we're going to talk about the cisco recertification policy, Because I have some important information I want to share with you so buckle up now, A bit of backstory. First, This topic popped up on twitter when a ccie. Renewed his certification for three years, But it actually cost him a few months of exam or certification validity. How is this possible? That's what we'll find out in this article now spoiler alert. The reason is the new cisco recertification policy, But before we get to that, Let me actually show you the tweet and blog post that started this.
All I'll also put the links in the description, But let's jump to that first so right here this is the tweet that sparked the entire conversation we had on twitter, So john paulo tweeted, Hashtag, Ccie renewed, And how I failed to make the most of the new Certification cycle, And then he has a link to his blog post. S twitter handle is at gb underscore if config. If you want to follow him and again, The links will be in the description, So you can find him there. So let's go look at the blog post. I already have it open on this other link actually or on this other tab. So first he kind of talks about the different options, How you can recertify according to the new recertification policy.
So there's this thing called continuing education credits which we'll touch on later in this article, So I'll skip the details for now and here's where we get to the good part, The surprise. Now here's the punch line - all certifications - will be active for three years from the date when the certification is achieved. Each time recertification requirements are met. The certification active status will be extended for an additional three years. So this section right here this is a quote from the cisco recertification policy that is highlighted here in bold text as well.
So, In other words, Renewing your certification no longer adds three years. Actually, I think it was two years for ccie from the date you passed. The certification, But instead it adds three years from the date the recertification requirements are met. So that means the certification expiration date can be different from the date when you originally passed the certification.
So the lesson here is that you need to be aware of when your certification is going to expire and how the new recertification policy works, And you kind of have to play around with the dates to make sure you recertify as close to the expiration date as Possible but make sure not to exceed that date, Because if your certification expires, You lose it. So, Let's scroll down a bit more to see what else is on here. So let's look at this example: ccie exam passed on march 19. 2019.
The same exam is valid for three years. The next expiration date is march 19, 2022. If 120 ce credits are submitted on december, 8th 2021 or the amount necessary to reach a total of 120 or more. The new expiration date will be december.
8Th 2024, Not march 2025, So make sure you understand this, Because if you play the dates wrong, You can lose a lot of validity period for your certification. So it's really great that john paul has posted about this and shared this information with us, Because quite frankly I did not know or remember that this is how the recertification policy works. Now, Let's see what else is on here? then he talks about the kovid 19 extension to the certification validity period and some more mentions about the ce credits. I don't want to get into too much detail about the ce credits right now, Because that's a whole article on its own and actually I'm not even so familiar with that program.
Yet so I don't want to discuss it and give you wrong information. Let's leave this blog post behind and go to the cisco official re-certification policy page to look at the information in more detail. So let me click on this tab right here.
I have it open, Then, Let's scroll down a little bit so I'll just quickly mention here now. There are multiple ways how you can recertify your certifications, Because if you remember before you had to pass an exam of the same level or higher to renew your certifications. But now there's that whole continuing education program and you can earn credits by attending cisco live training sessions. You can author exam items, You can complete online training and things like that, So there are way more options now, Which is great like i, I like that cisco has done this. Let's move further down.
Let's look at this section certification cycle. This section contains the same information we already covered in john paulo's blog post, But let's go through it again, Just to make sure that the information syncs in so once again, All certifications will be active for three years from the date when the certification is achieved. Each time recertification requirements are met, The certification active status will be extended for an additional three years.
Here you did not get an additional three years from february. First, 2022 to february first 2025, You actually gained only nine months by recertifying on november 1st 2019 and the new expiration date being november 1st 2022. So if you want to make the most of your certification validity period, You do not want to re-certify in this way, Then number three. The example continues.
If you recertify august 1st 2022, The new expiration date is august, 1st 2023, So notice in this example, You've recertified your certification twice, But you've only gained about a year and a half in the certification validity period. So it was originally february 1st 2022. But after two renewals, It's only august 1st 2023. Isn'T that crazy? I mean I understand the logic, But I want to stress the importance of this information. So now, Let's quickly take a peek at the continuing education program which again I have opened in another tab here.
Individuals with expired, Certifications must re-certify by examination to earn active certification status. Recertification can occur at any time during the active period by advancing to the next level of certifications, Earning continuing education credits or a combination of both. So very important to note here, As I mentioned earlier, Do not let your certifications expire, Because if you do so, You need to start all over again. There is no way to recertify your certifications once t have expired and the second point you can recertify at any time during the active period of your certification status, You can do so by passing an exam from the required category or earning ce credits or a combination Of both, So let's see what else is on here, I think the following sections describe how you can earn those ce credits.
So, Let's move further down this talks about cisco live sessions, The continuing education process - let's stop here for a moment! So let's see what it states here to recertify via continuing education, Complete the following steps before your current certification becomes inactive. So, There's a bunch of steps you need to take to recertify with the ce credits. Let's move a bit further down so to see the text here. So here it says getting started. Candidates with an active certification are automatically qualified and can immediately participate in the program.
Log in to the continuing education program portal and agree to the terms and conditions . So the first thing is to go to this continuing education program portal and make sure that you've accepted all the terms and conditions, And you kind of have set up your account or something. Then next choose your recertification path. Complete your chosen items from the pre-approved continuing education offerings and course catalog submit your completed items for credit via the cisco continuing education program portal within 90 days of completion.
So, Then you need to choose what courses or other offerings you're gonna take to earn those ce credits and then here's a very important point. Again. You have to submit your completed items within 90 days of completion, So I need to investigate this process a little further because I don't know all the details, But how it sounds to me is that let's say you take a course to earn these ce credits. So you complete the course - and I guess you get some kind of certificate of completion and then you need to submit this to the continuing education program portal within 90 days of completion. So once you've completed a course, You have three months to submit that into this portal.
So I'm guessing. Let's say you do three courses worth 40 ce credits, Each to earn the 120 ce credits to recertify ccie. So I guess you have three years to complete those before the expiration date of your ccI certification. But then you also have to remember that once you complete each of those courses, You have 90 days or three months after each one to submit the credits to the continuing education program portal. I believe that's how it works, So I guess once you've submitted them. T stay in the portal and once you've collected all the credits, So 120 ce credits.
In this case, Then, Your certification is automatically renewed. I'm not sure if there's another process, Another step that you need to take to re-certify your certification, Then the two other steps here say: track your progress and certification status and then recertify, Let's see when the criteria have been met, Recertification will be automatically awarded the date. The final credit was earned, , So that answers my question.
So once you've submitted your ce credits, T stay in the portal and once you've collected enough to recertify, Then the recertification process happens automatically. It seems clear now, But my explanation was kind of a mess. Also. I may have made a mistake, So please don't rely on this. Information 100 always confirm from the official, Cisco, Recertification policy, Page .
So let's finally just scroll to the bottom of the page, See what else is on here. In this section, I guess you have a list of all the items you can complete to earn ce credits. Let's just look at this quickly, So I guess here is a list of courses or no. This is just like type of training.
You can . You can use , It looks like here we have the continuing education catalog. So let's just look at one of these, Maybe or two because that didn't include almost anything . So here we have more options, So you get like 40 credits for these courses. Anyway, I want to end the article here before this goes on too long and becomes even more confusing. So let me try to sum up what we've discussed in this article so number one, And the most important thing to remember is that when you renew your certifications, The expiration date is three years from the date that the recertification requirements are met.
So that means that the expiration date after you recertify can be different than the date you originally passed. The certification then number two. You can use the continuing education program to renew your certifications. Here's the important part: you must submit the ce credits within 90 days of completion. So if you don't take away anything else from this article try to remember those two key points. I was kind of rambling and talking all over the place in this article.
The 300-810 Exam Questions is a wonderful tool for evaluating your performance in terms of the number of questions you can answer and your ability to maintain a healthy level of stress during the final exam. Additionally, it supports you in planning for a buffer, which acts as a safety net for you throughout the Certification exam.
