Texas LTC renewal is straightforward. Apply through the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) online portal (or by mail), pay the $40 renewal fee...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
Texas LTC renewal is straightforward. Apply through the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) online portal (or by mail), pay the $40 renewal fee ($35 for seniors 60+, $0 for active military and veterans within 365 days of honorable discharge, $25 for veterans more than 365 days out), and DPS has 45 days from receipt of the renewal materials to issue the renewed license or deny in writing under Tex. Gov't Code § 411.185(e). No new training course is required for a routine renewal - there is no statutory continuing-education or range requalification trigger built into § 411.185. The renewal is essentially a background-check refresh plus a fee, plus an acknowledgment of the DPS-prescribed informational form on use of force and prohibited places. Renewed licenses run roughly five years from the prior expiration, ending on the license holder's birthdate, five years after the date of the expiration of the previous license under § 411.183(b)(1)(A). Late renewal grace exists by department practice through the application path in § 411.185, but if you let the credential lapse you are not authorized to rely on the license-holder carve-outs in Tex. Penal Code § 46.15(p) and (q) until DPS re-issues.
Renewal sits in a small cluster of statutes you should know by section number:
A first-time Texas LTC expires under § 411.183(a) on the earlier of (i) "the first birthday of the license holder occurring after the fourth anniversary of the date of issuance" or (ii) the expiration of the holder's lawful presence in the United States. That puts your first license at roughly four to five years.
Renewals run on a slightly different clock. § 411.183(b)(1)(A) sets the renewed-license expiration as "the license holder's birthdate, five years after the date of the expiration of the previous license." Read that carefully: the five-year count starts not from the date you renewed, and not from your birthday this year, but from the prior license's expiration date. The renewed credential then expires on the birthday that falls five years after that prior expiration. Subsection (b)(1)(B) layers in the same lawful-presence ceiling that applies to original licenses, and (b)(2) sets a one-year fallback where lawful presence has no definite expiration.
The practical effect is that Texas LTCs settle into a clean, birthday-anchored five-year cadence after the first renewal. Whether you renew six months early or a few weeks before expiration, the new term is measured off the old expiration, so renewing early does not "lose" you any time. Duplicate licenses (lost-card replacements) and modified licenses inherit their original expiration date under § 411.183(c)-(d), so a duplicate issued mid-cycle does not reset the clock.
You should receive a renewal packet from DPS roughly two months before your license lapses. § 411.185(d) is direct: "Not later than the 60th day before the expiration date of the license, the department shall mail to each license holder a written notice of the expiration of the license, a renewal application form, and the informational form described by Subsection (c)."
That informational form is the use-of-force and prohibited-places summary the director adopts by rule under § 411.185(c). It is the same content category every original applicant signs off on; on renewal it serves to re-acknowledge that you have read the current version of state law on deadly force and on the places where carrying is unlawful for an LTC holder. The renewal applicant must "sign and return the informational form to the department by mail or acknowledge the form electronically on the Internet" per § 411.185(c).
Two operational notes about the 60-day notice:
Under § 411.185(a), "to renew a license, a license holder must, on or before the date the license expires, submit to the department by mail or, in accordance with the procedure adopted under Subsection (f), on the Internet:"
DPS adopts the online procedure under § 411.185(f): "The director by rule shall adopt a procedure by which a license holder who satisfies the eligibility requirements to continue to hold a license may submit the renewal materials described by Subsection (a) by mail or on the Internet." In practice this is the DPS LTC online portal; mail-in renewal remains an option for applicants who prefer paper.
A specifically protective rule sits in § 411.185(g): "The department may not request or require a license holder to provide the license holder's social security number to renew a license under this section." If a third-party form solicits an SSN as mandatory for renewal, that form is not aligned with the statute.
DPS owes you a written answer on a clock. § 411.185(e) provides: "The department shall renew the license of a license holder who meets all the eligibility requirements to continue to hold a license and submits all the renewal materials described by Subsection (a). Not later than the 45th day after receipt of the renewal materials, the department shall issue the renewed license or notify the license holder in writing that the department denied the license holder's renewal application."
Two things to take away. First, "shall renew" is mandatory once the eligibility test in § 411.172 is still satisfied and the § 411.185(a) materials are complete - DPS has no discretion to refuse a clean renewal. Second, the 45-day clock runs from receipt of the renewal materials, not from the date you mailed them. If your file is delayed in transit or fingerprints flag a hit that requires manual review, the clock effectively starts when DPS has a complete file and any required clarifications.
If DPS denies, the denial must be in writing under § 411.185(e). Denial appeal rights live in Tex. Gov't Code § 411.180 and are the same channel that applies to denials of original licenses (administrative review followed by justice-court review on the record).
Texas does not require a renewing license holder to retake the proficiency course described in § 411.188. Section 411.188 governs the original four-to-six-hour classroom-and-range course (recently revised by the legislature to allow shorter formats for renewal-tier instruction in some cases), and § 411.185 - the renewal statute - does not cross-reference § 411.188 to retrigger course attendance for a routine renewal. The renewal is, by statutory design, a background-check refresh plus the informational form plus the fee.
That posture is consistent with the rest of Subchapter H: the policy choice in 1995 (when the LTC program began) and reinforced in subsequent legislative sessions has been to make renewal frictionless for compliant license holders, on the theory that the federal background check pipeline is the live monitor and the original training has already been completed and documented.
There is one caveat. If your license has been revoked under § 411.186 (not merely expired), you must reapply as a new applicant - and a new application does invoke § 411.188's full proficiency-course requirement. A revocation under § 411.186(a)(1)-(4) generally bars reapplication for two years under § 411.186(c).
The base fee is $40 under § 411.185(a)(2). Several reductions apply automatically when you submit qualifying documentation with the renewal:
| Applicant category | Renewal fee | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Standard renewal | $40 | § 411.185(a)(2) |
| Age 60 or older | $35 (a $5 reduction) | § 411.195(2) |
| Active member, U.S. armed forces (including reserves, National Guard, state guard) | $0 (waived) | § 411.1951(b)(1) |
| Veteran, honorably discharged within 365 days preceding the application | $0 (waived) | § 411.1951(b)(2) |
| Veteran, honorably discharged more than 365 days preceding the application | $25 | § 411.1951(c)(1) |
Note that § 411.195 is a flat $5 dollar discount on the renewal fee for seniors, not a percentage - the senior renewal fee is therefore $35 by simple subtraction. The military waiver in § 411.1951(b) explicitly covers "an original, duplicate, modified, or renewed license," so the same waiver mechanics apply at original application and at every subsequent renewal.
If the senior applicant is also a veteran, the more favorable veteran rule (waiver under § 411.1951(b)(2) within 365 days, or $25 under § 411.1951(c)(1) thereafter) controls because § 411.195 reduces the standard fee while § 411.1951 sets a separate fee schedule.
A dishonored renewal payment triggers § 411.186(a)(5): the license holder must cover the original fee plus a $25 dishonored-payment charge by cashier's check or money order within 30 days, or DPS revokes. Under § 411.186(d), a license revoked solely for a dishonored payment can be reapplied for "at any time" once the payment plus surcharge clears.
Texas does not statute-define a multi-year "late renewal grace period" the way some states do. The renewal path in § 411.185(a) requires submission "on or before the date the license expires." If you submit after expiration, DPS treats the filing as an application for a new license rather than a renewal - practical effect: original-application paperwork, the full proficiency course under § 411.188, and the original-application fee schedule (with the same senior/military reductions where eligible).
DPS's published guidance has historically allowed applicants whose licenses have been expired for less than a year to use a streamlined path that processes more quickly than a true brand-new application, but that guidance lives in agency rule and bulletins under § 411.185(f) and is subject to revision. The bright-line statutory rule is: file before the expiration date to keep the case in renewal posture under § 411.185, with the 45-day clock and no proficiency course.
While a license is expired and not yet renewed, you do not have an LTC. Under Texas's permitless-carry framework (Tex. Penal Code § 46.02 as amended by HB 1927), a qualifying adult 21 or older can still carry a handgun lawfully without the LTC - but the license-holder carve-outs in Tex. Penal Code § 46.15(p) and (q) (and the federal NICS exemption at point of purchase, and reciprocity with non-permitless states) are unavailable until DPS re-issues. Plan for a buffer if you travel, frequent posted premises that LTC holders can lawfully enter, or buy handguns frequently enough that the NICS exemption matters.
Texas LTC eligibility is open to non-residents who otherwise qualify (the eligibility test in § 411.172 keys on legal status and disqualifying conduct, not Texas residency). For a Texas resident temporarily living out of state - for example, a service member on orders or a Texan on extended assignment - § 411.185 imposes no in-person renewal requirement. The form goes in by mail or through the online portal under § 411.185(f); the senior, military, and veteran reductions apply on the same terms; and the 45-day clock runs from receipt regardless of where the file is mailed from.
If the lawful-presence ceiling in § 411.183(b)(1)(B) caps the renewed license (for example, a green-card holder whose authorization expires inside the five-year window), the renewed credential expires on that earlier date, and the holder will need to renew again when lawful presence is extended.
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