Originally Posted by SP03

I was also thinking of the same thing. The wording here is very unclear.

I think the correct interpretation is that the April 1 of membership year refers to the same year as the February in the status qualification year. And the end of the membership year is on March 31 of the subsequent year.

So status qualification year starts on March 1 (of year 1) and runs through the last day of February (year 2)
Membership year takes effect the date you qualify (any time from year 1 to February 29 of year 2) or by April 1 (late credits?) of year 2 and valid until March 31 of year 3.