HCA Renewal in Washington State: Requirements, Deadlines, and How to Renew
- Katarina Mirkovic Arsic
- Jul 8
- 9 min read
HCA renewal in Washington State has two parts: paying the $100 renewal fee and completing 12 hours of continuing education approved by the Department of Social and Health Services.
Certified home care aides renew their credential every year, on their birthday, through the Department of Health. You confirm your continuing education when you renew, so the hours have to be done before your renewal, not after.
That birthday deadline catches people out, and it works alongside the separate certification deadlines that apply when you are first hired, so it helps to know exactly how the process works before your renewal month arrives.
Table of Contents
How do I renew my HCA certification in Washington?
You renew through the Department of Health's online system, which manages the home care aide credential. Many caregivers call it a license, but in Washington the correct term is a certification, and it renews on the same annual cycle no matter which setting you work in. Here is the process from start to finish:
Check your status and timing. You can renew up to 90 days before your expiration date, so there is no need to wait for your birthday. Confirm your certification is active first, because an inactive, retired, restricted, or conditioned certification cannot be renewed online and has to go through DOH directly.
Update your contact information. Make sure your mailing address and email are current with DOH before you start, and note that a valid email address is mandatory. DOH mails your renewed credential to the address on record, and the postal service does not forward Department of Health mail, so an old address means a lost certificate. If your name has changed, submit that change with supporting documents at least two weeks ahead.
Set up your two logins. Renewal runs through two linked state systems. Sign in to Secure Access Washington, the state's shared login, then add the Health Professional and Facility Licensing service to your account. If you have renewed online before, you already have these. If this is your first time, setting them up is the step that takes the longest, so start a few days early rather than on your deadline.
Complete the renewal. Inside the licensing service, confirm your information and verify that you have finished your 12 continuing education hours for the year, which is required at renewal (WAC 246-980-110). Keep your course completion certificates in your own records in case DOH asks to see them.
Pay the fee. Pay the $100 certification renewal fee to finish. Electronic check is free, while a credit card adds a 2.5% convenience fee, and all renewal fees are nonrefundable.
DOH sends a courtesy renewal reminder by mail or email six to eight weeks before your certification expires, but that reminder is a convenience, not a requirement. If it never arrives, you are still responsible for renewing on time, which is one more reason to keep your contact details current.
When does my HCA certification expire?
Your HCA certification expires every year on your birthday. State rule ties the expiration date to the practitioner's birthday, so your renewal month is simply your birth month, every year.
There is one exception for brand-new certifications. If your certification is issued within 90 days of your birthday, it does not expire until your next birthday, so your first cycle runs a little longer than a year (WAC 246-12-020). And if that first renewal period is less than a full year from the date you certified, no continuing education is due for that first period (WAC 246-980-110). After that first cycle, it settles into the normal once-a-year pattern, with the full 12 hours due each year.
Knowing your exact date matters because everything else keys off it. Your continuing education is due by that birthday, your renewal window opens ahead of it, and a late fee starts the moment it passes. Marking it a couple of months out gives you room to finish your hours and renew without rushing.
What are the continuing education requirements for HCAs?
To renew, you complete 12 hours of continuing education each year. This is where the two state agencies split their roles, and understanding that split is the part most caregivers get wrong.
The Department of Health issues your certification and processes your renewal.
The Department of Social and Health Services approves the continuing education.
So while you renew through DOH, the CE hours you take only count if they are DSHS-approved. Taking twelve hours of a course that is not on DSHS's approved list will not satisfy the requirement, no matter how relevant the topic seems.
The 12 hours are due every year, tied to the same birthday deadline as your renewal. Topics can vary, which is the point, since it lets you choose training that fits the clients you actually work with, but every hour has to come from approved continuing education to count.
Verification that you completed the 12 hours is due when you renew (WAC 246-980-110). In practice you confirm your hours as part of the renewal, so they must be finished during the period between renewals, not made up afterward. Keep the completion certificate from every course in your own records, so you can show your hours if DOH asks.
You can take your approved hours one course at a time or as a full year's bundle. Cornerstone's continuing education catalog spans a wide range of subjects and keeps growing, so you can build your 12 hours around the topics most relevant to your clients.
For caregivers who would rather cover the whole requirement in one step, the bundles group those courses into a full year of approved credits, so a single enrollment takes care of all 12 hours at once. Here are some topics to choose from:
How much does HCA renewal cost?
Washington sets HCA fees by rule, and the standard renewal fee is $100, paid to the Department of Health. If you renew online by credit card, a 2.5% convenience fee applies, while paying by electronic check is free. Renewing late, or reactivating a certification that has already expired, costs more, and those fees are set out below.
Fee | Amount |
Application (initial certification) | $100 |
Certification renewal | $100 |
Late renewal penalty | $50 |
Expired certification reactivation | $30 |
Duplicate certification | $15 |
Verification of certification | $25 |
Every one of these fees is nonrefundable, so it is worth confirming your continuing education is complete and your details are correct before you submit and pay.
The two fees worth planning around are the late penalty and the reactivation fee. Renewing on time costs $100. Miss your deadline and you are looking at $150, the renewal plus the $50 late penalty.
Let the certification lapse past a full cycle and the $30 reactivation fee is added on top, along with an abbreviated application and written declarations, and the requirements keep climbing the longer it stays expired.
What if I miss my renewal deadline?
If your renewal is not received by the Department of Health by midnight on your expiration date, it counts as late and a $50 late penalty is added to the $100 renewal fee.
Your certification is now expired, and under state rule you must not practice as a long-term care worker until it is returned to active status. The one exception to the late penalty is narrow: if your birthday falls on a day DOH is closed and you pay on the next business day, the penalty is waived.
What it takes to get the certification back depends on how long it has been expired, and the requirements step up the longer you wait.
Expired for one renewal cycle or less. This is the simplest case. You pay the late penalty and the current renewal fee to return to active status (WAC 246-12-040).
Expired for more than one cycle but less than three years. Now you complete an abbreviated application, pay the late penalty, the current renewal fee, and the $30 expired-certification reactivation fee, and you provide written declarations about your standing to practice (WAC 246-12-040).
Expired for three years or more. The same steps as above, plus you may have to satisfy additional competency requirements before the certification is reissued (WAC 246-12-040).
Continuing education is not part of getting a lapsed certification back, as long as it has been expired five years or less: no CE is required to reinstate within that window (WAC 246-980-110). That changes at the five-year mark.
FAQs about HCA renewal in Washington State
Can I renew my HCA certification online?
Yes. Most Washington caregivers renew online through the Department of Health in the weeks before their expiration date, and it takes only a few minutes. Only credentials that have lapsed past a full renewal cycle fall off the online system and require a paper application instead.
Do I have to verify my continuing education when I renew?
Yes. Verification that you completed your 12 hours is due when you renew (WAC 246-980-110), so the hours must be finished beforehand. You confirm them as part of the renewal, and it is worth keeping your course completion certificates in your own records in case DOH asks to see them.
What happens if I don't complete my 12 CE hours?
You cannot verify hours you have not completed, and that verification is required to renew (WAC 246-980-110). Without it you cannot renew on time, which puts your certification at risk of lapsing. If you are approaching your birthday without all 12 hours done, the priority is to finish your approved continuing education before you renew.
Can my employer renew my certification for me?
No. The certification belongs to you, and the legal responsibility to renew on time rests with you as the credential holder. An employer can remind you, cover or arrange your continuing education, and track deadlines for their staff, but the renewal itself is yours to complete.
Do continuing education requirements apply if I'm exempt from certification?
If you are exempt from certification, the 12-hour requirement is not mandatory for you, but you can choose to take continuing education anyway. For exempt individual providers, the rule sets this out directly: they may take continuing education voluntarily, and through the end of 2026 their consumer directed employer pays for up to 12 hours a year (WAC 246-980-110). If you are unsure whether you are exempt, confirm your specific status before you rely on it.
Keep your certification on track
Renewing an HCA certification in Washington comes down to two things done on time: paying the fee and completing 12 approved continuing education hours before your birthday. Handle both a little ahead of the deadline and renewal is a few minutes online.
Leave them to the last week and you risk a late fee, a lapse, or a slower paper process. The simplest safeguard is to keep your continuing education current through the year, so that when your renewal month arrives, the only thing left to do is renew.
Sources
The requirements in this article come from Washington State law and the Department of Health. Each rule below is linked so you can verify it against the primary source.
WAC 246-980-990: Home care aide certification fees. The official fee schedule, including the $100 renewal fee, the $50 late penalty, and the $30 expired-certification reactivation fee. Also states that certifications renew every year on the practitioner's birthday.
WAC 246-980-110: Continuing education. Establishes the 12-hour annual requirement, that verification is due at renewal, that no CE is due for a first renewal period shorter than a full year, that no CE is required to reinstate a certification expired five years or less, and the voluntary CE provision for exempt individual providers.
WAC 246-980-115: Renew or reinstate an expired certification. The home care aide reinstatement rule, including that a certification expired more than five years requires repeating the training or the examination.
WAC 246-12-020: How to obtain an initial credential. Sets the birthday expiration and the rule that a credential issued within 90 days of the practitioner's birthday does not expire until the following birthday.
WAC 246-12-030: How to renew a credential. The general renewal rule for DOH-credentialed professions: birthday expiration, the steps to renew, courtesy notices, and that fees are accepted no sooner than 90 days before expiration.
WAC 246-12-040: How to return to active status when a credential has expired. The tiered reinstatement requirements by length of lapse, the requirement not to practice until active again, and the narrow late-penalty waiver when the office is closed on the expiration date.
WAC 246-12-340: Fees. Confirms that fees submitted for credentialing, renewal, and related services are nonrefundable.
RCW 18.88B.041: Exemptions from training requirements. Lists which long-term care workers are exempt from home care aide certification and training, relevant to caregivers checking their own status.
Washington State Department of Health — Home Care Aide, and License Renewals (online). DOH's home care aide and renewal pages, covering the Secure Access Washington and licensing-service login steps, the mandatory email address, mailed credentials, status-based blocks on online renewal, and the 2.5% credit-card convenience fee with free electronic-check payment.
Washington State Department of Social and Health Services — Continuing Education. DSHS's continuing education pages, which govern which courses are approved to count toward the 12-hour requirement.
