AIGP certification requirements

The AIGP has no entry requirement and several exit requirements. Nothing in the IAPP's handbook, FAQs or AIGP pages asks for a degree, years of experience or a training course before you take the exam; what they ask for comes after you pass, and keeps coming every two years. This guide sets out the requirements in the order you meet them: to buy and take the exam, to turn a pass into an active credential, to keep it active with continuing education, and to get it back if it lapses. Everything is from the Certification Candidate Handbook v5.3.2, the Continuing Professional Education Policy v3.3.1 that the handbook points to, the certification FAQs and the IAPP store.

The short answer

• No prerequisite. The IAPP's documents set none: no degree, no experience, no required training. The FAQs' study advice is addressed "even for degreed professionals who have passed other certification tests."
• To take the exam: buy it (US$649 for members, US$799 for non-members), schedule and take it "within one year of purchase", bring "two qualifying forms of ID" to a test center or pass OnVUE's checks at home, and sign the Candidate Application Statement and the Code of Professional Conduct before it starts.
• To hold the credential: pay the US$250 certification maintenance fee for the two-year term or hold a US$295 annual membership. Until you do, "you won't see the certification on our website or be sent a certificate."
• To keep it: 20 hours of continuing professional education per two-year term, self-reported except for IAPP activities, or retest instead.
• If you lapse: suspension, then revocation at the end of a suspended term, after which "Certificants with revoked credentials will be required to retake and pass the certification exam".

Are there prerequisites for the AIGP exam?

No. We searched the handbook, the FAQs, the AIGP certification and exam information pages, the study guide and the Body of Knowledge for any eligibility condition before the exam, and there is none. The only experience requirement the handbook contains belongs to a different thing, the Fellow of Information Privacy designation, which needs "Three years of continuous work experience in which data privacy represents at least 50% of the candidate's job responsibilities" on top of two certifications. The AIGP exam itself asks for nothing of the kind.

The one eligibility step is procedural. The handbook's Candidate Application Statement says: "All candidates must sign the following Candidate Application Statement and agree to all policies, procedures, and terms and conditions of certification in order to be eligible for the certification. Candidates will be required to complete this form immediately before each exam is administered." You sign it, and the Code of Professional Conduct, on exam day, not in advance.

What the IAPP recommends is not a requirement either: the study guide's four steps, its "minimum of 30 hours of study time", its training and its practice exam are advice, and the FAQs say "No one paid resource is required to pass the exam". How to study for the AIGP: a 30-hour plan takes the advice as a plan.

What the exam requires

Purchase. "IAPP certification exams can be purchased through the IAPP store. Once an exam has been purchased, it will appear in the candidate's MyIAPP profile." The AIGP exam is US$649 for members and US$799 for non-members, and the store listing asks at checkout whether you have attempted the exam before or hold another IAPP certification, because, per the FAQs, "If you currently hold an IAPP certification, any additional first-time certification exams will receive a discounted price. Previously failed exams also receive a discounted retake price on subsequent attempts of the same certification." The handbook adds a warning worth reading before you buy: "Before purchasing an IAPP exam, note that either IAPP membership or a certification maintenance fee will be required for your certification to become active when you pass your exam."

Scheduling. "All IAPP exams must be scheduled and taken within one year of purchase. The exam's expiration date can be viewed in the MyIAPP profile. Expired exams will be closed and fees forfeited. Exams must be scheduled at least 24 hours in advance, and appointments are subject to availability." The name on your profile must match your ID: "Before scheduling, ensure the name in your MyIAPP profile is identical to the name on your ID; this will be required to verify your identity on exam day." Special accommodations are requested at scheduling and "may take up to 30 days to complete", so the handbook says to ask early.

At a test center. Arrive early: "If you arrive late, you may not be allowed to take your exam and will be considered a no-show, forfeiting all fees. Candidates are required to bring two qualifying forms of ID to the testing center. Only forms of ID that meet Pearson VUE's test center ID requirements will be accepted."

At home, with OnVUE. "All OnVUE exams should be taken on a personal computer, not a work-issued device. Candidates may not use a VPN during their exam. The device must meet OnVUE's technical requirements." The check-in runs a system check of "the microphone, webcam and internet speed", then "The test taker will be asked to take four photos of their surroundings using their webcam." The FAQs list the rules that end an exam: "All additional programs must be closed when running OnVUE software. No external monitors are allowed. No talking or whispering to yourself is allowed. If you leave the view of your webcam while not on your scheduled 15-minute break, your exam will be revoked."

The sitting. "All IAPP exams are comprised of multiple choice questions with one or more correct answers. It will be indicated on the question if there are multiple correct answers." The AIGP is 100 questions in 2.75 hours, in two halves divided by the break, and "The candidate cannot return to the first half after submission." The passing score is 300 on the IAPP's scale. The AIGP exam: format, multi-select and the 300 covers the sitting in full.

What makes the credential active

Passing is not the last step. The FAQs: "Although you have passed your exam, you haven't yet completed all of the requirements to become certified. Part of earning a certification is purchasing either an IAPP membership or a Certification Maintenance Fee. You'll need to purchase one or the other in order for your certification to be considered valid. Until that time, you won't see the certification on our website or be sent a certificate."

The two options, from the study guide: "Nonmembers of the IAPP must pay a certification maintenance fee of USD250 for two years", or membership, "which includes your maintenance fee", at "USD295 annually". The CPE policy defines when the clock starts and stops: credentials are "active" from "the date that the individual credential holder has successfully completed the certification examination for that credential and has paid a certification maintenance fee or is an active member", and the term "ends on the last day of the month two years later for all credential end dates." The FAQs note that "The CMF is valid for one certification term, but does not include member benefits." What the AIGP exam costs in 2026 compares the two over a term.

The CPE requirement: 20 hours a term

The CPE policy's overview states the rule for every IAPP credential: "All AIGP, CIPP®, CIPM and CIPT™ holders must meet two minimum requirements over the two-year term of their certification in order to maintain credentialed status: (a) pay a certification maintenance fee for their term (members have this fee covered by their membership benefits), and (b) submit evidence of 20 hours of continuing professional education for each certification they hold."

What counts: "A continuing professional education credit is generally defined as a one-hour unit earned from participating in or attending any event or forum; reading or writing any published material; creating and administering a presentation; a course of instruction; or other activity that relates to a certification's body of knowledge." The policy's activity list sets the rates and the caps per term. Attending an IAPP conference, KnowledgeNet, web conference or training earns 1 CPE an hour, and an IAPP training course earns 13 CPEs. Non-IAPP activities count too: an event or web conference at 1 CPE an hour, a non-IAPP training course at 1 an hour up to 12, an academic class at 3 CPEs a class hour up to 12, speaking at 3 CPEs an hour for preparation and first delivery up to 12, instructing at 1 an hour up to 16, writing at 2 CPEs an article and 10 a book, mentoring at 3 CPEs a mentorship, and reading at 1 CPE per 40 pages or 10,000 words, capped at 5 a term. The policy says the caps exist "to encourage certified individuals to pursue a variety of educational opportunities" and that "The IAPP is not the only place to pursue CPEs."

How to report: "CPEs earned from IAPP activities such as conferences or webinars will be automatically added to the certificant's account and do not need to be self-submitted." Everything else goes through the CPE Submission Form in MyIAPP, and "CPEs can only be submitted for the current certification term." No documents are needed at submission, "However, you must retain documentation in your own records in the event you are randomly selected for a CPE audit." The IAPP "will conduct a monthly audit of submitted CPEs", with 30 days to answer a request for documentation, and a hard line: if the IAPP "determines that a certification holder has submitted CPE credit hours for activities in which they did not participate, the credential(s) will be immediately and permanently revoked."

Surplus: "that individual may carry over a maximum of 10 credits per certification for surplus CPEs earned in the final six months of the certification term." Earned earlier than that, surplus credits "will not roll over."

Two features help holders of more than one credential. "Individuals with more than one IAPP certification are able to apply CPE credits to all of their IAPP credentials." And there is an alternative to CPEs altogether: "By earning CPEs, certification holders do not have to retest to renew their certifications. Certification holders can retest to renew their certification if they do not wish to submit CPEs."

One dated note still stands on the AIGP exam information page: "Immediately following the release of the AIGP certification, CPE submission and tracking will not be available. Certification holders may still participate in activities that qualify for CPE credit but should track these independently until the time that CPE submission is available."

Renewal, suspension and revocation

The FAQs put the maintenance rule in one sentence: "To maintain the credential(s) in good standing, the holder must meet the minimum CPE requirements and either pay their certification maintenance fee (CMF) of USD250 for a certification term or become an IAPP member for USD295 annually, which carries additional benefits. If the credential holder fails in either of these obligations, the credential will be considered suspended, and the holder must undergo the process of reinstatement in order to restore their credentials to active status."

The CPE policy sets out each case:

• Short on CPEs at the end of a term: "the certification will be placed in a suspended status." The missing credits cannot be back-filled from the old term; "they must earn additional CPEs during the new term", and once the owed credits are in, the holder "must then satisfy the regular CPE requirements for their credential(s) for the current term." The policy's own example: a holder "suspended for missing eight CPEs will then need to earn 28 during the new term."
• Membership lapses mid-term: "the certification(s) will be suspended immediately" and reinstated "once payment of all missing fees has been processed."
• No CMF for the next term: "the next term will begin in suspended status. The certification will become active once the individual pays the CMF."
• Revocation: "If a certification term reaches its end date with a status of suspended, the certification will then be revoked. Certificants with revoked credentials will be required to retake and pass the certification exam in order to reinstate the certification."

A suspended or revoked AIGP has one more consequence for those who hold the Fellow of Information Privacy: "Should any of their certifications fall into suspension or revocation for any reason, the FIP designation will also be suspended or revoked."

If you fail, or miss the exam

"Candidates who do not successfully pass their exam may purchase a new exam after their exam results reflect in their MyIAPP profile. Retake candidates will not be able to schedule an appointment for a date sooner than seven days after their prior attempt." The retake is at a discounted price, and the section breakdown you receive with the result "indicates the percentage of your correct answers per each blueprint domain", which is what to study from.

A missed appointment is worse than a fail: "Should a candidate miss their exam appointment, their exam results will be 'no-show,' and the purchased exam attempt considered consumed. Exams that have been 'no-showed' cannot be rescheduled. To reattempt, a new exam must be purchased." Rescheduling is free of that if done in time: "up to 48 hours prior to the appointment time" for a test center, and "up to 15 minutes past the scheduled exam time" for OnVUE.

Holding the AIGP with another IAPP certification

Terms align. "All certifications will eventually align to the start and end dates of the credential holder's first earned certification. When an additional certification is earned, the new certification will automatically adopt the end date of the original certification." Timing matters for the first term's CPEs: "If an additional certification is attained after year-one of an existing term, CPEs will not be required for the new certification until the individual's next term starts", but "If the additional certification is attained during year one of the existing term, the full 20 CPEs will be required." The policy adds a note specific to the AIGP: it and the CIPP/CN "will align to CIPM, CIPT or other CIPP certification anniversaries regardless of the order of when the certifications were earned while the IAPP undergoes a database transition." AIGP vs CIPP/E, CIPP/US and CIPM: which first compares the credentials themselves.

Before the requirements: the exam

Every requirement above follows a pass. The exam tests the Body of Knowledge's 58 performance indicators, and our course teaches them with practice in the exam's format, flashcards and a mock in two halves. The first competency, AI and the need for governance, is free in full with a free account: five lessons, 100 questions and 118 flashcards, read in the app. How hard is the AIGP exam? sets out what the pass takes.