Hi Bert,
Official policy is you have to re-take the exam once the certification expires, however, it doesn't hurt to ask them to make an exception. To do that you need to contact a support moderator in Microsoft Credentials forum (they typically respond within 2 business days):
https://trainingsupport.microsoft.com/en-us/newthread?threadtype=Questions&forum=mcp
Please click Accept Answer and upvote if the above was helpful.
Thanks.
-TP