The NISM VA certificate is valid for three years from the date of the exam. You can renew it in one of two ways: either re-take and pass the NISM Series V-A exam, or complete the NISM Continuing Professional Education (CPE) programme within the final 12 months before expiry. If the certificate lapses without renewal, the only way back is to clear the exam fresh.

There's no limit on the number of attempts for the NISM Series V-A exam. You can re-enrol immediately after an unsuccessful attempt, with no waiting period required between tries. Each attempt does mean a fresh enrolment and a full fee payment of around ₹1,770 (including GST). The enrolment itself stays valid for 180 days, so you have to sit the exam within that window after paying.

The NISM VA exam fee is ₹1,500 plus GST and payment gateway charges, totalling roughly ₹1,770 per attempt. Payment is online only: net banking, debit, credit, or UPI, all at the enrolment stage. Once you've enrolled, the fee is non-refundable, with two exceptions: duplicate payments and technical failures on NISM's end.

The NISM Series V-A certification exam runs 2 hours (120 minutes). In that time, candidates must answer 100 multiple-choice questions of 1 mark each. There's no negative marking, and the pass mark is 50 percent. The certificate issued after you clear the exam is valid for three years from the exam date, after which it has to be renewed via CPE or a fresh attempt at the exam.