How to get your Virginia insurance license

Virginia licenses insurance agents through a four-part process: pass the Prometric exam for your line of authority, get fingerprinted, apply online through the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR), and wait for the State Corporation Commission (SCC) Bureau of Insurance to issue the license. Applicants must be at least 18 years old, and Virginia requires no prelicensing education except for title insurance, which needs a 16-hour course. A single-line resident license carries three mandatory fees: a $35 exam fee, a $37.95 fingerprinting fee, and a $15 application fee per line of authority.

Licensing rules for selling insurance in Virginia

Anyone who sells, solicits, or negotiates insurance contracts in Virginia must hold a Bureau of Insurance license before transacting business. An insurer may pay a commission only to an agent who is properly licensed and appointed at the time of the sale, according to the Virginia Insurance Licensing Information Bulletin^[1] the Bureau distributes through its exam vendor, Prometric.

Under Va. Code § 38.2-1824^[2], the Commission issues agent licenses by line of authority: life and annuities agent, health agent, property and casualty agent, personal lines agent, and title insurance agent, alongside limited lines licenses in credit, life and health, property and casualty, and motor vehicle rental contract insurance. The same statute authorizes public adjuster, surplus lines broker, variable contract agent, and viatical settlement broker licenses. A property and casualty license includes personal lines authority, so an agent never needs both.

Licenses issued without an exam

Virginia issues several licenses without a licensing exam, including the four limited lines licenses, temporary producer licenses, and the surplus lines broker license, per the Prometric bulletin^[1]. Temporary licenses become available when an agent dies, becomes incapacitated, or sells the business, and they run to specified relatives and employees. Surplus lines broker applicants must already hold an active property and casualty producer license and certify a $25,000 bond in favor of the Commonwealth; renewal carries a minimum $300 annual assessment even if no business was transacted, per NIPR's Virginia renewal requirements^[3].

Does Virginia license insurance adjusters?

Virginia licenses adjusters only in the public adjuster capacity. Under Va. Code § 38.2-1845.1^[4], a public adjuster solicits, investigates, negotiates, or advises on first-party property claims on behalf of policyholders; a licensed agent who advises on claims under policies the agent sold is not engaged in public adjusting. The state does not license company or independent adjusters, so Virginia residents seeking that work typically obtain a designated home state adjuster license from a state such as Florida or Texas. A resident public adjuster applicant must be at least 18, pass the Public Adjuster exam (Series 11-08, 60 minutes), be fingerprinted, and apply online, and public adjusters then complete 24 hours of continuing education per biennium under Va. Code § 38.2-1866^[5].

The Virginia insurance agent licensing process at a glance

The Virginia insurance agent licensing process takes four working steps, because the state does not require prelicensing education for any line except title insurance. Most new agents choose either a property and casualty license, which covers auto and homeowners, or the life and health combination. The Bureau lists the steps in its Licensing Information Bulletin^[1]:

1. Read the Licensing Information Bulletin.
2. Register and schedule the exam with Prometric.
3. Review the exam content outline for your line.
4. Register, schedule, and pay for fingerprinting at a Fieldprint site.
5. Take the exam with two forms of identification.
6. Apply for the license online through NIPR or Sircon.

The exams differ by line:

Time limits come from the Prometric bulletin; question counts come from the exam content outlines cited in the line-by-line sections below.

Life and annuities license in Virginia

The life and annuities agent license authorizes you to sell life insurance and annuity products, and it is what most people mean by a life insurance license in Virginia. The Life and Annuities exam (Series 11-05) has 105 total questions, 90 scored and 15 unscored pretest items, in a two-hour sitting, per the Prometric Series 11-05 content outline^[6].

Candidates who also want health authority can take the combined Life, Annuities and Health exam (Series 11-01), which covers both lines in one 2.5-hour sitting. On the combined exam, policy provisions, options and riders, individual health policy provisions, and senior products such as Medicare, Medicare supplement, and long-term care each carry 11% of the score, per the Prometric Series 11-01 content outline^[7].

To sell variable annuities and other securities-based products, you need a variable contracts registration on top of this license. NIPR's Virginia resident licensing requirements^[8] require a Central Registration Depository number issued through the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for variable contracts applicants, and agents selling securities products generally must also pass FINRA's Series 6 or Series 7 exams, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics^[9].

Health license in Virginia

The health agent license authorizes you to sell health insurance in Virginia, including Medicare supplement and other senior coverage that falls under the health line. The Health exam (Series 11-06) follows the same format as the life exam: 105 total questions, 90 scored and 15 unscored pretest, with a two-hour limit, per the Prometric exam content outlines^[6]. Candidates who want both lines can sit the combined Series 11-01 exam instead of testing separately, and life and annuities and health count as separate lines when you apply.

Property and casualty license in Virginia

The property and casualty (P&C) license authorizes you to sell auto, homeowners, dwelling, and commercial coverage, and it is the license required to sell car insurance or business insurance. The Property and Casualty exam (Series 11-03) has 145 total questions, 135 scored plus 10 unscored pretest, with a 2.5-hour limit, per the Prometric Series 11-03 content outline^[10].

Auto insurance carries the heaviest weight on the exam at 16% of scored items, followed by insurance regulation at 15%, homeowners at 13%, property and casualty basics at 13%, and the commercial package policy at 12%, per the same outline. The exam also tests Virginia law, including the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, and the FAIR Plan. Because a P&C license includes personal lines authority, NIPR's resident requirements^[8] bar holding both a property and casualty and a personal lines license.

Personal lines license in Virginia

A personal lines license authorizes you to sell auto, homeowners, and dwelling coverage to individuals and households, but not commercial policies. The Personal Lines exam (Series 11-07) has 105 total questions, 100 scored plus 5 unscored pretest, in a two-hour sitting, per the Prometric Series 11-07 content outline^[11]. The personal lines outline omits the commercial package, businessowners, and workers compensation sections that appear on the P&C exam. Choose between the two based on whether you will serve households only or commercial clients as well, since the licenses are mutually exclusive.

Title insurance license in Virginia

Title is the only Virginia line that requires prelicensing education: 16 classroom hours, or the equivalent through approved distance learning, per the Prometric bulletin^[1]. You must pass the Title exam (Series 11-04, 90 minutes) within one year of finishing the course, or repeat the course before testing again. On exam day, title candidates must bring the original pre-licensing study course instructor's certification and a notarized affidavit of course completion.

Taking the Virginia insurance exam

Every Virginia insurance licensing exam is administered by Prometric, and each attempt costs $35, nonrefundable. You register and schedule online at prometric.com/virginia/insurance, by phone at 866-891-6396, or by fax or mail, per the Prometric bulletin effective December 13, 2024^[1]. Va. Code § 38.2-1817^[12] caps the statutory exam fee between $20 and $100 and requires the Commission to offer exams at least monthly.

An exam registration stays valid for 90 calendar days; if it lapses, you must register again and pay a new fee. You must reschedule or cancel at least 24 hours before the appointment or the fee is forfeited. You can test at any Prometric test center in the United States or from home through Prometric's remote proctoring system, ProProctor, per Prometric's Virginia exam page^[13]. Bring two forms of identification; a plastic U.S. learner's permit with photo and signature counts as a primary ID.

Prometric shows your pass or fail result on screen at the test center. A candidate who fails may re-register after 24 hours, but after a third failure Virginia law requires a 30-calendar-day wait before retaking, per Va. Code § 38.2-1817^[12]. A passing score stays valid for license applications for 183 calendar days; after that the grade is invalid and the exam fee and application processing fee are forfeited. Prometric publishes free practice exams for the life, health, and personal lines exams, and veterans can be reimbursed up to $2,000 per exam under the GI Bill.

Fingerprints and the background check

Every resident applicant must be fingerprinted at a Fieldprint site, where live scan technology sends the prints to the Virginia State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the fee is $37.95. The requirement has applied to all resident license applications since January 1, 2021, per the Prometric bulletin^[1], and the SCC's license application page^[14] lists the current Fieldprint cost at $37.95, inclusive of the state police and FBI fees.

Fingerprints must be no older than 90 days when you submit your application, and prints already on file with the Bureau are valid for one year. You schedule the appointment at fieldprintvirginia.com.

Applying for your Virginia insurance license

After passing the exam, you apply online through NIPR, or through Sircon as a NIPR-authorized partner, and pay a $15 application fee per line of authority. Life and annuities and health are separate lines, so the life and health combination costs $30 in application fees. NIPR's Virginia resident licensing requirements^[8] note that state fees exclude NIPR transaction fees.

The Bureau processes applications in date-received order. The SCC licensing page^[14] and the Prometric bulletin^[1] ask applicants to allow a minimum of 15 business days, and a minimum of 30 business days when the application includes affirmative answers to background questions; the SCC allows 30 to 60 business days for applications with felony convictions. An application is closed if required documentation does not arrive within 30 calendar days, and a new application with a new fee is then required.

Virginia law requires a residential street address as your address of record, and a business address or post office box does not qualify. The license itself is printed through Sircon, the state's license printing vendor, which charges a separate fee. You cannot sell, solicit, or negotiate insurance until the Bureau issues the license, and an insurer must appoint you at the time of any sale before it may pay you a commission; appointments are the authorizations insurers file to let you sell their products, and you arrange them after licensing.

What insurance agents earn

About 572,600 people worked as insurance sales agents in 2025, and 63% of them worked in agencies and brokerages while 12% were self-employed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook^[9]. Employment is projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, about as fast as the average for all occupations, with roughly 43,100 openings projected each year. Typical entry-level education is a high school diploma or equivalent.

The work splits into captive agents, who represent one insurer; independent agents, who sell for several companies; and brokers, who represent clients rather than insurers.

Renewing your license and continuing education

Virginia licenses renew every two years on the last day of your birth month, in odd or even years depending on your birth year, and the renewal fee is $10 per line of authority. The birth month schedule has applied to licenses expiring since January 1, 2021, per the Prometric bulletin^[1]; the SCC renewals page^[15] states the $10 fee, and NIPR's renewal requirements^[3] show a $30 late renewal fee. You file renewals online through NIPR, the window opens 90 days before expiration, and late renewal is possible up to one year after the expiration date.

Continuing education (CE) runs on the same two-year cycle. Under Va. Code § 38.2-1866^[5], an agent licensed in a single category completes 16 hours per biennium, while an agent licensed in more than one category completes 24 hours with at least 8 hours in each category. Three hours each biennium must cover insurance ethics, including Virginia insurance law, and no more than 75% of required credits may come from courses provided by insurance companies or agencies.

Agents who sell certain products face added training. Property and casualty and personal lines licensees who sell flood insurance must complete a one-time 3-hour National Flood Insurance Program course, a requirement created by section 207 of the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2004 that FEMA implements through state continuing education systems, per the Federal Register notice^[16]. Annuity and long-term care products each carry their own training requirement you must meet before selling them.

Nonresident licenses and moving between states

Virginia issues nonresident licenses on reciprocity: you must hold an equivalent resident license in good standing in your home state, and your home state must grant similar licenses to Virginia residents, per Va. Code § 38.2-1836^[17]. You apply online through NIPR, and your name, birth date, license number, state of residence, Tax ID, and National Producer Number must match your home-state record in the Producer Database maintained by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), per NIPR's nonresident requirements^[18]. Nonresident licenses terminate whenever the equivalent home-state authority is terminated, suspended, or revoked. Florida and Pennsylvania residents applying for a Virginia title license must pass the Virginia Title exam, though no prelicensing course is required for them.

Agents moving to Virginia must apply for a resident license, and the former home-state resident license must be inactive. Any line you held in your former state can be obtained within 90 calendar days of cancelling that license; after that window, all Virginia prelicensing requirements apply, per the Prometric bulletin^[1]. Va. Code § 38.2-1817^[12] exempts a new arrival from the exam when the applicant is currently licensed in the home state, or applies within 90 calendar days of the prior license's cancellation with the home state certifying good standing. An agent who already holds an active Virginia nonresident license has 90 calendar days from the home-state cancellation to submit the resident application, may keep operating under the nonresident license during that period, and transfers active appointments automatically when the resident license issues.

Agents leaving Virginia request a clearance letter (Form 5001), which terminates all active Virginia licenses and appointments, then apply for a Virginia nonresident license after licensing in the new home state, per NIPR's Virginia state information^[19].

What to do next

Pick your line of authority first, because it determines your exam and your application. Download the free Prometric content outline for that exam series and build a study plan around the heaviest-weighted sections. Register with Prometric, book your Fieldprint appointment, and take the exam at a test center or through remote proctoring. Once you pass, apply online through NIPR while your score is valid, then line up insurer appointments so you can begin selling.