Charter. Mandatory to be a CFA Society Member?

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MissYiota

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My work experience was validated 2 years ago (I did very short bullet points). So the only thing separating me from the charter now is the fees.
My question is, do we have to be a member of our local CFA society as well to redeem the charter? I understand the charter is delivered by mail, so what is the interest of being a member of a local society?
 
I could be wrong, but I believe your local society needs to verify you for you to get your charter / use the designation on a business card / LinkedIn etc. you don’t need to stay a member if I understand it correctly, but the initial verification step is necessary.
 
So initially we have to pay the 2 memberships (CFAI and local) ?
 
I paid membership fees only for institute and skipped local society. My name appears in member list and i assume i am charterholder now… however i would like to hear from institute is local society membership is compulsary??
 
I do not think taking local society membership is compulsory. Initially I also thought to get the local membership, however i delayed it and paid only for institute memberhip ($100) and got the CFA written in front of my name.
 
Here is an official reply from CFAI:
Hello XXXX,

Being approved as a regular member of a society is required under the CFA Institute membership application process. However, activating the society membership is voluntary and not mandatory to earn the charter.

Best regards,
 
Finally I only paid the 275$ few days ago for the CFAI membership and got my name in the directory with CFA after it. So I confirm, no need to pay the local society membership to get your charter.
Next year my employer will pay both memberships, so it won’t matter anymore
 
I paid for both memberships this year by mistake, thinking they were both required.
I am assuming there is an option to remove the Society membership next year - right?
 
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