How long is the certificate of documentation valid?

Provided there are no changes other than the owner’s address, a Certificate of Documentation is valid for one year from the date of issue.

Previously, any Certificate of Documentation had to be renewed annually.

However, now our site can be used to renew vessel documentation for two, three, four, and up to five years in advance. Per the Federal Register of the National Archives, the Coast Guard has extended the validity of “a Certificate of Documentation (COD) from 1 to 5 years.”