SSL Certificate Validity Periods Are Changing to 200 Days
Rachel GreenShare
The SSL Certificate industry is introducing a significant change to maximum validity periods. From March 15, 2026, SSL Certificates will be issued with a maximum validity of 200 days, which is just over six months.
This article explains what this change means for website owners and how the reissuance process works to maintain continuous SSL Certificate coverage throughout your purchased license period.
Why SSL Certificate Validity Is Changing to 200 Days
The reduction in SSL Certificate validity periods is driven by the need to regularly confirm that the Certificate holder is still entitled to use the SSL Certificate. The CA/Browser Forum approved Ballot SC-081v3, initially proposed by Apple and endorsed by Sectigo, which formally mandates this reduction. A 200-day maximum validity period ensures that domain ownership and organizational details are verified more frequently, which strengthens the overall security of the public trust ecosystem.
This change takes effect on March 15, 2026 and applies across the entire industry. It is not specific to any single SSL Certificate provider. SSL Certificates issued before this date with longer validity periods will continue to function normally and will not require early renewal or replacement.
Under this model, when an SSL Certificate is issued on or after March 15, 2026, it will be valid for a maximum of 200 days. To maintain uninterrupted coverage for the full duration of your purchased license, you will need to obtain a free extension before the currently installed SSL Certificate expires.
This extension process serves as a revalidation checkpoint, confirming that you remain the rightful owner of the domain and are still entitled to the SSL Certificate.
How the Free Extension Process Works
The extension process is largely automated and typically completes instantly. Trustico® provides this reissuance facility through the tracking system, which is accessible from your customer account. When you perform a reissue, the newly issued SSL Certificate will carry the maximum validity allowed by the remaining balance of your purchased license period.
No new Certificate Signing Request (CSR) is required, although you may provide one if you wish. If you have lost your existing Private Key or need to generate a new key pair for any reason, submitting a new Certificate Signing Request (CSR) at the time of reissue is the appropriate course of action.
Note : Reissues can be performed at any time through the Trustico® tracking system, not only when an SSL Certificate is approaching expiration. If you need to reissue for any reason, such as a server migration or a change of hosting environment, the facility is always available.
What You Need to Do
The most important step is to ensure you perform the free extension before your currently installed SSL Certificate expires. Trustico® recommends setting a reminder or calendar alert approximately two weeks before the expiration date of your installed SSL Certificate. This gives you sufficient time to complete the reissue and install the newly issued SSL Certificate without any gap in coverage.
Trustico® also provides monitoring alerts that notify you when an SSL Certificate is approaching expiration. These alerts rely on Trustico® being able to detect your SSL Certificate installed on a publicly accessible server. If your SSL Certificate is not publicly visible, for example because it is behind a firewall or on an internal network, the monitoring system will not be able to detect it and therefore will not send an alert.
For this reason, you should not rely solely on monitoring alerts and should always maintain your own reminder system. Learn About Trustico® SSL Certificate Monitoring 🔗
Completing a Reissue
To reissue your SSL Certificate, log in to your Trustico® customer account and navigate to the relevant order within the tracking system. Select the reissue option and follow the prompts. In most cases, no additional domain validation is required, which means the process completes automatically and your new SSL Certificate is available for download almost immediately. Learn About How to Reissue an SSL Certificate 🔗
Tip : If you are reissuing without changing your Certificate Signing Request (CSR) or validation details, choose the same validation method you used previously. This helps ensure the fastest possible processing time.
If you do change the Certificate Signing Request (CSR) or modify existing validation details, some level of revalidation may be required before the new SSL Certificate can be issued. Choosing a different validation method may also introduce additional processing time. Keeping your details consistent across reissues is the most efficient approach. Learn About the Validation Procedure 🔗
Downloading Your Newly Issued SSL Certificate
After the reissue completes, your newly issued SSL Certificate will be available for download directly from the tracking system. Simply navigate to the download page within your order and retrieve the SSL Certificate files.
If you prefer to receive the SSL Certificate by e-mail, you can enter an e-mail address on the download page and click the send button. The SSL Certificate files will be delivered to the specified e-mail address.
Once downloaded, install the newly issued SSL Certificate on your server in the same way you installed the original.
The Broader Industry Timeline
The 200-day maximum validity period is the first step in a phased reduction approved by the CA/Browser Forum. The full timeline for SSL Certificate maximum validity reductions is as follows.
March 15, 2026 : Maximum SSL Certificate validity reduces to 200 days, accommodating a six-month renewal cadence. The Domain Control Validation (DCV) reuse period also reduces to 200 days.
March 15, 2027 : Maximum SSL Certificate validity reduces to 100 days, accommodating a three-month renewal cadence. The Domain Control Validation (DCV) reuse period reduces to 100 days.
March 15, 2029 : Maximum SSL Certificate validity reduces to 47 days, accommodating a one-month renewal cadence. The Domain Control Validation (DCV) reuse period reduces to 10 days.
Trustico® will continue to provide tools, services, and guidance to help customers adapt to each phase of this transition as it arrives.
Looking Ahead
Trustico® is developing additional tools and services to make the reissuance and extension process even more streamlined. As these become available, customers will benefit from further automation and convenience.
In the meantime, the current tracking system provides a straightforward and reliable way to manage your SSL Certificate reissues and maintain continuous protection for your website. Learn About the Trustico® Tracking System 🔗
Important : Your SSL Certificate purchase is a license that covers a defined period. The 200-day validity limit does not reduce what you have paid for. It simply means you will perform a free, typically instant reissue partway through your license period to maintain continuous coverage.
