Each applicant for license as agent, broker, solicitor or adjuster shall, prior to the issuance of any such license, personally take and pass to the satisfaction of the examining authority, an examination given as a test of qualifications and competence, but this requirement shall not apply to:

• Applicants for limited licenses under RCW 48.17.190, at the discretion of the commissioner
• Applicants who were licensed as residents in this state within the last two years under a license requiring qualifications similar to qualifications required by the license applied for, or who have successfully completed a course of study recognized as a mark of distinction by the insurance industry and who are deemed by the Commissioner to be fully qualified and competent.
• Applicants for license as a nonresident agent, broker or adjuster, who are duly licensed in their state of residence and who are deemed by the Commissioner to be fully qualified and competent for a similar license in this state.
• Applicants for an agent’s license covering the same types of insurance as a solicitor’s license they currently hold or held within the last two years.
• Applicants for an adjuster’s license who for a period of one year (a portion of which was in the year preceding the date of application), have been full­time salaried employees of an insurer or a general agent, adjusting, investigating, or reporting claims arising under insurance contracts.

Applicants who were licensed as an insurance broker by this state prior to June 8, 1967, who are otherwise qualified to be a licensed insurance broker, shall be entitled to renew their broker’s license by payment of the applicable fee for such a broker’s license as authorized by RCW 48.17.110(2), without taking any additional examinations.