In late 2020 and early 2021, ISACA received more inquiries from members and customers than ever before, with unprecedented demand for certifications, including the CDPSE early adoption program. While the team has added staff, expanded hours and is working hard to help, it is taking up to two weeks to respond to tickets, given the huge influx in requests.
To get you the help you need more quickly, we’ve compiled a list on how to solve your most frequently asked questions on CPE, membership and certification renewals, CDPSE and more.
I am having difficulty with my member or certification renewal. What should I do?
Due to extremely high traffic on our site as many members and certification holders are attempting to process their renewals, you may experience difficulty with those transactions. If you do, please wait a few minutes and try again.
During ISACA’s renewal period, especially within hours of receiving the renewal invoice via email, a very high volume of customers will make their payment at the same time. During these high-volume times, certification and membership payments made at the same time may post separately and at different times within a 24-48-hour period. Please allow the system this time to fully update and to reflect the appropriate payment made on your account. After 24-48 hours have elapsed, you can confirm the complete payment was made by reviewing your MyISACA dashboard. You can then print a copy of these payments from your Order History.
Did my membership and certifications expire on 31 December?
ISACA is offering a grace period during which time your member benefits will continue and you will be in good standing for both your membership and certification. The grace period will run through 28 February. However, the grace period applies only to payment and reporting of CPE, not to earning CPE. 2020 CPE needed to be earned in 2020.
How do I apply for certification?
Please log in using your ISACA account here and fill out the web form, with Certification/Application as the case type/reason. Please note that applications are taking longer than usual to review given the current backlog.
Why is my certification application taking longer than usual to be reviewed?
ISACA currently has more than 3,500 certification applications in the queue. Each one is personally reviewed by an ISACA team member to validate experience and exam passing. We appreciate your patience!
One thing to do to facilitate approval of your application is to ensure your signature is appropriate. You may either insert a digital signature with certificate, or print the application, sign it with ink, scan and attach the document to the case.
How do I report my CPE?
To report CPE, first log in at www.isaca.org, and click the “MyISACA” tab. Click “Certifications & CPE Management, and then “Add CPE.” Once there, please enter all required CPE activity information for your first activity. If you have more, click “Save & Add More.” If you are reporting one activity, click “Save & Close.”
How can I earn CPE?
We know your certification is important to you, and we want to make it easy for you to maintain it. There are many ways you can earn CPEs through ISACA, such as by attending webinars, conferences or training events, or even volunteering and mentoring!
Please review your certification's Qualifying Professional Educational Activities at the links provided below. ISACA CPEs are applicable for all four certifications.
CISA
CISM
CGEIT
CRISC
How do I apply my pending or unapplied CPEs?
For some ISACA CPE activities, such as webinars, conferences and volunteering with ISACA, we will pre-load the maximum number of CPE hours you are eligible to report to the Unapplied CPE section of your account. To make sure these hours count toward your certification(s), you will need to apply them.
To apply your pre-loaded (unapplied) CPE hours to your Certification:
- Please login at www.isaca.org/myisaca
- Select the "Certifications & CPE Management" tab under your name.
- Scroll to any one of your certifications and click the red "Manage CPE" button
- Find the "Unapplied CPE Hours" portion of your Manage CPE page
- Click "Apply" in the Actions column of the CPE that you would like to apply to your certification(s)
- Enter the number of CPE hours earned for each of your certifications.
- Please note, you may report the same CPE hours for multiple certifications as long as the content is related to the Job Practice Areas for each certification you're applying to. For example, an ISACA Webinar worth 1 CPE hour may be applied to both your CISA and CISM Certifications if you hold both.
- Click "Save & Close.”
What is the CDPSE Early Adoption Program?
ISACA's new Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE) certification not only focuses on privacy governance, but also addresses technical privacy controls and how to design and embed them within an organization's infrastructure. This certification is intended to bridge the gap between the technical and legal functions within an organization.
This is a limited-time opportunity where candidates who meet the eligibility requirements and can show that they have the necessary experience in the CDPSE domains and tasks, can earn a CDPSE certification without taking the exam.
The program is open through 31 March 2021. You can apply here: https://www.isaca.org/cdpse
What if I do not qualify for the CDPSE Early Adoption Program and want to earn a CDPSE certification?
If you are interested in getting CDPSE certified but do not meet the requirements for the early adoption program, a beta exam is now available.