The CVP Certification Exam

To become a CVP Certified Tester, a score of 73% or greater is required on the Certification Exam. The CMVP will provide the results to individuals within two weeks of completion of the exam. The CMVP will issue certification numbers to individuals who achieve a passing score on the exam. To maintain your certification, testers must pass the CVP Certification Exam every 4 years based on the date on their certification notice from CMVP.

The CVP Certification is an individual certification and follows the individual if they choose to move from one National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) accredited laboratory to another.

The exam questions are focused only on the FIPS approved mode of operation. For a list of the content areas, review the blueprint document. For a list of suggested standards and documents to study, review the recommended resources document. Candidates are allotted 195 minutes to complete the exam. The duration includes any breaks the candidate choses to take.

The following personnel are eligible to register for the CVP Certification Exam:

• Approved signatories employed by a NVLAP accredited Cryptographic and Security Testing (CST) laboratory
• Testers employed by an NVLAP accredited CST laboratory

All NVLAP accredited laboratories are required to have at least 2 CVP Certified Testers to maintain their accreditation. ALL independent testers must be CVP certified.

Testers who are not CVP certified (e.g. testers in training) are required to have direct oversight of their testing activities by a CVP Certified Tester.

Contact NIST CMVP if you have questions about your eligibility.

You are required to complete the following actions in order to participate in the CVP Certification Exam.

• Notify the point of contact (POC) of your NVLAP accredited laboratory of your intent to participate in the CVP Certification Exam.
• Your POC then coordinates with NIST CMVP to authorize you for the certification exam.
• You will receive an authorization email from Pearson VUE to create a Pearson VUE account.
• Once you create your account, register for the exam and pay the exam fee.

The cost of the exam is $400.00. The exam fee can be paid by the individual or by the laboratory (on behalf of the individual) directly to Pearson VUE. The exam fee is not associated with the NVLAP admin/tech support fee or the onsite fee and will not be collected by NVLAP. Laboratories may obtain pre-paid vouchers to provide to candidates in place of or in conjunction with other forms of payment. Vouchers expire one year from the date they are issued and are non-refundable and non-extendable. Visit the voucher page for more information about payment options including vouchers.