Transitioning From NSE 7 to FCSS Certification That Require Two Proctored Exams

The FCSS certification in Network Security requires two proctored exams. 

On October 1, 2023, you will automatically receive the FCSS Network Security certification under the following conditions:

If you hold a valid NSE 8 certification on October 1, 2023:

The expiration date of the FCSS Network Security certification will be same as the the expiration date of the NSE 8 certification.

If you do not hold a valid NSE 8 certification on October 1, 2023:

The expiration date for your FCSS in Network Security certification will be defined using the following process:

The process will:

1. Identify the first time after October 1, 2021, that you completed one of the required exams.
2. Check if you completed any of the additional required exams no more than 2 years ago from the date of the exam you identified in Step 1.

If you meet both requirements, the process will award you the certification, with the following considerations:

• The issue date of the awarded certification is set to the date of the second exam.
• The expiration date of the awarded certification is set to two years after the issue date.

After that, the process will continue moving forward in time, using the same logic, to identify if you have met the two requirements again by completing two different exams. If the process finds that you meet these requirements, the process will extend the expiration date of your certification by two years from the date you passed the second exam.

Additionally, according to the new recertification policies, if you achieved or renewed your NSE 8 certification after achieving the FCSS in Network Security certification, the process will update the expiration date of your FCSS certification to match the expiration date of your NSE 8 certification.

The process will continue to check your exams until October 1, 2023.

How the process works - Examples

The cases detailed in the following examples show how the process works in potential “real-life” scenarios:

Case 1:

Before October 1, 2023, you completed the following exams:

• NSE 7 Enterprise Firewall, on December 5, 2020
• NSE 7 SD-WAN, on November 20, 2022

On October 1, 2023, you will receive the FCSS in Network Security certification, with an issue date of November 20, 2022, and an expiration date of November 20, 2024.

Case 2:

Between October 1, 2019, and October 1, 2023, you completed the following exams:

• NSE 7 Enterprise Firewall, on December 5, 2020
• NSE 7 SD-WAN, on January 1, 2021
• NSE 8 Written, on February 20, 2022
• NSE 8 Practical, on March 3, 2023

On October 1, 2023, you will receive the FCSS in Network Security certification, with an expiration date of March 3, 2026. Although your NSE 7 exams are older than 2 years, they will still count toward the FCSS in Network Security certification as you will hold a valid NSE 8 certification on October 1, 2023.

In addition to the FCSS in Network Security certification, you will receive the FCX certification with an expiration date of March 3, 2026.