1.2 Eligibility, Fees, Scheduling & Recertification

Eligibility is a professional screen, not a trivia sidebar

Quick Answer: You need 5, 4, or 3 years of physical security experience depending on education, with a one-year reduction for APP on the no-degree and bachelor's paths (the master's path stays at 3 years). Apply online with a resume/CV and an unofficial transcript if you are using a degree. Authorization to Test (ATT) typically arrives in about 2–3 weeks and lasts one year. Member exam fee $580, nonmember $910, retake $480. Recertify every 3 years with 60 CPE.

The PCB can decline an application that does not show full-time, security-related work or that shows a disqualifying criminal conviction—a conviction that would reflect negatively on the security profession, ASIS, or the certification program. Treat the application with the same seriousness you would give a site survey you are going to sign.

Eligibility matrix, including APP reductions

Experience must be in physical security, not a loosely related office job with “security” in the email signature. ASIS reviews your resume/CV against the PSP domains before it issues authorization. Handbook eligibility for all applicants is that you must have been employed full time in a security-related role (or with security as a primary duty). Current employment is not required—a recent career pause does not, by itself, disqualify you if the experience years are real.

Relevant internships can count: up to one year may be credited when the internship is security-related and full time. Unpaid internships can count toward PSP when they meet those conditions. Do not try to convert a part-time campus job into a full-time year.

APP (Associate Protection Professional) subtracts one year on the no-degree and bachelor's paths. The master's path is already three years; do not invent a two-year master's shortcut. Stacking a degree and APP does not create a double reduction beyond the table.

Other non-negotiables:

• Agree to the ASIS Certification Code of Professional Responsibility and to Certification Handbook policies, including testing rules Prometric will enforce. (The marketing PSP page may still say “Code of Conduct.” ASIS also publishes a general Code of Conduct/Ethics for members; the certification obligation you sign is the Code of Professional Responsibility.)
• Put the same name on the application that appears on your government photo ID. A nickname on the ATT and a legal name on a passport is a classic preventable denial at check-in.
• If you use a degree path, include an unofficial transcript. You do not need to wait for a registrar's sealed original to start review, but the file has to be readable and match the degree you claimed.

The Code of Professional Responsibility is not a decorative checkbox. It covers integrity in representing your experience, in how you treat exam content, and in how you use the credential after you pass. If you cannot agree to those terms, you cannot sit.

What a reviewer can actually see on a resume

Write the CV so a stranger can map your weeks to the three domains. “Responsible for security” is weak. Stronger evidence looks like: led a vulnerability survey for a campus; produced device schedules and drawings for an access-control upgrade; ran commissioning and acceptance tests; wrote post orders and training for officers after turnover. Dates should support the year counts in the table. Gaps and part-time consulting need honest explanation; inflating titles is how applications stall.

Application package and Authorization to Test

You apply online. A complete package typically includes the application (education path, experience claims, conduct attestations), the resume/CV, the unofficial transcript if a degree is in play, and payment at the correct member, nonmember, or emerging-market rate.

After submission, plan on about 2–3 weeks for Authorization to Test. That is an estimate, not a guaranteed service level. Missing transcripts and thin resumes are what stretch the timeline. Once ATT is issued, you have one year of eligibility to sit. If that year expires, you start over with a new application.

PSP practicePractice questions with detailed explanations

The diagram below is the operational path: application → PCB review → ATT → Prometric appointment → score report. Skip a document in step one and everything downstream slips.

Fees: standard, emerging-market, membership, and recertification

Emerging-market rates are published on the ASIS apply-for-certification page. Confirm whether you are classified as EM1 or EM2 before you pay; do not assume every country qualifies.

Regular membership is optional. It does not replace experience years. Arithmetic that candidates actually run: $250 + $20 to join, then $580 instead of $910 for the exam. That is $850 versus $910 before you count cheaper recertification later ($180 versus $220 on time). If you already planned to use ASIS member pricing across several years, membership often pays for itself. If you only want a one-time sit, run the numbers before you join. Membership details live at asisonline.org/membership/join.

Scheduling with Prometric — test center by default, not Pearson VUE

After ATT, you schedule through Prometric. The live rule is a test center appointment. Pearson VUE is a different vendor and is not how PSP is delivered. Bookmarking the wrong scheduler is a surprisingly common way to waste a week. Some handbook pages still describe choosing a test center or ProProctor; the live Prepare for Test Day page does not make remote testing a general candidate choice.

Reschedule: if you change the test-center appointment 4–30 days before test day, Prometric charges $62.50. Tighter windows follow Prometric's then-current rules and are often more expensive or locked. Treat the seat as a project milestone, not a calendar suggestion you might move after a late meeting.

Arrival: be there 30 minutes early. If you are more than 15 minutes late, you may be refused with no refund. Traffic, parking, and a slow security desk at the office park are test-day risks—the same class of risk you manage when a commissioning window starts at 06:00.

Bring the government photo ID that matches the application name. If you recently changed your name, fix the ATT before you schedule.

Remote ProProctor — accommodations only

Prometric ProProctor is not the default path. Remote proctoring is available only if the PCB Certificant Relations Committee has approved an accommodation. Distance or geography is not sufficient justification. If you need an accommodation, follow the current ASIS/Prometric accommodation process—do not self-schedule remote testing because a center is inconvenient.

If an accommodation is approved and you sit ProProctor:

• Do not use a company computer. Employer images, locked BIOS, missing admin rights, and data-loss-prevention tools routinely fail the hardware check.
• If hardware or the room fails the ProProctor standard, you can forfeit the fee.
• Use a private, interruption-free space. A roommate walking through is not a small irregularity to a live proctor.

Retakes inside the eligibility year

You may attempt PSP at most three times during the one-year eligibility window. You must wait 60 days between attempts. The retake fee is $480. After three unsuccessful attempts, or after eligibility expires, you file a new application and meet eligibility again.

Three attempts sounds generous until the first seat is wasted on format shock. Sit independent timed practice under a 2.5-hour clock before you burn an official appointment. Remember that unanswered official items are still incorrect—your practice should punish blanks the same way.

Recertification: 60 CPE every 3 years

PSP is not lifetime. You recertify every 3 years with 60 Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits.

The grace period is a filing window, not extra study time. If you are short of 60 CPE on the cycle end date, you cannot hunt webinars during grace to close the gap. Track CPE from year one. Official recertification policy is summarized on the ASIS recertification page; always re-read it when your cycle is close.

Put the logistics on the same checklist as the content

A practitioner who misses a commissioning appointment “because of traffic” is the same practitioner who loses a $580–$910 seat for arriving 16 minutes late. Fees, ID matching, Code of Professional Responsibility attestations, test-center arrival, and the 60-day retake clock are part of physical-security professionalism. Complete them in parallel with domain study so eligibility is not the long pole on your 8–14 week plan.