Home  | Certification & Education  | Certification Maintenance

Certification Maintenance

Testing measures skills and competence at the time the interpreter was tested. Once certified, members must maintain their certification through continuing education and membership in RID. This is required of all certified members, including RID certified interpreters and transliterators, NIC certified interpreters, NAD certified interpreters and certain interpreters from external organizations under contract with RID.

Requirements

• Maintain current RID membership by paying annual RID Certified Member dues (interpreters with NAD III, NAD IV, and NAD V certification must also keep their NAD Certification Dues in good standing with RID)
•  Meet the CEU requirements of the RID Certification Maintenance Program (CMP)

CMP CEU Requirements in a nutshell:

8.0 Total CEUs with at least 6.0 in PS CEUs
(up to 2.0 GS CEUs may be applied toward the requirement)
SC:L’s only--2.0 of the 6.0 PS CEUs must be in legal interpreting topics
SC:PA’s only--2.0 of the 6.0 PS CEUs must be in performing arts topics

• Follow the NAD-RID Code of Professional Conduct

Earning RID CEUs

You may begin earning RID CEUs for your new certification cycle any time on or after your certification start date. (Your certification start date is the Results Sent date shown on the Track Tests page in your RID account.)

RID Approved CMP Sponsors submit your continuing education activities to RID Headquarters to be added to your CEU transcript, which you can monitor through your online RID member account. You can access your transcript at any time by logging in to your member account at www.rid.org and clicking on “View Transcripts” in the Testing and CEU Information section. Please note that it can take up to 60 days for CEUs to be added to your transcript. If 60 days have elapsed since your CEU-earning activity and your CEUs from the event are still not posted on your transcript, please email cmp@rid.org or call 703-838-0030 and select the Certification Maintenance Program option. 

Certification Cycle Extension Request

 (Extension requests for cycles ending December 31, 2012, are no longer being accepted.)
A one-year, once-in-a-lifetime certification cycle extension may be available for those who submit a Certification Cycle Extension Request form. The extension request must be sent before the certification cycle ends. Extension requests for cycles ending December 31, 2013, must be sent by December 31, 2013. 

RID Headquarters will begin processing 2013 extension requests on September 1, 2013.

Requests will be granted based on the inability to accrue the required number of continuing education units for the following reason:

A sudden and unforeseeable, traumatic, catastrophic, or incapacitating, life-altering event that disrupts the life of the certified member or an immediate family member for a considerable amount of time. Simple failure to accrue the required number of CEUs is not an appropriate reason to request an extension to the CMP cycle.

IMPORTANT: An extension does not delay the end date of the next certification cycle—the extension cuts into the following cycle.  Once enough CEUs are earned to complete the extended cycle, the next cycle will begin immediately.  For this reason, it is good to complete the CEU requirement as quickly as possible allow as much time as possible to earn the next cycle’s CEUs.

CMP Cycle Option When Earning Additional Certificates

Certified interpreters earning additional RID certifications will be given the option to begin a new cycle. If they opt to begin a new cycle, the CEUs earned in the previous cycle will not be carried into the new cycle. CEUs earned during the new cycle will serve to maintain all certificates held.

Loss of Generalist Certification

Any active certified member not satisfying the requirements of the certification maintenance program by the end of his/her cycle will cease to be certified.

Loss of Specialist Certification

Active certified members holding a specialist certification who do not satisfy the required two (2) CEUs in the field of specialization, but do accrue the required eight (8) CEUs with at least six (6) CEUs in professional studies, will only lose their specialty certification. They will maintain any other certifications held. 

Certified: Inactive and Certified: Retired Status

Certified: Inactive status is for certified members who are not currently interpreting. They are not required to meet the CEU requirements while on Certified: Inactive status. In order to maintain this status, Certified: Inactive dues must be paid annually and the certificant cannot be working as an interpreter.

Certified: Retired status is for certified members, age 55 or older, who are retiring from interpreting work. They are not required to meet the CEU requirements. In order to maintain this status, Certified: Retired dues must be paid annually and the certificant cannot be working as an interpreter.

For more information, contact the Member Services Department at 703-838-0030, option 3.

Revocation of Certification

RID reserves the right to revoke certification based on any of the following grounds:

• Failing to meet Certification Maintenance Program (CMP) requirements
• Divulging RID examination contents
• Attempting to take the exam for another person
• Cheating on an RID examination
• Violating the NAD-RID Code of Professional Conduct
• Misusing an RID credential
• Pleading guilty nolo contendre or being found guilty of financial offenses, physically violent offenses or offenses involving misrepresentation or fraud

Lapse of Membership

The procedure for requesting reinstatement for members who are not current with their membership dues  varies based on the amount of time the interpreter’s membership has lapsed. Click here to view the reinstatement policy.