CFA Exam Registration: Step-by-Step Guide

The CFA exam registration is relatively simple. Here is a guideline for your information:

CFA Exam Registration Procedure

CFA candidates need to fulfill the following before they start the application process.

1. Education or Experience Requirements

CFA candidates should have a bachelor degree from an accredited educational institution, or at least be in the final year of his/her bachelor program study at the time of registration.

Alternatively, the candidate can have 4 years of professional working experience BEFORE the registration.

A combination of the above education and working experience is allowed as long as the total number of years reach 4 years or more.

The professional work experience does not need to be investment related.
Part-time positions are not qualified.
For CFA II candidates who took the CFA I exam while they are in their final years of university, they need to prove the completion of their bachelor degree in order to sit for the Level II exam.

2. Proper Identification

CFA candidate must have a valid international travel passport. The number should match with the one you entered during the online application process. Note to dual citizenship holder: double check that the passport you are going to bring is the same as the one used in the registration.

The passport should have your name, date of birth, passport number, expiration date and country of issuance.

Other requirements:

Passport has to be current (i.e. not expired).
Passport must contain a photograph.
It has to be a travel document. In other words, something you can use to travel abroad, and not just an ID card or driver’s license.
This is obvious, but you need to bring the original passport and not the photocopy of it when you take the exam.

3. Signing of Conduct and Responsibility Statements

This is the easiest requirement as long as you have no problem signing the Professional Conduct Statement and Candidate Responsibility Statement.

What Should I Expect After Submitting the Application?

If your application is approved, you will receive an official acceptance by email within 2-3 days. If you don’t hear from them after 3 days, contact CFA Institute by email.

You will also receive the admission tickets in electronic format:

June exam: available in early May
December exam: available in December

Please check out the link on CFA exam schedule for details.

Questions and Answers

I normally use my English name as first name but in the passport the Chinese name comes first.What to do?

An example would be Mabel Chen Yi-Ning instead of Chen Yi Ning Mabel. This is considered an “acceptable name variation”. Please refer to the CFA Program Identification Policy for details.

2. Can I call myself a CFA immediately after passing the exam?

No, you have to fulfill the experience requirements and successfully apply for the CFA charter certificate before calling yourself a CFA.

3. Would CFA Institute send (snail mail) me an admission ticket?

CFA Institute does not distribute paper admission tickets. You have to print a copy (using one-sided, clean paper) and bring it along on exam day.

Next Step

We go through how you can register for the CFA exam. In the next post below, we will elaborate the exam requirements, and explain the experience requirement which is needed to ultimately get the CFA charter:

Check your CFA requirements