How to Register for the SIE Exam
Registering for the SIE® exam takes four steps: confirm you’re eligible (18 or older, that’s the whole requirement), create an account on FINRA’s test-enrollment site, pay the $100 fee, and schedule your appointment with Prometric, either at a test center or online. No firm, no sponsor, no paperwork beyond the enrollment itself. Here’s each step with the current numbers, verified August 2026.
Step 1: Confirm you’re eligible
The SIE is open to anyone 18 or older, students included. There’s no education requirement, no work-experience requirement, and no exam you have to pass first. The full details are on our page covering who can take the SIE exam.
One thing to clear up before you enroll, because it stops a surprising number of people: you do not need a firm to sponsor you. Sponsorship matters later, for the top-off exams. Here’s what actually requires sponsorship and what doesn’t.
Step 2: Create a FINRA account and enroll
If you’re not yet associated with a firm, you self-enroll through FINRA’s enrollment portal at testenrollment.finra.org/sie. The process:
- Create an account (FINRA assigns you an ID it will use for every exam you ever take).
- Select the SIE and pay the enrollment fee, credit card, ACH, or a voucher code if a firm bought one for you.
The fee is $100, and you pay it per enrollment: a retake means paying it again.
Current-Fact Watch (verified August 2026): The SIE costs $100. FINRA raised the fee from $80. If a prep resource still quotes $80, that’s a useful signal about how current the rest of its content is. Full breakdown: how much the SIE exam costs.
Step 3: Schedule with Prometric
Enrolling opens a 120-day window: you schedule and take the exam within it (per FINRA, exam windows run 120 days). Prometric administers the SIE two ways:
- Test center: the traditional route. You pick a location and time slot through Prometric’s scheduling system.
- Online proctored: you test from home under live remote proctoring, with room-scan and equipment checks.
Scheduling earlier in your window gives you more choice of dates and locations. Either way, bring or prepare a valid government-issued ID that matches your enrollment name. Prometric checks it before you sit down. For the full run-through of check-in, breaks, and what you can’t bring, see what to expect at Prometric on test day.
Step 4: Show up knowing the format
You’ll face 75 scored questions (plus 10 unscored pretest questions you won’t be able to identify) in 1 hour 45 minutes, with a passing score of 70. There’s no penalty for guessing, so answer everything. The exam itself is covered in depth in what the SIE exam is, and the SIE study guide and exam plan maps out how to prepare section by section.
Already with a firm? The Form U4 route
If a FINRA member firm employs you, you usually won’t touch the enrollment portal at all. The firm requests your exam enrollment through a Form U4 submission (the form that registers you as an associated person) or enrolls you directly through FINRA’s CRD system. Firms can also purchase vouchers to cover the fee. Ask your registration or compliance contact before paying out of pocket; there’s no reason to spend $100 the firm would have covered.
Costs and retakes, all-in
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| SIE enrollment | $100 (verified August 2026) |
| Each retake | $100 (new enrollment each attempt) |
| Prometric scheduling | included in the enrollment fee |
If you don’t pass on the first attempt, waiting periods apply before you can re-enroll.
Current-Fact Watch (checked October 24, 2026): FINRA’s retake waits are 30/30/180 calendar days through January 18, 2027 and 15/15/60 from January 19, 2027 (FINRA Rule 1210.06; Regulatory Notice 26-18). Check SIE retake rules and waiting periods for how the changeover works before you plan around a retake.
After you pass
Your result is valid for four years. Passing the SIE alone doesn’t register you with FINRA or license you to sell anything: that takes a top-off exam plus firm association, which is exactly what the sponsorship page walks through.
Before you spend the $100, it’s worth knowing where you stand. Take a free SIE practice exam, try 10 questions, no signup, every answer verified and cited to its source.