The CGSS factsheet states the exam contains 100 multiple-choice and multiple-select questions - select-one items plus select-all-that-fit items.
Candidates have 175 minutes to complete the CGSS exam, per ACAMS's official factsheet.
The CGSS package - study guide, flashcards, four courses, a practice exam with and without answers, and the exam itself - lists at US$1,995 private sector and US$1,495 public sector.
ACAMS requires 40 eligibility credits plus an active membership before it approves a CGSS application; membership itself earns no credits.
What the CGSS Exam Actually Tests
CGSS is ACAMS's specialist-level certification for sanctions work, developed in conjunction with recognized sanctions experts and positioned to do for sanctions compliance what CAMS does for AML. ACAMS's factsheet ties the credential to experience: combined with 18 months to two years of financial-crime compliance work, earning CGSS means the holder has the knowledge necessary to manage the risk of, and comply with, sanctions regulation. The roles ACAMS names include legal counsel, embargo specialists, compliance technology staff, and global trade and import-export professionals.
The exam format is published in the official factsheet: candidates have 175 minutes to complete the CGSS exam, and the exam contains 100 multiple-choice and multiple-select questions. The multiple-select items matter for preparation - a select-all-that-fit question punishes partial knowledge harder than a single-answer item does.
The preparation spine is four stackable ACAMS online certificate courses: Sanctions Frameworks and Governance; Building a Sanctions Compliance Program; Detecting and Investigating Sanctions Evasion Techniques; and Sanctions Compliance Case Studies. The package includes a practice exam in two versions - one with answers hidden, one with answers revealed immediately - developed under the same quality standards as the certification exam.
One honesty note: ACAMS does not publish a CGSS passing score or a retake waiting period on its candidate-facing pages. Any site quoting either number is guessing. What ACAMS publishes is the question count, the timing, the six-language list, and the price - and that is what this page is built on.
| Element | Published value |
|---|---|
| Questions | 100 - multiple choice (select one) and multiple select (select all that fit) |
| Time | 175 minutes |
| Delivery | Pearson VUE - online-proctored at home via OnVUE scheduling, or at a test center |
| Eligibility | 40 credits plus active ACAMS membership |
| Package price | US$1,995 private sector / US$1,495 public sector |
| Languages | Arabic, English, French, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese |
Scroll horizontally to view all columns.
At Home via OnVUE or at a Pearson Test Center
Pearson VUE runs a dedicated ACAMS OnVUE online testing page - the delivery partner's official confirmation that ACAMS program exams can be taken online from home - with login to schedule, reschedule, or cancel. Once ACAMS approves your application, the scheduling email and your ACAMS account route you into the Pearson VUE exam scheduling system, and you have six months from the day your application is approved to take the exam.
The at-home route carries Pearson's published minimums. Your computer runs Windows 10 or macOS 14 or higher with a working webcam, microphone, and speaker - no headphones or headsets - on a single display. Your connection needs at least 6 Mbps download and 2 Mbps upload, stable, and every application except OnVUE closes. Prohibited on exam day: virtual machines and beta operating systems, phones, tablets, headphones, earbuds, styluses and watches, smart or connected devices with recording or AI features, secondary or touchscreen displays, and VPN, corporate, or public and shared networks.
Pearson's rule is to run and pass its System Test on the same device and network you will use on exam day, restart the computer beforehand, and keep everyone else off the network. The stakes are published: fail to meet the minimum requirements on exam day and the exam can be cancelled immediately with the exam fee forfeited.
What the CGSS Attempt Costs, Including the Retake Math
The CGSS package is priced by sector on ACAMS's own page: US$1,995 private sector and US$1,495 public sector - and the FAQ confirms the public-sector column is ACAMS's government discount. The package bundles the study guide, flashcards, the four certificate courses, the two-version practice exam, and the certification exam itself. Adding the Virtual Classroom Series takes the total to US$2,395 or US$1,995 by sector, a stated saving of up to US$195 against buying separately; the series alone lists at US$595.
Two add-on fees complete the picture. A retake after a failed attempt costs US$299 and is scheduled through your ACAMS account. An exam extension, if you need more time before your eligibility expires, costs US$100. ACAMS does not publish a retake waiting period for CGSS - anyone quoting you a fixed wait is inventing it.
The renewal budget matters too. CGSS recertifies every three years against 30 recertification credits, an active ACAMS membership, a recertification fee, and an online application - half the 60-credit CAMS cycle, but a standing obligation either way.
Where CGSS Attempts Actually Go Wrong
The first failure point is the multiple-select item type. One hundred questions in 175 minutes sounds comfortable until the select-all-that-fit items start taxing partial knowledge - a missed sub-answer loses the whole item. Candidates who drilled only single-answer question banks meet an item format their practice never modeled.
The second is the eligibility gate. Forty credits are required and membership - mandatory though it is - contributes none of them. Sanctions specialists coming from trade or legal roles sometimes discover their experience must be documented against the credit framework before the application moves, and the exam window only opens after approval.
The third is the evasion-techniques core. ACAMS's own course sequence dedicates a full course to detecting and investigating sanctions evasion through ownership, trade, and payments - this is applied investigative content, not list memorization. Professionals whose exposure is screening-tool output rather than case investigation carry a gap into the exam's center of gravity.
The fourth is logistics. The six-month window from approval, the US$100 extension, the US$299 retake, and Pearson's exam-day minimum requirements - whose failure can forfeit the fee - are all real money, and none of them appear on a study plan.
How the Service Works
You send the brief
You get a straight feasibility answer
The sitting is handled end to end
You pay after the result
What You Get
Current-format confirmation
At-home or center delivery
End-to-end sitting management
Pay-after-pass terms
How We Think About Exam Security
Every CGSS sitting runs as a computer-based, proctored exam under Pearson VUE's delivery - at home under OnVUE monitoring or inside a Pearson test center - and ACAMS's package, eligibility, and recertification rules are published for every candidate to read. That is the published environment, and it is why we plan every engagement around the official delivery rules - the published OnVUE room, equipment, and network requirements or the test-center equivalent - instead of against them.
You will see cheaper offers that promise the world on this exam. Ask them what happens when the proctoring record meets the certification file. Our model only makes money when your pass posts and stays posted, which is exactly the outcome you are paying for.
What we control is the quality, discretion, and privacy of the engagement: an honest feasibility answer before anything starts, a structured execution plan, and a fee that follows the result. Your details stay private, and if your situation makes the service a bad fit, we tell you before you spend anything.
The Payment Model, Stated Plainly
You pay the service fee only after the agreed result posts. ACAMS's own costs - the US$1,995 or US$1,495 package, any Virtual Classroom add-on, and any US$299 retake or US$100 extension fees - are the exam's own costs, separate from the service fee, and we tell you the full picture up front so there are no surprise line items.
We accept the usual range of payment methods and can work around procurement constraints for employer-sponsored sittings - ask in the first message and you will get a straight answer.
What Sanctions Professionals Say
A sanctions remediation program put CGSS on my development plan with a quarter-end date. They confirmed the 100-question format and the package price against ACAMS's page, handled the OnVUE sitting at home, and I paid after the pass posted.
Trade-compliance background, forty credits documented, and no study runway before a role change. The feasibility answer was straight, the CGSS sitting was handled end to end, and the fee came after the result.
Needed the sanctions credential for a client engagement. Scheduling, check-in, and the sitting were all handled, with the package, retake, and extension fees separated and visible from day one.
ACAMS CGSS Exam Questions
Can the CGSS exam be taken online from home?
How much does the CGSS exam cost?
What is the CGSS exam format?
What are the CGSS eligibility requirements?
What score do I need to pass the CGSS exam?
How long is CGSS valid, and how do I keep it?
Book Your CGSS Sitting
Send your role, your eligibility-credit standing, your window, and your deadline. You get an honest feasibility answer against the current exam coverage, and if the engagement makes sense, the sitting is handled end to end - at home via OnVUE or at a Pearson test center - with the service fee due only after your pass posts.
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