Getting certified
How do the PMP® application and audit work?
The PMP application is an online form on pmi.org where you record your education, your training hours and each project you led, by month. PMI® picks a percentage of applications for audit; once yours is accepted, or the audit is cleared, you get a one-year eligibility period with up to three exam attempts (PMI Certification Handbook, as of October 2026).
- Exam
- PMP
- Updated
- Oct 13, 2026
01From submit to exam window
Day 0
Submit the application
Education, training and each project with its dates. Submitting means you accept the terms of PMI's audit process.
Review
Accepted, or selected for audit
Selection is random for a percentage of applications, and PMI audits every application from its own employees and volunteers. An audit notice comes by email, before you pay.
Up to 90 days
Send the audit package
Copies of your diploma or degree, signatures from the supervisors or managers on the projects you recorded, and certificates or letters from each training provider.
About 5–7 business days
Audit review
Counted from a complete package, which you submit from your myPMI dashboard.
After acceptance
Pay the exam fee
PMI then emails your Eligibility ID, which you need for scheduling the exam.
1 year
Eligibility period
Up to three attempts. If you were audited, the year starts on the day PMI tells you the audit is complete.
02Writing the project descriptions
Résumé habit says to describe what a project delivered: the migrated CRM, the opened warehouse, the launch date hit. The application asks something else, namely what you did to lead it, and an auditor reads your entry next to your supervisor's signature.
Build each entry around the decisions you owned: agreeing scope with the sponsor, building and baselining the schedule, managing risks and changes, leading the team, closing the project out. That vocabulary lines up with the tasks in PMI's Examination Content Outline, and it keeps routine operational or administrative work, which PMI asks you to leave out, off the page.
Enter dates by month and take overlaps out; two projects in the same month give you one month. Your tier sets the target, 36 months with a bachelor's degree and 60 with a secondary diploma, and the full table is on PMP requirements. PMI notes that missing information delays processing, so fill every field the form shows.
03Documents to have before you submit
- A copy of your diploma or degree, plus proof of its qualification level if the document does not state one
- The name and contact of a supervisor or manager for every project you list
- A certificate or letter from each training provider showing the hours
- Your project list with start and end months
- If you hold an active CAPM®, its details in place of training certificates
04What applicants ask about the audit
What are the odds of being audited?
PMI does not publish a percentage. The handbook says only that a percentage of applications is selected at random, that employee and volunteer applications are always audited, and that any candidate can be selected (PMI Certification Handbook, as of October 2026).
Do I pay before or after an audit?
After. The audit notice arrives before payment, and the exam fee is due only once the application has been accepted (PMI, as of October 2026).
Where does the application sit in the whole process?
It is step three of seven on how to get PMP certified, after the experience check and the training hours, and before payment, the exam and renewal.
05Sources
- PMI Certification Handbook (rev. June 2026) checked Oct 13, 2026application, audit documents and timing, eligibility period
- PMI: PMP Examination Content Outline (rev. August 11, 2026) checked Oct 13, 2026experience rules, retake policy
- PMI: PMP certification page checked Oct 13, 2026application FAQ, fee timing