On March 10th VMware announced a new certification policy whereby VCP-level certs will expire every two years unless another VCP- or higher level certification is achieved in that time.

The indications from the FAQ are that similar changes are coming for the VCAP- and VCDX-level certifications later this year.

Anyone checking their transcripts after March 7th (when the changes were pushed to mylearn per Twitter) will notice an Expiration Date next to their VCP. This date is the greater of March 10th 2015 or your last VCP task completion date +2 years.

Note that your “VCP date” is the date you complete the steps in mylearn and add your address/accept the EULA which is typically a few weeks after you pass the exam.

You can extend this date by taking any “current” VCP-level exam or any VCAP-level exam. Note that VCP4-DCV, VCAP4-DCA and VCAP4-DCD are still available for the next few months and qualify for the re-certification.

The good:

If you passed your VCP in 2003 and have resisted upgrading, there is no course requirement to take and pass any current VCP-level exam, assuming you pass by 3/2015.

Like the VCAP-level has had it for some time, there is no longer a course requirement to update a VCP. Assuming you pass a VCP or higher exam within 24 months that is.

The Bad:

You are no longer allowed to claim VCP2/3/4, Enterprice or VCAP4 on resumes/profiles.

If you took your VCP3 back in 09 and you waited until the last possible minute to take the VCP4-exam, you could have counted on 5 years and one $1500 class to update. You now have 24 months to pass for no class requirement, if you miss that cut off you need to take a $4k class.

You will no longer be able to demonstrate competency on older versions of the products.

Quirks:

No word on VCAP requirement changes. Can a VCP2 jump to VCAP5-DCA w/o an intervening current VCP exam??

From all appearances, if you took the VCP4 in August of 2009 when it launched, you can take it again by May 2014 and be re-certified through May 2016.

You can “recertify” VCP-Cloud by taking VCP4-DCV for the next few months.