Transitioning From NSE 7 to FCSS Certifications that Require Two Proctored Exams

The FCSS certification in Network Security requires two proctored exams. 

On October 1, 2023, you would have automatically received the FCSS Network Security certification under the following conditions:

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

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

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

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

The process was:

1. Identify the first time after October 1, 2021, that you passed one of the required exams.
2. Check if you passed 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 met both requirements, the process awarded 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 continues 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/FCX 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/FCX certification.

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 passed the following exams:

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

On October 1, 2023, you received 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 passed 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 received 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 counted towards the FCSS in Network Security certification as you held a valid NSE 8/FCX certification on October 1, 2023.

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