How long is my USCG course certificate good for?

All approved courses for domestic USCG licenses are only valid to be submitted to the USCG for one (1) year after the issued date.

If your training is for International STCW endorsements there is a strong possibility that it could be valid for 5 years.

This comes from 46 CFR § 11.201 - General requirements for national and STCW officer endorsements.

I took a course through a USCG-approved school/program. When does my course certificate expire?

The best place to look for course expiration is the course approval information on your course certificate which most schools write out on their certificates. It's a paragraph and the it will typically say "must be submitted within one (1) year of the date shown" or "must be submitted within five (5) years of the date shown".

A general rule is that you have one year for courses that substitute for an examination given by the Coast Guard, and five years for all other courses.

Any course certificate or training related to a 6 pack, 100 ton Master or 200 ton Master will always need to be submitted within one (1) year.

If your training is for any license above these or for the International STCW endorsements there is a possibility that it could be valid for 5 years.

We hope this made your life a little easier and if you have other questions the MM-SEAS team is always here to help!

We do prefer to answer questions live with screen sharing to make both of our lives easier.

We hold free live virtual office hours Monday and Wednesday from 5:00 - 5:30 pm PT inside of mmseas.com under License Guidance and then Daily Office Hours.

Pro MM-SEAS members get access to our daily live office hours Monday thru Friday from 5:00 - 5:30 pm PT. You also get access to unlimited live 1 on 1 calls with one of our USCG Licensing Specialists. Pro MM-SEAS members can access these features inside of mmseas.com under License Guidance.