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My 12 Steps after Passing the CIA Exam
Annette is our first exam blogger from Namibia. She passed Parts 1 and 2, and now she is working on the last part. She finally passed the exam in February 2017.
I thought I would write a quick post about the process I followed after passing my final CIA exam part.
Remark: I passed on the 6th of February, and my program expiration date was the 12th of February. I’m not sure if this process has to be finalized before the expiration date. However, I just did it to be safe. And therefore, I had an extremely fast timeline, as I outlined below.
1. The day after I passed the CIA exam (February 7), I had my boss sign the Character Reference and Experience Verification Form.
2. I was unsure how to get them to the IIA, so I logged an incident. While searching the IIA website, I actually found the Document Upload Centre.
3. I submitted all documentation that seemed relevant:
- Character (Character Reference Form)
- Educational (e.g., University diplomas/degrees)
- Professional Experience (Experience Verification Form) and
- Photo identification (either an ID card or a current Passport–I got this wrong the first time and just uploaded a photo of myself)
4. Since I uploaded the wrong photo ID, I received a message from the IIA the next day asking me to provide the correct version. So I quickly upload my ID. (This was on the third day after I passed the CIA exam on February 8.)
5. Two hours later, I received an email from the IIA that informed me that I am officially a CIA and I could request my certificate by applying on CCMS.
6. They also informed me of my CPE duties – 40 hours each year. For passing the CIA exam, I already received 80 hours (40 hours for the current year and 40 hours for the following year).
7. The certificates are either sent via normal post (non-trackable and in certain countries can take up to 16 weeks) or express shipping for USD100 to Africa!
8. Due to recent scandals in Namibia regarding overseas posts, I was hesitant to go the normal route. Instead, I decided to pay USD100 – I worked so hard for the CIA, and there was no way that I wanted my certificate to get lost in the mail! You must pay USD 50 for a reprint if the certificate is lost.
9. I paid on Saturday, the 11th of February, and received an email that instructions had been sent to the printing company.
10. On Monday, I received another email from UPS notifying me that my parcel was on its way.
11. In between, I received another email from the IIA that they had issued my e-badge, which I obtained by signing up for Acclaim.
12. A week later, I finally received my certificate with a welcome letter.
Voila – this was a very quick and effortless process. It might have taken “longer” for me due to the 7-hour time difference between Namibia and the USA.
And finally, it is a great feeling to hold the CIA certificate in my hands.
Note from Stephanie
This is a practical, fun-to-read, and exciting post. Thank you, Annette! The IIA is efficient, and I’ve never received SOS emails from readers concerning their certificate delivery. (I do for other professional certifications, by the way.)
Are you hanging the certificate up in the office or at home? 🙂
About the Author Annette S
Hello, I was born, raised and have been working in Namibia as an internal auditor. I finally passed my CIA exam after 7 attempts on Part 3!
