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I’m hoping to clarify how certification retirement interacts with prerequisite requirements.

According to the Microsoft credential lifecycle guidance, a certification can remain active after retirement until its expiration date, but it cannot be renewed once the retirement date passes.

Example scenario:

• I currently hold AZ-204 (Azure Developer Associate) and AI-102 (Azure AI Engineer Associate).
  • Both are scheduled to retire July 31, 2026.
  • If I renew them before that date, they could remain active until approximately July 2027.

Question:

If these certifications are still active but retired, will they continue to satisfy the prerequisite requirement for certifications such as AZ-400 DevOps Engineer Expert or AB-100 Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect?

Or once AZ-204 and AI-102 retire, will the prerequisite requirement shift immediately to the new replacement certifications even if the original certifications are still active?

Clarification on whether retired-but-active certifications remain valid prerequisites would help those of us planning certification paths during this transition. Thank you.