Joining the Credential Engine Issuer Identity Registry

Any organization that issues digital credentials may apply to join the IIR. This includes:

• Postsecondary academic institutions (two-year, four-year, graduate)
• Training providers and workforce development organizations
• Certification and credentialing bodies
• Government agencies
• Professional associations
• Businesses and employers issuing credentials
• Secondary schools and school systems
• Quality assurance, accreditation, and regulatory bodies

Organizations may apply directly or through a trusted third-party publisher. See Information for Trusted Third-Party Publishers below.

Credential Engine verifies the identity and legitimacy of each organization before listing it in the IIR. Gather the following information before starting your application to speed up the process.

State agencies, system operators, and other authoritative bodies that maintain official records of credential offerers or issuers may apply as trusted third-party publishers.

Trusted third-party publishers:

• May submit organization records in bulk on behalf of issuers they oversee or recognize.
• May have already completed all or part of the verification process within their own authoritative system; Credential Engine will validate or supplement this existing verification as appropriate.
• Must ensure submitted organizations meet IIR eligibility requirements.

If your organization is applying as a trusted third-party publisher, or if you are an issuer applying through a trusted third-party publisher, please contact Credential Engine at iirservice@credentialengine.org before beginning the application process.

Create Credential Engine User Account

Visit the Credential Engine Accounts System to create a user account and confirm it via email. At least two people from your organization must create accounts using email addresses with your organization’s domain (e.g., @yourorg.edu or @yourcompany.org). Additional users may be invited after the organization account is submitted.

More information on creating a user account.

• Existing Users: If you already have a Credential Engine user account, skip this step. Be sure, however, to ensure your organization has at least two associated user accounts.
• Why are two accounts required? Credential Engine requires at least two authorized contacts from each organization to ensure accountability, continuity of access, and support for the identity verification process.

Submit Your Organization Information

After confirming your user account, enter your organization’s details in the Accounts System. Provide the information listed in the Required Information section above.

• Existing Organization Accounts: If your organization already has a Credential Engine account, please update the account with the required information for IIR inclusion.

1. What and Why section:

• Choose We will be publishing data to the Registry
  • Select your Publishing Role (e.g., Credential Organization, Organization)
  • Select your Publishing Method (e.g., Manual, Bulk Upload)
• Choose Register to Issuer Identity Registry (IIR)

2. Add the required information for your organization

3. Add publishing estimates

• Estimate the number of credentials your organization will publish. For each credential type, “add a new publishing estimate.

4. Submit

• Select “Save and Submit for Approval.”
• Save the Credential Transparency Identifier (CTID), a unique identifier for your organization in the Credential Registry, as you will need it for DID submission.

You will receive a notification that your organization has been submitted for IIR registration.

Publish Your Organization to the Credential Registry

You are required to publish your organization information to the Credential Registry. It is strongly encouraged but not required that you also publish all relevant credentials. 

Visit the Guidance Site for publishing instructions.

You will be notified when your organization has been published.

Initial Screening

Once your organization is published to the Registry, Credential Engine will conduct an initial screening of your information. You will be notified once it is complete.

You may be asked for additional documentation, such as evidence of authorization to operate in your jurisdiction or supporting materials related to your organizational identity.

If your organization is a third-party publisher (see section below), verification will include registration in the IIR service for all organizations for which you have third party publishing permission. Please notify iirservice@credentialengine.org if any organizations should be excluded from IIR registration.

There is a one-time registration fee of $140 per institution, which covers the full verification and validation process prior to entry into the IIR. This is a single investment that establishes your organization’s verified presence across the credential ecosystem. This fee supports the review of organizational identity and the validation of the institution’s DID before an institution is admitted to the registry and its registration action is published to the Credential Registry.

Following submission of your information in stage 1, Credential Engine will send a payment link to complete the registration fee. Payment is accepted by credit card or ACH. Please note that the verification process will not begin until payment is confirmed.

Once payment of the registration fee has been received, Credential Engine will verify your information against publicly available sources and authoritative registries.

Verification confirms

• The organization is a legally recognized entity (or sub-unit thereof), with valid identifiers and a matching web presence.
• The organization demonstrably issues educational or training credentials to individuals, as defined in the CTDL framework.
• Identifiers such as the FEIN, DUNS, and OPEID numbers (U.S.) or equivalent global identifiers are verified through authoritative or public business registries.
• The contact person(s) are authorized to represent the organization in credential issuance matters.

Result

You will be notified of the approval decision once the final review is complete.

Once your organization has been approved for IIR registration, you will submit your organization’s Decentralized Identifier (DID) and signed payload. This is a technical step. Involve a developer or technical staff member for this portion of the process.

Visit the Technical Site for detailed instructions on submitting the DID. When your DID has been successfully submitted, you will receive a notification.