A Georgia Weapons Carry License is valid for five years under O.C.G.A. § 16-11-129(a)(1). You renew at the probate court of your county of residence....
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
A Georgia Weapons Carry License is valid for five years under O.C.G.A. § 16-11-129(a)(1). You renew at the probate court of your county of residence. That is the same court that issued the license originally if you have not moved, or the probate court in your current Georgia county if you have moved since the last issuance. The statute applies the term "renewal license" to any application filed within a defined window around expiration: fewer than 90 days before expiration, or 30 or fewer days after expiration, under O.C.G.A. § 16-11-129(a)(2)(C)(i). Outside that window, you no longer qualify for a renewal license and must apply as a new applicant, with fingerprinting and the full new-license process.
The other major procedural difference: fingerprinting is not required for a renewal. The statute treats renewal applicants as already on file with the Georgia Crime Information Center and the FBI, so the renewal process skips that step. Everything else, including the GCIC and NICS background checks under O.C.G.A. § 16-11-129(d), runs on the renewal as it did on the original. The renewal license is itself valid for another five years from the date of issuance.
Under O.C.G.A. § 16-11-129(a)(2)(C)(i), an application is treated as a renewal application if at the time you file:
That gives you a renewal window of roughly 120 days: the last 90 days of validity plus the 30 days after expiration. Outside that window, the statute does not let the probate court process the application as a renewal; you must file as a new applicant. Practical consequence: if you let your license lapse by more than 30 days, you pay the full $77.00 new application fee (the statutory base is $30.00 under § 16-11-129(a)(1), but counties add fingerprint, background-check, and processing costs that bring the total to roughly $75 to $79), you get fingerprinted again, and you go back through the full new-license workflow described in APPLICATION_PROCESS.
A few Georgia county probate courts publish slightly different renewal-window language on their public pages (for example, Henry County and Muscogee County describe the window as "90 days before or 30 days after expiration"), but every public county source reviewed for this guide matches the statutory window. If your probate court's published material differs, the statute controls.
Under O.C.G.A. § 16-11-129(a)(2)(C)(ii), an application from a service member whose WCL expired while serving on active duty outside Georgia is treated as a renewal application if the service member applies within six months from the date of discharge from active duty or reassignment to a location within Georgia, with a copy of official military orders or a written verification signed by the commanding officer. The statute defines "service member" in § 16-11-129(a)(2)(A) to include active-duty members of the regular or reserve component of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air Force, Space Force, U.S. National Guard, Georgia Army National Guard, or Georgia Air National Guard. If you fall in this category, bring the orders or the commanding officer's letter to the probate court along with the rest of your renewal documents.
Georgia provides a temporary renewal license, separate from the regular renewal license, for applicants whose existing WCL is about to expire and who want a bridge document while the renewal process completes. The temporary renewal license is mentioned in the title of O.C.G.A. § 16-11-129 ("Weapons carry license; gun safety information; temporary renewal permit; mandamus; verification of license") and authorized by subsection (i) of that statute. Several Georgia probate courts list it as a separate line item on their fee schedules at $1.00 when issued alongside a renewal application. Henry County, for example, describes it as "good for 90 days only" at a $1.00 fee.
Two important limits on the temporary renewal license that affect students who plan to use it during travel or firearm purchases:
Under O.C.G.A. § 16-11-129(a)(2)(C)(i), an application is considered a renewal regardless of the county that issued your expiring or expired license. The probate court in your current county of residence processes the renewal, and the renewal license is "valid for a period of five years" and authorizes you to "carry any weapon in any county of this state notwithstanding any change in that person's county of residence or state of domicile," under § 16-11-129(a)(1).
If you moved counties and the expiration is still inside the renewal window, you renew at your new county's probate court at the renewal fee. If the expiration is outside the renewal window, you no longer qualify for a renewal license and must apply as a new applicant in your new county at the new-application fee. Probate courts vary on whether they will update the address on a license issued by another county between renewals; the simplest fix is to wait for the renewal window and renew at your new county. Some counties (Henry County's published procedure is one example) will issue you a new license at your current address as a new applicant if you want to change the address mid-cycle, but you pay the full new-application fee.
The same § 16-11-129(b)(2) disqualifiers that bar a new application also bar a renewal. The relevant categories include:
If a disqualifying event has happened since your last issuance, the probate court will deny the renewal. Under the risk protection order procedure that Georgia recognizes for surrender purposes (see references to "any weapons carry license or renewal license issued to you under Code Section 16-11-129" in the surrender forms scraped for this archive), an active risk protection order also requires surrender of the WCL itself and bars renewal during the order's term. Georgia has no separate red flag / extreme risk protection order statute of its own (see RED_FLAG), but federal-law and out-of-state orders can still create a federal prohibitor that the GCIC/NICS check will catch at renewal.
Georgia's permitless carry law (SB 319 / HB 218, 2022) defines a "lawful weapons carrier" at O.C.G.A. § 16-11-125.1(2.1) to include "any person who is licensed or eligible for a license pursuant to Code Section 16-11-129 and who is not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing a weapon or long gun." That second category, "eligible but unlicensed," covers an otherwise-qualifying Georgia resident whose license has lapsed. So if your WCL expires and you do not renew in time, you can still carry inside Georgia under constitutional carry, provided you remain eligible under § 16-11-129's substantive disqualifiers.
But four things go away with the license:
If maintaining any of those four benefits matters to you, renew before the license lapses or apply for the temporary renewal license while the full renewal processes.
Confirm specifics with your county's probate court before you go, but the common renewal checklist across the scraped Georgia county sources looks like this:
Several Georgia county probate courts (Clayton County, Henry County, Stephens County, Muscogee County) publish detailed renewal pages with their specific document and payment requirements. The Council of Probate Court Judges of Georgia has consolidated most county intakes into the online application at GeorgiaProbateRecords.com; using that site to start your renewal will route you to the right county-specific instructions.
Georgia probate courts generally require you to appear in person for some part of the renewal process, typically to verify identity or take an updated photo. Renewal by mail is available in many counties for applicants who can produce a notarized packet, but the statute does not authorize a fully remote renewal for someone who has left the state. If you have moved out of Georgia and are no longer a Georgia resident, you are no longer eligible for a Georgia WCL renewal under O.C.G.A. § 16-11-129(a)(1), which requires domicile in the issuing county at the time of application, with the active-duty service member carve-out described above.
If you are active-duty military stationed out of state on Georgia orders, contact the probate court of the county where you maintain Georgia domicile; many will work with you on the documentation under the § 16-11-129(a)(2)(C)(ii) service-member window or under the active-duty residency rule in § 16-11-129(a)(1) (active duty with the U.S. Armed Forces, not a Georgia domiciliary, residing in the county or on a Georgia military reservation at the time of application).
Your Georgia WCL is good for five years. Renew between 90 days before expiration and 30 days after expiration at the probate court of your current Georgia county. The renewal fee runs roughly $30 to $35 and includes a fresh GCIC/NICS background check, but no new fingerprints. The renewal license is valid for another five years. Miss the 30-day post-expiration grace window and you must apply as a new applicant with fingerprints and a higher fee. If the renewal is in process and you need a bridge, ask the probate court about the $1.00 temporary renewal license under § 16-11-129(i) (it is not a NICS alternative, and reciprocity coverage is uncertain). A lapsed WCL does not bar you from carrying inside Georgia (constitutional carry under § 16-11-125.1(2.1) picks you up if you remain eligible), but it does cost you interstate reciprocity, the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act exemption, and the NICS-qualifying alternative at a Georgia FFL.
This page covers one part of our Georgia concealed carry guide.
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