Transition from Associate to CISSP in the same year

[AOHA]

Hi,

I passed the CISSP exam in February 2019 and I am currently an associate of ISC².

I will have the necessary 4 year experience this October the 20th 2019, working at the employer for 4 years. I will be endorsed by a fellow colleague.

I have a couple of questions regarding this timeline:

• as an associate I have to gather 15 CPE's before February 2020, can I skip this by making it official in October and go for the 40 CPE's instead;

• as an associate I have to pay the associate fee of $30 (don't know when the due date is) can I skip this by making it official in October and just paying the $125, instead of $155?;

• since the endorsement takes about 6 weeks approximately, can I send in my info 4 weeks (1st of October) before my required experience date (20th of October), in the hope that by the time ISC² reviews (12th of November) my endorsement, I could still get it before in November rather than in mid/end of December?

I want to go for CISM and my employer will pay for it as long I do the exam before the end of the year (has to do with taxes) and I want to collect the associated CISM stuyd CPE's.

[amandavanceISC2]

@AOHA Congratulations on passing the exam!

I want to first note that the experience for CISSP is 5 years, but if you have a four year degree of higher (or approved certificate), you can waive the year, making the requirement 4 with proof of the additional year. 

If you will definitely meet the requirements in October, then yes, I wouldn't submit the CPEs or AMFs as long as the endorsement is approved prior to the end of your first year as an Associate. Also, as long as your experience meets the 5 full years by the time the team reviews the endorsement, that will also be fine. Anything can happen between now and October. We are currently running up to 6 weeks, there's always a possibility of the review process being 3 weeks (typically 4 is the best but you never know). I would be safe and at least be sure to allow 3 full weeks before you 5 year total to make sure it doesn't get denied.

Best Regards,

Amanda

[AOHA]

Hi @amandavanceISC2 Amanda, 

Thank you for the response and the congratulations, much appreciated !!

Sorry for answering so late, I was travelling.

Just to be confirm, I do have a masters degree, which off course I can prove, so I do qualify for the 4 years requirement. I will have the 4 year requirement in October, so before my first year as an associate has elapsed.

Can you please confirm the following as still seems a bit unclear to me (and others on reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/cissp/comments/b42wr5/transition_from_associate_to_official_in_october/😞

• I don't have to pay the Associate fee of € 30 by the end of June 2019 ?
  How can I prevent that my certificate will be suspended by not paying the fee ?
  Do I pay the €30 now and when I am an official I have to subtract that €30 from € 125 ?
  Do I pay the €30 now and then again €125, which seems a bit excessive.

• I am unable to earn any CPE's now as everything I earn now will go to the associate part. I must wait until October, when I am officially CISSP, before I can earn and submit CPE's ?

Has this been documented anywhere, I have tried to look this up but didn't find an answer to my specific situation.

[amandavanceISC2]

@AOHA Not a problem at all. If you were awarded the Associate status in February, I would expect your cycle end date to be either end of Feb 2020 or end of March 2020. You will need to pay the AMF ahead of time (I apologize for providing the wrong information), as AMFs are now due at the beginning of the three-year cycle. Typically, if you didn't finish the full year of being an Associate, the endorsement team will move the $35.00 fee into the $125.00 fee for the full certification. Please be sure to pay this prior to June 30, 2019 or the fee will increase and the Associate status will go into suspension. You don't have to worry about CPEs as long as you have the endorsement submitted/passed prior to the cycle end date.

Best Regards,

Amanda