Effective October 1, 2025, pre-licensing education will no longer be required to sit for the state licensing exam. However, North Carolina strongly recommends that individuals complete pre-license education to better prepare for the exam.

• Life – 20
• Accident & Health or Sickness – 20
• Property – 20
• Casualty – 20
• Medicare Supplement/Long-Term Care – 10 (must hold an Accident and Health and Sickness license)
• Personal Lines – 20

1. Meet the general eligibility criteria
   • Be at least 18 years of age.
   • Reside or maintain a principal place of residence in North Carolina.


2. Complete required prelicensing education
   • Prepare for the North Carolina State Exam by completing a pre-licensing course of study.
   • To satisfy the requirements for your course, you will need to pass a Exam Prep Course Certification Exam with a 70% or greater.
   • Effective October 1, 2025, an Admission Ticket will no longer be required to take the state exam. After passing the Exam Prep Course Exam, you will be able to download a PDF Certificate of Completion.


3. Apply for a License
   • Apply for your license and pay the appropriate fees at www.nipr.com. The license application is valid for 6 months. If you have not obtained your confirmation that your license has been issued within that period, you will need to reapply.
   • Once you have applied for your license, you will receive an Authorization Email from Pearson VUE that will contain your NPN (National Producer Number) and other information that you need to schedule your state exam.
   • You will also receive an email from NIPR. This email will contain information that you will need to schedule your fingerprinting, so make sure that you save the information.


4. Register and pass state licensing exam
   • Make an exam reservation at https://home.pearsonvue.com/nc/insurance
   • Bring two forms of current signature identification (a valid driver’s license, non-driver ID, passport, military ID, or employee ID card, credit card) and your WebCE Certificate of Completion.
   • Note: Pearson Vue is in the process of updating its system to remove the pre-licensing education Course Completion Date question. During this time, please enter today’s date in the required field.
   Before making an exam reservation, applicants should thoroughly review the State of North Carolina Licensing Candidate Handbook by clicking on the Student Handbook button above.


5. Submit fingerprints
   • All first-time individual resident producers must be fingerprinted in order to become licensed.
   • After completing the electronic NIPR application, you will be emailed a link that allows you to print the Fingerprint Submission Packet-Releases Form. Call your local law enforcement to obtain a schedule of the days/hours for fingerprinting services; confirm that the office will do Livescan fingerprints for non-criminal reasons.
   • Upon your fingerprinting appointment, you must take with you the Fingerprint Submission Packet-Releases Form. Call Local law enforcement to obtain days/hours for fingerprinting service; be sure to find out if the local law enforcement office will do Livescan fingerprints for non-criminal reasons. (Fingerprints cards will not be accepted.) After prints are taken, the law enforcement office will sign the SBI Electronic Fingerprint Submission Release of Information form and give it to the applicant. (See page 18 in Candidate Guide for additional Fingerprint information.) https://www.ncdoi.gov/documents/candidate-guide

• Per North Carolina PLE requirements, applicants are required to complete all of the lessons and answer each set of end-of-chapter quizzes with a score of at least 70 percent prior to taking an Closed-book final exam.
  Please Note: Pre-license education providers are not allowed to give access to the final exam until the student's time in the course equals the number of approved credit hours for the course. Online course providers are not permitted to allow printing of course lesson material..
• Students should pass the closed-book final exam with a score of 70% or higher.
• If the final exam is not passed on the first attempt, students have an unlimited number of retakes.
• WebCE suggest to then utilize Exam Tutor and Flash Tutor for further practice before your exam day.

A certificate of completion will be available to download upon completion of the pre-license course.

Note: Pearson Vue is in the process of updating its system to remove the pre-licensing education Course Completion Date question. During this time, please enter today’s date in the required field.

• Cancel your former home state license within ninety (90) days of the application date for a North Carolina resident license.
• Apply for resident initial license and pay fees online at Apply online
• Submit your fingerprints for a criminal background check following the instructions provided in the NIPR email after you submit your application.
• The Department will confirm the license status in your former home state on the NAIC Producer Database (PDB). If PDB shows your license canceled in good standing within ninety (90) days of the application date, then you are exempt from taking the North Carolina licensing examination. If the NAIC Producer Database (PDB) shows that your license canceled more than ninety (90) days from the application date, then you must take the appropriate North Carolina examination. Contact the North Carolina Licensing Office of Pearson VUE at 866-265-6329.