What This License Is
An Arizona Life license (formally the Life line of authority) lets you sell life insurance and annuity contracts in Arizona. It is issued by the Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions (DIFI) and is one of five single-line producer licenses Arizona offers alongside the combined options.
Two boundary lines matter. First, the Life line includes fixed annuities — you do not need anything extra to sell a fixed or indexed annuity. Second, variable life and variable annuities are a separate Arizona line of authority: there is no additional state exam for it, but you must already hold life producer authority (plus your FINRA registrations) before it can be added.
If there is any realistic chance you will also sell health, disability, or long-term care products, compare this license against the combined Life, Accident & Health exam before you schedule — the comparison is in the next section.
Exam Options & Format
Arizona's Life exam is Series 13-31, administered by PSI: 100 scored questions plus a small number (5–10) of unscored experimental items, a 2-hour time limit, and a $50 fee per attempt. The passing standard is 70%, and your result appears on screen the moment you finish.
The alternative is the combined Life, Accident & Health exam (Series 13-33) — 150 questions, 2 hours 30 minutes, $59 — which earns life, accident, and health authority in a single sitting. One exam and $9 more buys you two extra lines; two separate sittings cost $100 and two mornings.
You can take the exam at any of PSI's ten Arizona test centers or online with a live remote proctor. Exam fees are not refundable or transferable, but a paid fee stays valid for one year.
Most Tested Topics on the Arizona Life Exam
Arizona's exam leans hardest on the state-law numbers that differ from the national material. These are drawn from the TESTivity Arizona regulations curriculum — each one is verified against the Arizona Revised Statutes:
| Concept | The Arizona rule |
|---|---|
| Incontestability | 2 years from date of issue, during the insured's lifetime — except for nonpayment of premium |
| Grace period (individual life) | 30 days — and it does not vary by premium mode |
| Reinstatement | 3 years from premium default; interest on arrears capped at 6% compounded annually |
| Suicide exclusion | 2 years maximum — but only 1 year for a death-benefit increase, and only as to the increase |
| Annuity free look | 10 days — 30 days if the buyer is 65 or older; the notice must appear on the contract's first page and the application |
| Replacement free look | 30 days for both life policies and annuities, with an unconditional full refund |
| Nonforfeiture options | Cash surrender value, reduced paid-up, extended term |
| Variable products | A separate line of authority — no extra exam, but life authority required first |
| Life settlements | Regulated under Arizona's Life Settlements Act (ARS §20-3201+); the owner may rescind within 15 days; settlement brokers need a separate $500 license |
| Annuity sales standard | Arizona adopted the NAIC best-interest standard — and put it in statute, not regulation |
The age-banded annuity free look and the 1-year suicide clause on death-benefit increases are the two rules candidates most often miss — both are pure Arizona wrinkles that generic national prep never covers.
Applying for Your License Through NIPR — Every Step
Passing the exam doesn't make you a producer — the license application does, and in Arizona it runs entirely through NIPR (the National Insurance Producer Registry). Here is the whole sequence:
Step 1 — Pass the Life exam. Your passing score is valid for 12 months; DIFI must receive your complete application within one year of your pass date or you test again.
Step 2 — Complete your fingerprint background check. Register at the Arizona DPS Public Services Portal, get your DPS reference number, and have your prints captured through Fieldprint. (The Casualty guide walks through this process screen by screen — the steps are identical for every line.) Keep the DPS reference number: the application asks for it.
Step 3 — File the Resident Licensing Application at nipr.com. Select Arizona, individual resident, and the Life line of authority. The state fee is $120 per license class, paid at checkout along with NIPR's processing fee.
Step 4 — Answer the background questions carefully. Any "yes" answer requires supporting documents — court records, letters of explanation — uploaded through NIPR's attachments warehouse. An undisclosed issue that surfaces in the FBI check is treated far more harshly than a disclosed one: misrepresentation on the application is itself a ground for denial under ARS §20-295.
Step 5 — Wait (usually briefly). Most complete applications are processed within about 30 days. Arizona law allows DIFI up to 120 days for the completeness review plus 60 more for substantive review, and you get 60 days to cure any deficiency they flag — but those outer limits are rare in practice.
Step 6 — Verify and go to work. When approved, your license appears on DIFI's license lookup and your national producer record updates automatically. Arizona doesn't mail a paper certificate you need to wait for — carriers verify you electronically when appointing you.
What It Costs
Arizona is one of the cheapest states in the country to get life-licensed, mostly because there is no mandatory pre-licensing course to buy. The full run: $50 to PSI for the exam, $30.69 for fingerprinting ($22.44 to DPS with the FBI fee included, $8.25 to Fieldprint), and $120 to DIFI with the application — about $201 if you pass the first time. Each retake adds another $50.
Eligibility Requirements
You must be at least 18 (ARS §20-285) and either maintain your principal residence in Arizona or have a legitimate business presence in the state. U.S. citizenship is not required. A criminal history is not an automatic bar, but crimes involving fraud, dishonesty, or breach of trust can support denial — and fingerprints go to both AZ DPS and the FBI, so disclose everything the application asks about.
Keeping Your License Active
Important CE details: At least 6 of the 48 hours must be ethics (ARS §20-2902). Selling annuities also requires Arizona's best-interest training, and long-term care products require separate LTC training.
Arizona licenses run on a four-year cycle, expiring on the last day of your birth month. Each cycle requires 48 hours of continuing education, including at least 6 hours of ethics (ARS §20-2902).
Two product-specific training rules ride on top of CE for life producers: Arizona's annuity best-interest training before you sell annuities, and — if you add health authority later and sell long-term care — the separate LTC training requirement. The P&C guide covers the renewal mechanics (early renewal, the late-renewal window, and the once-per-course rule) in detail.
Quick Reference
Official Links
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