To renew your Arizona guard card, submit a renewal application to the Department of Public Safety’s Security Guard and Private Investigator Licensing Unit within the 180 days before your card expires, along with proof of an eight-hour refresher course completed in the prior 90 days, a passport-style photo, a fingerprint card, and the registration fee.1Department of Public Safety. SGPI Licensing Working on an expired card is prohibited by state law, so timing matters.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 32-2607 – Fees; Renewal of Agency Licenses and Associate or Employee Registration Certificates
When to Submit Your Renewal
DPS recommends filing within 180 days before the expiration date on your card, per Arizona Administrative Code R13-6-302(A). Anything sent earlier than that gets returned.1Department of Public Safety. SGPI Licensing
A second, tighter deadline governs your refresher training. The eight-hour course must be completed within 90 days before you submit your renewal application.3Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 32-2632 – Duty of Licensee to Provide Training of Security Guards A certificate dated seven months before your filing will not count. Schedule the course so it lands inside both windows: after your 180-day window opens, but no more than 90 days before you actually file.
Two-Year vs. Four-Year Terms
Registration certificates issued on or after September 26, 2025 are valid for four years. Cards issued before that date carry the older two-year term and expire two years from the issue or last renewal date.1Department of Public Safety. SGPI Licensing Check the expiration printed on your card rather than assuming which term applies.
What Happens If Your Card Expires
Once the expiration date passes, you cannot perform any security work until DPS processes and approves your renewal. Working on a lapsed card violates state law and exposes both you and your employer to liability. A revoked certificate cannot be renewed at all, and anyone whose registration was revoked must wait at least one year before reapplying.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 32-2607 – Fees; Renewal of Agency Licenses and Associate or Employee Registration Certificates
Older law barred DPS from processing a renewal more than 90 days after expiration, which forced lapsed guards to start over as new applicants. That hard cutoff was removed, so late renewals are no longer automatically rejected. Even so, the longer the gap after expiration, the more likely DPS treats the filing as a new application rather than a renewal, and you still cannot work legally in the interim. Treat the expiration date as a hard deadline.
Refresher Training
Every renewal requires an eight-hour refresher course taught by a DPS-certified instructor. The curriculum covers:
- Criminal law and laws of arrest
- Use of force
- General security guard procedures
- Crime scene preservation and first response
- Ethics
- Emergency response procedures
Your employer’s qualifying party is responsible for ensuring the training is completed before your renewal is submitted.4Cornell Law Institute. Arizona Code R13-6-602 – Security Guard Refresher Training The course can be delivered online or in person as long as the instructor’s DPS certification is current. Keep your completion certificate; it goes in the renewal packet.
Additional Training for Armed Guards
An armed registration requires another eight hours of firearms-safety refresher instruction on top of the standard course. The firearms training must come from an instructor certified under R13-6-702 and must follow the department’s established curriculum.5Cornell Law Institute. Arizona Code R13-6-603 – Armed Security Guard Pre-Assignment and Refresher Firearms-Safety Training Armed guards also need an eight-hour firearms refresher every year throughout the registration term, not only at renewal.1Department of Public Safety. SGPI Licensing Only the registered firearms safety instructor designated by your agency can sign the training verification forms.
Documents You Need
DPS publishes separate renewal forms for unarmed guards (Form 03900) and armed guards (Form 03901), with a checklist on Form 03960S.6Department of Public Safety. Licensing Forms Download the current version rather than reusing an older one, since forms and requirements change.
Along with the form, your packet needs:
- The refresher training certificate (and firearms certificate if armed), dated within the 90 days before submission
- A current two-by-two-inch passport-style color photo with a light background
- A fingerprint card, which DPS uses to run an FBI criminal history check1Department of Public Safety. SGPI Licensing
Personal details on the fingerprint card must match the application exactly. A mismatched name spelling, date of birth, or physical description can delay processing or get the packet returned.
Fees
The base renewal fee depends on your registration type:
- Unarmed security guard renewal: $50
- Armed security guard renewal: $100
DPS also collects a fingerprint processing fee on top of the base amount to cover the cost of the criminal history records check.7Cornell Law Institute. Arizona Code R13-6-103 – Fees That amount is set to match actual processing cost and can change, so budget for a total meaningfully higher than the base fee.
DPS accepts cash, cashier’s check, certified check, or money order made payable to the Arizona Department of Public Safety, and may accept other methods at its discretion.7Cornell Law Institute. Arizona Code R13-6-103 – Fees Personal checks are not listed as an accepted form. For mail submissions, a money order or cashier’s check is safer than cash.
How to Submit
You can file through the DPS Public Services Portal by creating a secure account, uploading your application, and tracking status online.1Department of Public Safety. SGPI Licensing The portal is worth using even alongside a mailed packet, because it shows whether your application has been received and where it stands.
For mail submissions, send the complete packet to the Licensing Unit in Phoenix: application form, training certificate, photograph, fingerprint card, and payment in a single envelope. A missing item delays the renewal, and with review stretching several weeks, a returned packet can push you past your expiration date.
After DPS approves the renewal, a new card is produced and mailed to the address on file. In the gap between approval and the card arriving, your portal account confirms that the registration is active. Verify that your mailing address is current before you file.