NASAA cuts retest wait to 60 days after a third failure

NASAA is cutting the wait after a third failed attempt at the Series 63, 65, or 66 from 180 days to 60 days. The change takes effect January 4, 2027. A candidate who has failed three times can sit again 120 days sooner than today. After the first and second attempts, the wait stays at 30 days.

These three exams are the state-level gate for advisors: the 63 for agent registration, the 65 for fee-only practice, and the 66 for a combined route. Unusually, a candidate can take them without a firm sponsor. That lets a breakaway advisor clear the test before signing a custody deal or joining an RIA. It also makes the retest schedule matter beyond the testing room.

For hiring desks, the math is simple. A candidate who fails a third time today sits out for six months, and that can push a hire past a firm's start-date window or a team's transition plan. The shorter wait keeps that candidate in the current recruiting class. Independent firms feel this most: they license first, and fee-only work cannot start without the credential.

The change also shifts the economics for the advisor sitting out. A solo practitioner who needs the 65 to register a new shop would otherwise wait six months after a third failure; now it is two. NASAA's Elizabeth Bowling, chair of the Exams Advisory Committee, calls the update a balance between flexibility and exam integrity: the sponsorship-free exams carry risk that the waiting periods were meant to manage. For firms planning 2027 hiring, the wait just got shorter.