You can pay and become a full member prior to your exam results (which is what I’ve done). This way, if you pass, those 3 letters you worked so hard for should immediately appear after your name in your membership profile and you’ll officially be a charterholder. I don’t know if waiting until after your results to pay the dues would be any different though. Assuming your work history and references have been approved by both the CFAI and local society simply paying the fee may immediately change you to a regular member and charterholder (again assuming a pass) as well. Something in the back of my mind told me there might be a processing delay if one waits though so I went ahead and paid. You may want to search around and see if you can find more info about that.
For me, paying ahead helped to keep the positive thoughts flowing heh.
You can become a regular member of the CFA Institute if you have the work experience and references. If you don’t, then you can get an affiliate membership. If you have a regular membership and pass level three then you become a CFA Charterholder. I did this a couple weeks ago because I thought there would be a rush after August 8. I have seen where people get everything done and wait until results before paying.
Accurate. I have paid my Institute and Society fees and became a regular member by applying for full membership. Part of the process is the institute vetting your work exp and references. I also called Charlottesville after my work exp and references have been approved and enquired about paying the full membership dues AFTER I pass L3 and they said that would be perfectly fine. However they kindly informed me about the benefits and access I would gain by becoming a full time member and why it might be worthwhile even if my L3 attempt proves to be unsuccessful.
Also don’t feel sheepish about calling the institute and inquiring directly. They have excellent people with local and international numbers setup to exactly answer these kinds of queries. After all it is part of the overhead covered by our examination and membership fees. Use their expertise and receive credible answers from the horse’s mouth. I’ve done this, as even S2000, who’s been around the block a time or two, has as well. I think a lot of members and candidates under-utilize the institute’s resources and insight.