Today I am assisting one of our clients with their second Project Management Professional (PMP®) renewal. The client passed the exam in Oct 2020 and renewed in Oct 2023, and the second cycle ends on 11 Oct 2026. They earned the 60 PDUs through 3FOLD Training, and as part of our support I report those PDUs in their PMI account on their behalf. When I checked the claim today, the status read Needs More Information. With a cycle end date this close, a client who sees that wording can easily assume something has gone wrong, so I am writing down what the status means, which dates your PDUs must carry, and exactly what we did. The client’s name and training details are left out on purpose.

What does a PMP holder need to renew?

A PMP® holder needs 60 PDUs in each 3-year cycle. PDU stands for professional development unit, and each PDU represents 1 hour spent on a learning or giving-back activity.

The 60 PDUs must follow category rules, and I check them for every client before I submit any claim.

For the process from start to finish, read our PMP certification renewal guidelines. The full renewal rules, including what happens if you miss the deadline, are in our guide on what happens if you do not renew your PMP certification on time.

Which activities earn PMP PDUs?

Activities fall into two PMI categories, Education and Giving Back to the Profession. Most of my clients earn their Education PDUs through training and their Giving Back PDUs through their day-to-day work.

PMI lists the full set on its ways to earn PDUs page. In my client’s case, the 60 PDUs came from training completed with 3FOLD, and the claim was an Education PDU claim for that training. For the wider process, see our how to renew your PMP certification guide.

Which dates must your PDUs fall within?

Every PDU must be dated inside the cycle you are claiming it for. In the first cycle, the activity must be dated after the day you passed the PMP® exam. In the second cycle, it must be dated after your renewal, which means on or after the day the second cycle starts.

My client is the example. The certification was earned in Oct 2020, so the first cycle ran from Oct 2020 to Oct 2023, and the renewal in Oct 2023 started the second cycle. The Claim History page shows the second cycle as 12 Oct 2023 to 11 Oct 2026 on the credential bar, and every PDU we claim must fall inside that window.

Guidelines we follow so PMI accepts the claim

• For the first cycle, use only activities completed after the exam pass date, never courses you took to prepare for the exam.
• For the second cycle, use only activities completed after the renewal date, and make sure the start date and the end date of the activity both sit inside the cycle window.
• Compare the training date on your certificate with the date on the claim, because a mismatch is a common reason for PMI to ask for more information.
• Do not claim the same activity in two cycles; each PDU counts once.
• Check the cycle dates on the credential bar in Claim History before you enter anything.

There is one legitimate exception. PMI allows up to 20 PDUs earned in the final 12 months of a cycle to carry over to the next one, but that is a separate rule that applies when you exceed the requirement, so we do not mix it with ordinary claims. Our guide on what happens if you do not renew your PMP certification on time covers carryover and the other renewal rules.

What did my client’s PDU claim look like?

I submitted the claims in my client’s PMI account. Straight after, PMI showed the Claim Submission Results page. The status was Submitted, and a note says that processing can take up to 5 business days.

Screenshot from a client’s PMI account. The name, credential number, claim ID, course name and personal dates are hidden.

When I opened Claim History again, the claims sat under the PMP® credential with the status Needs More Information, and the PDUs Approved column showed 0.00.

Screenshot from a client’s PMI account. The name, credential number, claim ID, course name and personal dates are hidden.

The page lists your claims under each credential you hold, with the cycle dates on the credential bar. You can use the Claim Status filter to show only the claims that need action.

A claim that needs more information is not rejected; it is waiting for your document.

Should you panic if the status says Needs More Information?

No. The status does not mean your PDUs are rejected, and it does not mean your certification is at risk. It means the claim is paused until a supporting document is added.

The status exists because PMI approves PDUs against evidence. Every claim is a declaration, and you attest that the information is correct when you submit it. Before PMI counts those PDUs toward your 60, it needs proof that the activity happened, on that date, for that number of hours. When the proof is missing or PMI wants to verify it, the claim shows Needs More Information instead of moving forward. PMI does not publish the exact trigger for each claim on the pages we checked, so the status is best read as a request for evidence rather than a judgment about you.

Three details explain why my client had nothing to worry about.

• The claim form itself says “You must add document for review” when no document is attached, so the request is part of the normal process.
• The fix takes minutes: you add the document, tick the accuracy box and submit, and the claim moves on.
• PMI states that incorrect information can lead to disciplinary action, so a status that asks you to prove the claim protects both PMI and you.

The only real risk is time. Each review can take up to 5 business days, and my client’s cycle ends on 11 Oct 2026, so we acted the same day. If your cycle is close to ending, do the same.

What did we submit when PMI needed more information?

Because the PDUs were earned through our own training, I had the proof ready: the completion record for the course. I attached it to the claim, confirmed the declaration and sent the claim again. Without a document, the form shows the message “You must add document for review” and will not go through.

Screenshot from a client’s PMI account. The name, credential number, claim ID, course name and personal dates are hidden.

1. Open the claim. In Claim History, filter by Needs More Information and open the claim from the Activity link.
2. Check the numbers. The PDUs across Ways of Working, Power Skills and Business Acumen must add up to the total, and the training date must match the document.
3. Add the supporting document. Select Add Supporting Document and upload the file, such as the course completion certificate.
4. Confirm the declaration. Tick “I agree this claim is accurate”. PMI states that incorrect information may lead to disciplinary action, including suspension or revocation of a certification.
5. Select Submit. The claim now moves to Needs Review.

Which document do you attach?

Attach a file that shows you, the activity, the date and the hours. PMI does not publish a fixed list of documents on the pages we checked, so treat the table below as practical examples.

What happens after you submit the supporting document?

The status changes to Needs Review, and PMI states that processing can take up to 5 business days. The Claim Submission Results page shows this note after you submit.

In my client’s account, the Claim History table now reads Needs Review for both claims, and the PDUs Approved column still shows 0.00. That is the stage where PMI has the supporting document and is reviewing the claim, so nothing more is needed from you unless the status changes back to Needs More Information.

Screenshot from a client’s PMI account. The name, credential number, claim ID, course name and personal dates are hidden.

Because the cycle ends on 11 Oct 2026, I told my client to avoid submitting the same claim twice and to check Claim History again after 5 business days. Weekends do not count as business days, so a claim sent on a Thursday can take until the following Thursday. Once PMI approves the claim, the approved PDUs appear in the PDUs Approved column and count toward the 60 PDUs.

What does the dashboard show after approval and renewal?

Once PMI approves the claim and the renewal is paid, the claim shows Approved in Claim History, and your dashboard shows the renewal date, the status In good standing and 0 PDUs remaining.

Let us assume my client’s claim was approved after the review. The PDUs Approved column now shows the full number of PDUs, and the PDUs Applied column shows the same number, which means PMI has applied them to the cycle.

Screenshot from a client’s PMI account. The name, credential number, claim ID, course name and personal dates are hidden. The image is an excerpt that shows the table header and the Approved row.

Now assume the renewal fee is paid and the renewal is completed successfully. This is what my client sees on the PMI dashboard. If you have not started your own renewal yet, our PMP renewal guidelines are the place to begin.

Screenshot from a client’s PMI account. The name, credential number, claim ID, course name and personal dates are hidden.

That is the result we wanted for my client: 2 claims approved, 0 rejected, 0 needing more information, and a renewed credential. Your next 3-year cycle then begins, and the same date rule applies: new PDUs must be dated inside the new cycle, so keep your training records organized from day one.

How do you avoid PDU claim delays?

Attach proof when you first submit the claim, and keep every number consistent with that proof.

• Upload a supporting document with the claim, so PMI does not need to ask for it.
• Match the training date and the number of PDUs on the claim to the document.
• Reach at least 8 PDUs in each of the three Talent Triangle skill areas.
• Claim PDUs soon after each activity, not in the final month of your cycle.
• Keep documentation for every claim for at least 18 months after the cycle ends, because PMI audits a percentage of holders. The same habit helps if your application is ever selected, as our guide to the PMP exam application audit explains.

PMI publishes the renewal rules on its maintain your certification page, and we cover the steps in our guide to renewing your PMP certification.

Frequently asked questions

Where 3FOLD fits

3FOLD Training is licensed by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) in Dubai and is a PMI® Authorized Training Partner. Our PMP® certification training is delivered as Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT) with 35 contact hours and one-year Learning Management System (LMS) access, and the team supports learners with the exam application. Check the current batches on the course page.