonresident licensed adjusters may work in Georgia for up to 60 days with prior notification; beyond 60 days, they must apply for a Georgia adjuster license.

Surplus lines broker and counselor licenses

Surplus lines brokers must hold a Property and Casualty agent license, pass the Surplus Lines Broker exam (60 scored questions plus 5 pretest, 1.5 hours), and post a $50,000 bond; a CPCU designation waives the exam. Counselors (Life and Accident and Sickness, Property and Casualty, and Limited Health) must pass their own exams and post a $5,000 bond.

Nonresident licenses and transferring an out-of-state license

Nonresidents apply at nipr.com or through Sircon, pay $100 per line-of-authority combination plus a $20 processing fee per license class, and do not sit for a Georgia exam. Your name, date of birth, and license information must match your Producer Database record in your home state, and you cannot apply for a nonresident license in your own resident state, per the NIPR nonresident requirements^[14]. A nonresident license covers only the lines you hold at home.

Agents moving to Georgia can transfer an active home-state license: request a clearance letter from your former state (a $10 letter fee plus $5 processing in Georgia), confirm the old license is inactive, and apply via Sircon within 90 days of your move. Apply inside that window and you are exempt from the prelicensing course, the exams, and fingerprinting, provided the prior license was active on your move date. The state does not convert a resident license into a nonresident license: once you establish residency in a new state, you must apply for a Georgia nonresident license to keep your Georgia privileges, per the Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance renewals page^[10].

License renewal and continuing education in Georgia

Georgia agent licenses renew every two years on the last day of the licensee's birth month, and renewal requires 24 hours of continuing education (CE) with 3 hours in ethics plus a $100 renewal fee and a $5 processing fee. New licensees receive an initial term of 18 to 29 months, depending on birth month, before the two-year cycle begins. Agents renewing with the Variable Products line pay $200.

The 20-hour tier reflects an automatic 4-hour reduction that began in 2026 for licensees with more than 20 years of service, and the 12-hour tier applies to holders of designations such as CPCU, CLU, FLMI, CIC, CEBS, ChFC, AAI, or CFP, per the Georgia continuing education page^[15]. Up to 50% of a period's requirement may carry forward to the next period, though extra ethics hours cannot satisfy the next period's ethics requirement.

Several product-specific training rules sit on top of the base requirement. Producers licensed after August 1, 2023 who sell annuities must complete the one-time 4-hour Annuity Best Interest course under Rule 120-2-94, and licensees selling long-term care or flood insurance must complete approved training in those products before selling them.

If you miss the renewal deadline, a late renewal can be filed within 15 days after expiration for a $115 agent fee. A license inactivated for failure to renew or CE noncompliance can be reinstated within 12 months of the inactivation date for a $280 fee, and reinstatement requires new fingerprints if the license was inactive more than 6 months. Licensees with 10 consecutive years of licensure may request non-active status in the 90 days before expiration, which suspends the CE requirement while it lasts.

How to look up an insurance license in Georgia

Use the Georgia License Lookup tool^[16] from the Office of Commissioner of Insurance to find out whether an insurance professional, agency, or company holds a Georgia license. The search returns licensing details for agents, adjusters, agencies, and insurers operating in the state.

Next steps

Decide which line of authority matches the products you plan to sell, since that choice sets your course hours and your exam. Enroll in an approved prelicensing course for that line, then reserve your Pearson VUE exam date early enough to stay inside the one-year window after course completion. Once you pass, file the Sircon application the same week, upload your Citizenship Affidavit, and register for fingerprints at IdentoGO with service code 2TGJ6B, in that order. Following the sequence keeps your application complete and moves you toward a license inside the state's typical processing time.