How to Fill Out and Submit the Texas 1033 Consent Form

To work in insurance in Texas after a felony involving dishonesty or breach of trust, you need written consent under 18 U.S.C. § 1033, and in Texas that means filing a 1033 consent form with the Texas Department of Insurance before you take an insurance job or activate a producer license. The federal prohibition applies regardless of how old the conviction is, and holding a prior license does not exempt you. One Texas-specific wrinkle matters before you start: a successfully completed deferred adjudication is not treated as a conviction for 1033 purposes in Texas, so if that is how your case ended, consent may not be required at all.¹ Confirm your situation with the Department before assuming either way.

Confirm You Actually Need to File

The federal prohibition reaches anyone convicted of a criminal felony involving dishonesty or a breach of trust, or convicted of an offense under § 1033 itself such as insurance fraud, embezzlement from an insurer, or falsifying insurer records.² Dishonesty covers fraud, forgery, misrepresentation, and perjury. Breach of trust covers misuse of a position of authority or mishandling of someone else’s money. Embezzlement, check fraud, and filing false financial statements are common triggers. The federal government, not the state, decides whether a particular felony qualifies.³

There is no age-off: a felony from 20 years ago still counts, and the 1994 law contained no grandfather provisions for existing licensees.³ The prohibition lasts until you receive written consent that specifically references 18 U.S.C. § 1033(e). The jobs that fall under the statute go well past selling policies. The “business of insurance” includes writing insurance, reinsuring risks, and anything necessary or incidental to those activities, which sweeps in officers, directors, agents, employees, claims adjusters, underwriters, consultants, and administrative staff who touch policyholder data or funds.²

A pardon, expungement, or vacated conviction does not automatically remove the federal requirement, because § 1033 is federal law and states vary on how they treat erased convictions. Texas, as noted, does not treat a successfully completed deferred adjudication as a conviction requiring a waiver.¹ For any other kind of post-conviction relief, ask the Texas Department of Insurance in writing whether you still need to apply, and keep the answer.

Gather Your Documents Before You Start the Form

Most applications stall because something is missing. Pull everything together before you open the form.

Certified copies of the indictment or criminal complaint and the court order of judgment and sentence for each disqualifying conviction, obtained from the clerk of the court. If a certified copy is unavailable, include a letter from the clerk saying so.⁴
Court certification that you completed every condition of your sentence — fines, restitution, community service, probation, parole. A discharge certificate or a letter from your parole or probation officer works.⁵
A certified criminal history report covering your full record, not just the triggering case.
A written statement of facts explaining the circumstances of each conviction. Be specific and honest. Regulators recognize minimization, and a false or misleading statement is itself grounds to deny or later revoke consent.
Character reference letters from people who know about your history and can speak to your current integrity. Supervisors and employers carry the most weight. Each letter should be signed and include contact information so the Department can verify it.
An employment history with employer names, supervisors, and reasons for leaving each position.
A recent passport-style photograph if the Texas form asks for one.

Fill Out the Application

There is no single national 1033 form; each state publishes its own. Download the current Texas 1033 consent application from the Texas Department of Insurance website, or call the agent licensing division and request it, since forms change and only the current version will be accepted. Complete every field. If something does not apply, write “N/A” rather than leaving it blank, which prevents the Department from treating the application as incomplete and returning it unread.

Your written statement of facts is the heart of the application. Treat it as the one place you get to speak directly to the reviewer. Explain what happened, take responsibility, describe what you did to make restitution, and describe what has changed since. If the conviction had nothing to do with insurance or finance, say so. If it did, address that directly — the reviewer will notice either way.

Attach every supporting document on your checklist. Keep a complete copy of the entire packet for your own records before you send it.

Submit the Packet in Texas

File in your home state — the state where you reside and will hold your resident license. For a Texas resident, that is the Texas Department of Insurance. Confirm the current mailing address, any accepted electronic submission method, and the current fee on the Department’s website before you send anything; filing instructions and fees change, and sending to the wrong address can delay the review by weeks.

Expect a background check as part of the review, with fingerprints submitted through federal and state law enforcement databases as a standard part of insurance licensing. The commissioner may schedule an administrative hearing to ask about the conviction or your rehabilitation. There is no federal deadline for a decision, and timing depends on the Department’s workload and the completeness of your packet. If anything is missing, the Department will typically return the application rather than begin substantive review, so verify every item against the state’s checklist before mailing.

How the Department Will Weigh Your Application

The burden is on you to show you are fit to work in insurance despite the conviction.⁶ Reviewers look at the full picture. Common factors include:

Nature and severity of the offense. A single bad-check case carries less weight than a sustained embezzlement.
Sentence imposed, including any restitution.
How long ago the offense occurred, and your conduct since.
Your age at the time of the offense.
Harm caused to victims, including any unpaid judgments.
Whether the conviction arose from insurance-related work.
Any pardons or expungements, and the basis for them.
Whether you completed probation or parole without incident.⁶

The supervision level in your proposed insurance role matters too. Someone who will work under close oversight at a single agency presents a lower risk than someone seeking an independent producer license with no direct supervision, and the Department may factor that into whether — and how — to grant consent.⁷

After You Receive Consent

If the Department grants your application, you receive a formal written consent document identifying you by name, listing the specific convictions for which consent was granted, and referencing 18 U.S.C. § 1033(e).² Keep copies for yourself and for every employer. The NAIC’s Uniform Application for producer licensing specifically asks whether you have been granted 1033 consent, and requires copies of the charging documents, the case resolution, your written statement, and the consent itself.⁸

Consent is not always unconditional. Some states issue blanket consent allowing any insurance role; others limit consent to a specific agency, a specific insurer, or duties that do not involve handling money.⁷ Read the terms. Violating a condition can lead to withdrawal of the consent.

Consent can also be withdrawn if you made materially false or misleading statements, failed to disclose material information, or failed to update the application when circumstances changed, such as a new felony conviction or a change in your job duties.⁷ If anything on your original application changes, file an amendment immediately.

If You Later Want to Work in Another State

Texas consent is the right starting point for a Texas resident, and a nonresident state may accept your Texas consent without requiring a separate application. It is not required to. Another state can demand its own 1033 application if its standards differ, and if you end up holding consent in multiple states, any amendment must go to every state that granted consent. Failing to notify them can trigger withdrawal.⁹

What Happens If You Skip the Process

A prohibited person who willfully works in the insurance business without written consent faces a federal criminal fine and up to five years in prison, or both.² Anyone in the insurance business who knowingly allows a prohibited person to participate without consent faces the same penalty, which is why employers screen hard. On top of that, 18 U.S.C. § 1034 lets the U.S. Attorney General bring a civil action with a penalty of up to $50,000 per violation, or the total compensation the prohibited person received or was offered, whichever is greater, and the civil case does not replace the criminal one.¹⁰ File the application before you take the job.

1
National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Compilation of Comments by Section
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1033 – Crimes by or Affecting Persons Engaged in the Business of Insurance Whose Activities Affect Interstate Commerce
3
Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance. Engaging in the Business of Insurance 18 USC 1033
4
Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions. Arizona Application for Consent to Engage in the Business of Insurance Under 18 USC 1033
5
Office of the Commissioner of Insurance. 1033 Felony Waiver Requirements
6
National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Template for 1033 Consent Process
7
National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Comments on Template for 1033 Consent Process
8
National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Uniform Criminal History and Regulatory Actions Background Review Guidelines
9
National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Template for 1033 Written Consent Process
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1034 – Civil Penalties and Injunctions for Violations of Section 1033