Nebraska SR-22 Insurance: Who Needs a Filing and for How Long
Yes — Nebraska uses the SR-22. How long it stays on file: 3 years after a conviction or revocation.
- Used in this state
- Yes
The statute book here prints the term itself, which is unusual. Since 2004 § 60-529 has described the insurer's certificate as the one "also known as an SR-22 certificate", so the name is statutory here rather than administrative.
- Form
- SR-22
The DMV's SR-22 page says the SR-22 filing "is the only form of proof of insurance that will be accepted", which overstates it: § 60-528 and the DMV's own Proof of Financial Responsibility page also accept a surety or property bond, a $75,000 cash or securities deposit per vehicle with the State Treasurer, or a certificate of self-insurance. What the SR-22 page means is that an insurance card, binder or policy will not do. Filings cannot be faxed or photocopied, and from July 1, 2027 they must be transmitted electronically by the carrier — LB972 (2026) removed the paper option as of that date.
- How long it must stay on file
- 3 years
Three years is the statutory term, but the clock starts in different places. After a conviction for driving an uninsured vehicle the filing runs three years from the date of the citation, not from reinstatement. After a point revocation or a court-ordered revocation it runs three years from the date you become eligible to reinstate. After an accident suspension, an unsatisfied-judgment suspension or a default on a payment agreement, the DMV only needs the SR-22 on file on the day the license is reinstated. For an employment, medical hardship or ignition interlock permit it has to last as long as the permit.
- What triggers it
- Conviction for operating, or letting someone operate, an uninsured vehicle you own (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-3,167) · Revocation for accumulating 12 or more points in less than two years · A court-ordered license revocation on a traffic conviction · A license suspension after a reportable crash you had no coverage for · A suspension for an unsatisfied judgment arising out of a crash, or default on a payment agreement for one · Holding an employment driving permit, a medical hardship permit or an ignition interlock permit
The filing follows you out of state: the DMV requires the SR-22 for the full term regardless of where you live, and an out-of-state insurer has to send it from its home office with an authorization letter on file.
- If coverage lapses
- Suspension until a new SR-22 is filed, then three more years
If the filing cancels or lapses the DMV suspends the license for an insurance cancellation, and reinstatement needs a fresh SR-22 that must then stay on file three years from the new eligibility date — so a lapse can restart the clock rather than merely pause it. One escape: if the replacement SR-22 carries a certification date on or before the suspension's effective date, the suspension is withdrawn from the record, which is what usually happens when a driver switches carriers and the new one files late.
- Reinstatement fee
- $50
$50 where the privilege was suspended. If it was revoked rather than suspended the fee is $125. Both figures are statutory, and the DMV charges an extra $3 to pay online.
Nebraska requires 3 years — the highest of the 37 jurisdictions on this site. The range runs from 1 year to 3 years.
How Nebraska compares with every other state
Every statute cited for Nebraska
What changed
July 18, 2026
Paper SR-22 filings are on the way out — from July 1, 2027 only an electronic transmission counts
LB972 (2026) rewrote § 60-529 into two timed halves. Until July 1, 2027 proof of financial responsibility may still be furnished either by filing the insurer's written certificate with the department or by electronic transmission of that certificate. Beginning July 1, 2027 the written option disappears: proof "shall be furnished by electronic transmission of a certificate by an insurance carrier, duly authorized to do business in this state". The certificate itself keeps the name the statute has used since LB911 (2004) put it there — Nebraska is one of the few states where "SR-22 certificate" appears in the statute book rather than only on agency forms. The practical effect falls on drivers with out-of-state or small carriers: the DMV already refuses faxed and photocopied filings, and after July 1, 2027 a carrier that cannot transmit electronically cannot file at all. The same act also amended § 60-3,167, the uninsured-driving offense, but those edits were stylistic — the Class II misdemeanor, the suspension of license, registration and plates, the ten-day window to produce proof, and the three-year filing period are all unchanged.
2026 LB972, final reading — an act relating to motor vehicles; to amend sections ... 60-3,167 ... and 60-529
Why the rule looks like this
- What Changed in 2026Liability minimums doubled in Hawaii, two states dropped pure comparative fault, New Hampshire stopped inspecting cars, and three crash reporting thresholds moved — a dated account of the 2026 changes, and the ones already signed for 2027 and beyond.
- The Fine Is the Cheapest PartA first-offense fine for driving uninsured runs from $30 in Florida to a $1,500 floor in Delaware — but South Carolina's $100 fine arrives with a $700 reinstatement fee, and the reinstatement is usually the bigger number.
- The Form Some States Do Not UseAn SR-22 is a certificate, not a policy — and in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina and Michigan the form does not exist at all.
More on Nebraska
Checked against the primary sources above on September 28, 2026. If a figure here is wrong, tell us and we will fix it — what we have corrected so far is public.