You got a letter telling you to file an SR-22 and you want to know when you’re done. Most of what you’ll find online says three years. The length is usually right. The date is usually wrong, because almost nobody tells you when the three years actually start, and the five states we write in don’t count it the same way.
Oregon in particular catches people. Sitting out a longer suspension doesn’t get you to the finish line sooner. It pushes it back.
We cover each state’s full rules on its own page, for Oregon, Arizona, California, Colorado and Nevada. If you’re ready to get a policy with a filing on it, that’s SR-22 insurance. This page puts the five states next to each other.
The short version, state by state
| State | How long | What the clock runs from |
|---|---|---|
| Oregon | Three years for most filings. One year after an uninsured crash or a driving-uninsured conviction. | Reinstatement of driving privileges, for suspensions and revocations recorded on or after July 3, 2020. |
| Arizona | Three years for DUI-related suspensions, implied consent suspensions and alcohol or drug-related revocations. | The end date of the suspension or revocation. Insurance-law cases run from the date you become eligible for reinstatement. |
| California | Three years. | The date the proof was required. The DMV may release the proof at any time after that. |
| Colorado | Three years after an uninsured accident. Generally 9 months to 3 years for alcohol revocations, depending on the offense. | Restoration of driving privileges on the post-suspension path under DR 2316. |
| Nevada | Three years. | The date of reinstatement. |
Each row is that state’s own published rule, cut short. The detail behind it is below.
Oregon: the rule most competing articles get wrong
Two Oregon rules apply here, and they answer different questions. Read one without the other and you’ll get the wrong date.
ORS 806.245(2) sets the length. The requirement ends once more than three years have passed from the date the filing was required. On its own, that reads like a clock that starts on the day of the offense and runs whether or not you do anything.
OAR 735-050-0100 sets the start for mandatory suspensions and revocations, and it changed. For a suspension or revocation recorded before July 3, 2020, the filing requirement began when the suspension expired. For one recorded on or after July 3, 2020, it begins upon reinstatement of driving privileges. The Oregon Department of Transportation amended that rule in Administrative Order DMV 5-2026, effective March 12, 2026, to line up with Senate Bill 840.
ODOT’s own rulemaking notice says why. The change keeps a driver from running out the filing period by waiting out the suspension and never reinstating.
So waiting doesn’t help you in Oregon. Stay suspended an extra year and you don’t get that year credited toward the filing. The three years start the day DMV reinstates you, and the certificate has to be on file from that day forward.
The Oregon exception that is shorter, not longer
Two Oregon filings run for one year. ORS 806.245(2) sets that shorter period for a filing required under ORS 806.200, after an uninsured crash, and for a filing required under ORS 806.230, after a conviction for driving uninsured.
That’s a real difference if your only problem was driving without insurance. Oregon DMV’s notice on Senate Bill 840 says the filing for a driving-uninsured conviction on or after January 1, 2026 shortened from three years to one. Its January 2026 suspension guide lists the same change.
ORS 806.245 also lets a filing end early in a few narrow cases. A DMV error, an insurer’s mistaken notice, and proof that you were actually insured at the time of the crash are the ones it names. Ending the filing doesn’t end your duty to stay insured.
Arizona: the end of the suspension, not the date you file
Arizona counts from a date that’s usually already behind you by the time you read about it. ADOT’s future financial responsibility page sets the periods out. An alcohol or drug-related revocation, a suspension after a DUI conviction, and an implied consent suspension each carry the filing for three years from the end date of that suspension or revocation. Insurance-law violations run three years from the date you become eligible for reinstatement. An unpaid judgment runs for the term of the judgment plus two full years after it’s satisfied, and a special ignition interlock restricted driver license carries the filing for the whole restricted period.
None of those count from the day you file the SR-22. ADOT also says every case is different, so check yours with MVD instead of working off the list.
A.R.S. 28-4088 is the section that ends the requirement. On request, the director may consent to cancel a certificate of insurance at any time after three years from the date the proof was required. The same section lets the requirement end if you surrender the license and registration. Subsection C shuts the obvious shortcut: anyone who surrenders and then applies for a license or registration within three years has to reestablish proof for the rest of the period.
ADOT adds that the Division may release someone from an SR-22 requirement if the person is no longer, or never was, an Arizona resident. Judgments aren’t eligible for that waiver.
Nevada: three years from reinstatement, and a lapse can start it
In Nevada you can end up with a filing without ever being pulled over. A car registered in your name that sat uninsured long enough will do it. On a first or second offense within five years, the Nevada DMV’s reinstatement table requires the SR-22 when the lapse lasted 91 days or longer. On a third offense within five years, the filing is required whatever the length of the lapse.
Once it applies, NRS 485.3075 sets the period. A person suspended for failing to maintain financial responsibility has to provide proof before reinstatement and keep it on file for three years after the date of reinstatement. The DMV’s DUI page describes the same filing after a first DUI offense as three years, or 36 consecutive months.
The Nevada clock runs from reinstatement, not from the day the lapse started and not from the day of the arrest. Take six months to pay the fees and get the certificate filed, and you’ve pushed your own end date out by six months.
If a gap in coverage is what brought you here, auto insurance after a lapse covers the rest of what a gap sets off.
California: three years, and the DMV decides when it is released
California’s period is three years, and two Vehicle Code sections frame it from opposite ends.
Vehicle Code 16072(a) covers the suspension that follows a reportable collision with no insurance. The suspension can’t end until one year has passed from its start and you file proof. The same sentence adds that the suspension is reinstated if you fail to keep proof for three years. The DMV’s driver handbook describes the same outcome from the driver’s side: a suspension of up to four years, with the license available during the last three if you provide the certificate.
Vehicle Code 16480 closes the requirement. The DMV may cancel the certificate or waive the filing at any time after three years from the date the proof was required. That’s permission for the agency, not an automatic expiry on your calendar.
For DUI cases, the DMV’s first offender sheet is direct: you’ll be required to maintain the SR 22 for three years. California also uses two different certificates, and they aren’t interchangeable. The difference between them has its own article.
Colorado: the period depends on the offense
Colorado is the state where “three years” is most likely to be simply wrong for the reader.
After an uninsured accident, DMV form DR 2316 tells drivers to maintain the SR-22 continuously for three years. On the post-suspension path in Section B of that form, the three years run following restoration of your driving privileges, not from the accident. Wait a year to deal with the suspension and you don’t get that year back.
After an alcohol revocation, the Colorado DMV says the period generally runs 9 months to 3 years depending on the offense. Its reinstatement FAQ breaks that down. A first offense at 21 or older with a BAC of .08 or more runs 9 months, or 3 years if an accident or high BAC was involved. Multiple offenses run 3 years, and a refusal runs 1 to 3 years. A DUI or DWAI conviction under 21 is also 1 to 3 years. A second or third zero tolerance offense under 21 runs 6 to 12 months.
Six months isn’t a Colorado alcohol period, whatever you may have read. The shortest alcohol-revocation figure the DMV publishes is 9 months, and the 6 to 12 month range belongs to the under-21 zero tolerance track. Colorado’s own pages don’t line up perfectly with each other on this, so follow the DMV reinstatement letter.
What actually ends the filing
In every one of these states, the requirement ends when the agency says it ends, not when your arithmetic says so. California leaves the release to the DMV under 16480. Arizona requires a request to the director under 28-4088. Oregon terminates the requirement under ORS 806.245. Nevada ties it to three years after reinstatement under NRS 485.3075.
So ask the agency for your end date, and get it in writing if you can. Keep the policy in force until that date has passed and the agency confirms the filing is released. Canceling a day early can turn a finished requirement into a fresh suspension.
Where an advisor fits
Vantage Point Risk is an independent agency. We can put a policy with Kemper, and we compare other companies, including National General and GEICO, when we’re working on a filing. No company can shorten a filing period, and nobody can promise that a particular company will take a particular record. What we can do is read your notice, match the filing type to your situation, and get the certificate on file without a gap.
For the wider picture on the records that lead to a filing, see high risk auto insurance.
Questions to ask your advisor
- What’s the exact date my filing requirement ends, and what date does it run from?
- Which statute or rule is my filing under?
- Does my record show more than one filing requirement running at the same time?
- If my policy lapsed during the period, does the period restart, and from when?
- Do I need to do anything to get the filing released, or does it close on its own?
Statutory content here is information about the law, not advice. If there’s a legal question underneath your filing, that one belongs with an attorney.
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