Certification Renewal Deadlines Explained

Most certified professionals think they have one renewal deadline. In reality they usually have several, stacked inside each other: a final expiry date, an earlier window in which renewal becomes possible, and — for several providers — annual sub-deadlines for fees or credit reporting that arrive long before the certification itself expires. A CISSP holder, for example, faces an annual maintenance fee every anniversary and a 120-credit target at the three-year mark; a Microsoft Azure Administrator has a six-month renewal window inside a twelve-month cycle.

This article maps how those deadline structures work, provider by provider, so you can put the right dates in your calendar. It is written for people still inside their window; if yours has already passed, start instead with what happens if you miss a certification renewal deadline.

How renewal cycles are anchored

Every deadline flows from one anchor date, and providers anchor differently:

• Certification date. CompTIA CE certifications expire exactly three years from the day you passed. Pass Security+ on 10 March 2026 and it expires 10 March 2029.
• Certification anniversary. ISC2 runs a three-year certification cycle, with the annual maintenance fee due on your certification anniversary each year.
• Cycle plus calendar-year duties. ISACA's CISA runs a three-year cycle, but CPE hours are reported annually by 31 December — a calendar deadline layered on top of your personal cycle.
• Earned date. AWS states certifications are "valid for three years from the date it was earned", with no interim duties at all.

Know your anchor before anything else. Confusing "three years from January, when I got the welcome email" with "three years from November, when I actually passed" is how organised people miss deadlines.

Deadline structures by provider

CompTIA: one hard date, flexible timing before it

CompTIA CE certifications (A+, Network+, Security+ and the rest) run a three-year cycle from your pass date. You can upload Continuing Education Units (CEUs) at any point during the cycle, and CE fees — charged per three-year cycle, $75 for the A+ tier and $150 for the Security+/Network+ tier as of August 2026 — are due by the expiration date. There is no annual checkpoint: the whole obligation converges on one date. Requirements scale by certification (20 CEUs for A+, 30 for Network+, 50 for Security+, 60 for CySA+), and the full activity rulebook lives in our CompTIA continuing education requirements guide.

Two useful wrinkles. Renewing a higher CompTIA certification automatically renews lower ones, so your real deadline is your highest cert's date. And if you renew by passing the latest exam version instead of logging CEUs, your deadline becomes "any exam sitting before expiry" — a date you choose.

ISC2: annual fees inside a three-year cycle

ISC2 certifications (CISSP, CCSP, SSCP, CC) run three-year cycles, but the deadline that arrives first is financial: an annual maintenance fee (AMF) of US$135 for member certifications ($50 for CC), due each year on your certification anniversary. Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits — 120 for CISSP, 90 for CCSP, 60 for SSCP, 45 for CC per cycle — accumulate towards the three-year mark. ISC2 allows a 90-day grace period after the cycle ends to submit CPEs and pay the AMF, which is unusually explicit; most providers publish nothing so forgiving.

So an ISC2 calendar has four dates per cycle: three anniversary fee dates and one CPE deadline (which coincides with the third anniversary).

PMI: a rolling three-year CCR cycle

PMI's Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR) cycle is three years for the PMP, CAPM and its other credentials. The pattern is earn-then-pay: accumulate 60 PDUs (15 for CAPM) at any pace during the cycle, then complete renewal with a fee — $60 for PMI members, $150 for non-members. There are no mandatory annual checkpoints, but PMI's model rewards early finishers: PDUs are yours to log whenever the activity happens, so many holders finish the credit requirement in year two and treat year three as buffer.

AWS: one date, one route

AWS is the simplest calendar and the least forgiving one. Certifications are valid three years from the date earned; recertifying means passing the current version of the exam (or a higher-level exam, for foundational and associate certs) before that date. There are no fees to schedule and no credits to report — but also nothing you can do in an evening. Your real deadline is not expiry day; it is the last date you could book, prepare for and sit an exam with enough slack to absorb a failed attempt. Working backwards, that means starting revision several months out. AWS does grant a 50% discount voucher after any exam pass, usable towards the recertification exam.

Cisco: three years, two routes, one date

All Cisco certifications are valid for three years. You renew either by passing a qualifying exam or by earning Continuing Education credits (30 for CCNA, 80 for CCNP level, with combinations allowed) — and the credits must come from Cisco-approved activities completed before expiry. The deadline structure matches CompTIA's: everything converges on one date, with no annual sub-deadlines.

ISACA: the calendar-year trap

ISACA's CISA runs a three-year cycle requiring 120 CPE hours, but with two annual duties: a minimum of 20 CPE hours every year, and annual reporting by 31 December. Secondary sources also report an annual maintenance fee (around $45 for members, $85 for non-members — confirm current figures at isaca.org). This is the deadline structure most likely to catch people out, because the binding constraint recurs every December regardless of where you are in your personal cycle. Full details are in our CISA certification renewal guide.

Microsoft: a twelve-month cycle with a six-month window

Microsoft role-based and specialty certifications are valid for just 12 months — the shortest cycle in mainstream IT certification — but renewal is a free, open-book online assessment on Microsoft Learn, available in the six-month window before expiry. Pass it any time in that window and the certification extends one year from its existing expiration date, so renewing early costs you nothing. Fundamentals certifications never expire. The practical takeaway: the moment your renewal window opens, take the assessment; there is no reason to run the clock down.

Provider deadline calendars at a glance

Provider	Cycle length	Interim deadlines	Renewal window	Final deadline
CompTIA	3 years from pass date	None	Any time in cycle (CEUs/fees due by expiry)	Expiration date
ISC2	3 years	AMF each anniversary ($135; $50 for CC)	Any time in cycle for CPEs	Cycle end (+90-day grace to submit CPEs/pay AMF)
PMI	3 years (CCR)	None	Any time in cycle for PDUs	Cycle end
AWS	3 years from date earned	None	Any exam sitting before expiry	Expiration date
Cisco	3 years	None	Any time in cycle (CE credits or exam)	Expiration date
ISACA (CISA)	3 years	20 CPE min/year; reporting by 31 Dec; annual fee	Annual reporting rhythm	Cycle end
Microsoft (role-based)	12 months	None	Final 6 months before expiry	Expiration date

How long each certification stays valid in the first place — including providers not listed here — is tabulated separately in how long professional certifications stay valid.