A life insurance license stands for the required permission to sell life insurances.  But not every sales agent has a life insurance license. An unlicensed agent could not sell you a life insurance in United States, as all states would require life insurance license.
 In California, a life insurance license requires 40 hours of class work, 12 hours of ethics classes and a passing grade. However, if you want to sell all over the country and variable insurance contracts, you will need a special life insurance license. This license is issued by the National Association of Securities Dealers, NASD.