09/17/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/17/2025 13:41
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) is now allowing currently Certified Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) who have not yet submitted their revised CDFI Certification Application (released December 2023) to submit an extension request for the upcoming September 30, 2025, CDFI Certification Application submission deadline.
On June 20, 2024, the CDFI Fund announced the updated CDFI Certification Application deadlines for currently Certified CDFIs. In the announcement, the CDFI Fund stated, "No additional grace period or extension will be provided to CDFIs that fail to submit their Application by the revised deadline." As of today's announcement, the prohibition on extension requests is lifted.
If a currently Certified CDFI will not meet the September 30, 2025, submission deadline and wants to retain its CDFI Certification, it must follow the steps outlined below to submit an extension request to the CDFI Fund:
All extension requests must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. E.T. on Wednesday, September 23, 2025, to allow the CDFI Fund time to review and approve any extension requests in a timely manner. The determination on your extension request will be communicated via email in AMIS. The CDFI Fund reserves the right to grant an extension date different than the date originally requested. Failure to follow the above steps may result in delays to the review of your submitted Service Request. While your extension request is pending, you will not be deemed to have missed the September 30, 2025, submission deadline.
As a reminder, Window 2, the second Application submission period and part of the CDFI Fund's established General Reapplication Submission Deadlines, opened July 7, 2025, and runs until September 30, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. E.T. Organizations in Window 2 are currently Certified CDFIs with fiscal years that end on December 31, 2024; February 28, 2025; or March 31, 2025. All organizations must prepare and submit their Application(s) within their assigned window unless authorized directly by the CDFI Fund to do otherwise. Submissions outside of the designated timeframe, without advance approval from the CDFI Fund, will result in loss of CDFI Certification.
CDFI Certification Application Guidance and Resources
The CDFI Fund has guidance and resources on the Certification webpage Certification webpage to assist with submitting your CDFI Certification Application. In particular, the CDFI Certification Supplemental Guidance and Tips has detailed instructions on completing the CDFI Certification Application.
In addition to guidance materials, the webinars located at Monthly and Recorded Webinars can help with key parts of the Application process including:
Applicants must use the most recent versions of the CDFI Certification Application, Target Market Calculator, and Transaction Level Report (TLR) templates available in AMIS. Templates downloaded or initiated in 2024 or early 2025 will not reflect updates made to improve the system and reduce errors. Applicants should rerun the Target Market Calculator prior to submission of the CDFI Certification Application to ensure the latest Target Market Activity percentages are included in the Application.
Questions
Questions about the CDFI Certification Application should be directed to the Office of Certification Policy and Evaluation (OCPE) via AMIS Service Request (preferred), or by email at [email protected].
Questions related to the TLR should be directed to the Office of Financial Strategies and Research via AMIS Service Request (preferred), or by email at [email protected].