Getting licensed in Texas
You cannot sell life insurance in Texas until the state says you can. Here is the whole process, in order, with the fees the Texas Department of Insurance actually publishes.
01 — BEFORE YOU START
This is the step people ask about most and the one that gets described least honestly, usually by someone who wants you to buy their course. So here it is with sources, and you can check every line of it against TDI directly.
The licence you want for life insurance is the General Lines — Life, Accident, Health and HMO licence. It is what I hold.
02 — THE PROCESS
Five steps, in order
Study for the exam
Texas does not require you to complete prelicensing education before you sit the General Lines Life exam. That is genuinely unusual, because plenty of states do require it. What it means is that the only thing standing between you and the exam is knowing the material, and that nobody can tell you the law obliges you to buy their course. It does not. You still have to pass, so study properly.
The one exception is a temporary licence, which does require at least 40 hours of training from the appointing company.
Pass the exam
The exam is administered by Pearson VUE. Book it, sit it, pass it. If you hold a valid licence in a reciprocal state, or a chartered life underwriter designation, you may not need to sit it at all.
The deadline that catches people: you must submit your licence application within one year of passing, or you retake the exam.
Get fingerprinted
A fingerprint background check is required for most applicants. You book it through IdentoGO, and then you send TDI the receipt showing your prints went to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Start this on TDI's online initial application and fingerprint portal.
There are exemptions. If you already hold an active Texas licence and have submitted prints, or you are a non-resident with an active home-state licence, check before you book anything.
Apply, and pay the fee
You apply through Sircon or the National Insurance Producer Registry. The standard agent licence application fee is $50. A temporary licence is $150, and that covers both the temporary and the permanent one.
That $50 is not the whole cost of starting. The exam and the fingerprinting are their own charges, set by Pearson VUE and IdentoGO rather than by TDI. Budget for all three.
Get contracted
The licence lets you sell. It does not by itself connect you to any insurance company. Contracting with carriers is a separate step and it happens after this.
Fees and requirements change, and this page is dated for that reason. TDI is the authority, not me. If something here does not match what they say today, they are right and I am out of date. Tell me and I will fix it.
Checked 18 August 2026. TDI — general lines life, accident, health and HMO · TDI — initial application and fingerprint process · Pearson VUE — Texas insurance licensing exams
Ask me the awkward one
Whether you want to do this job or you are working out what cover you need, the first message is the same: tell me what is actually going on and I will tell you what I would do — including when the answer is that you should keep your money.