RTVI Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify

What You Are Actually Qualifying For

On this site, "RTVI" is shorthand for the Registered Technologist credential in Vascular-Interventional Radiography. The official name used by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) is the Vascular Interventional Radiography (VI) discipline. RTVI is our site abbreviation, not ARRT's own designation, so when you read ARRT paperwork you will see "VI" and not "RTVI."

It is also a distinct credential. VI is separate from ARRT's Cardiac Interventional Radiography credential, from Vascular Sonography, and from the CCI RCIS credential. Candidates sometimes assume that cath lab experience automatically satisfies VI requirements, or that one credential substitutes for another. It does not. If you are still orienting yourself, our explainers on what RTVI certification is and what RTVI stands for cover the naming in more depth.

This article focuses on the eligibility side: what ARRT requires before it will let you sit for the exam, in the order you will most likely work through the requirements.

The Three Gates: Education, Experience, Ethics

ARRT's postprimary pathway has the same basic architecture across disciplines. For VI, think of it as three gates that all have to be open at the time you apply:

1. Education gate: current ARRT certification and registration in Radiography, plus 16 hours of structured education in the VI subject areas.
2. Clinical gate: current BLS certification and at least 200 verified procedure repetitions within a 24-month window.
3. Ethics gate: compliance with ARRT's ethics requirements, which apply to every applicant and every later renewal.

The requirements are governed by the ARRT Vascular Interventional Radiography Clinical Experience Requirements and Structured Education Requirements, both effective July 1, 2023, and by the 2026 Postprimary Eligibility Pathway Handbook. Always check those documents on arrt.org before you commit to a plan, since ARRT can revise documents and you are bound by the version in force when you apply.

Step One: The Radiography Foundation

The starting requirement is the one most often misunderstood. To pursue VI, you must hold current ARRT certification and registration in Radiography. VI is a postprimary credential, meaning it builds on a primary pathway rather than replacing it.

"Current" matters here. If your Radiography registration has lapsed, you will need to resolve that through ARRT's reinstatement process before an application for VI can move forward. Check your standing in your ARRT account early so a lapse does not surface after you have already completed your procedures.

Step Two: 16 Hours of Structured Education

ARRT requires 16 hours of structured education completed within the 24 months before you apply, with at least one credit in each major content category of the VI specifications. Those categories mirror the exam's three major content areas:

Two practical points. First, the 24-month clock runs backward from your application date, so coursework taken too early can age out. Second, the one-credit-per-category rule means you cannot satisfy the 16 hours by loading up on procedures content alone, however tempting that is for people already working in the suite. Use the ARRT Structured Education Requirements document as your checklist, and confirm that any course you plan to take is acceptable to ARRT for this purpose before you pay for it.

For a deeper look at how these three categories translate into exam content, see our complete guide to all 3 RTVI content areas.

Step Three: 200 Verified Procedure Repetitions

The clinical requirement is where most candidates spend the bulk of their time. You need at least 200 verified procedure repetitions completed within the 24-month eligibility window, along with current BLS certification from an ARRT-recognized provider.

The 200 repetitions are not a free-for-all. They are distributed across categories:

That structure has a real consequence for people whose workplace is lopsided. A technologist in a high-volume diagnostic angiography setting may reach 50 vascular diagnostic repetitions quickly but struggle to reach 50 nonvascular repetitions, such as certain drainage or access-type procedures, if that work is routed elsewhere in the hospital. Map your department's case mix against the three categories before you start logging so you know early whether you need rotations or cross-coverage.

Logging Rules That Trip Candidates Up

ARRT's logging rules are designed to ensure breadth rather than volume of a single case type. Pay attention to these:

• Record 5-10 repetitions per selected procedure. Spreading your 200 across a range of procedures is the point; you cannot reach the total by repeating one procedure indefinitely.
• No more than 10 logged procedures per day. Even on an unusually busy day, additional cases beyond ten do not count toward your total.
• Everything must fall inside the 24-month window. Repetitions that predate the window do not count, so keep dates accurate and contemporaneous.
• Active participation is required for each entry. If your role in a case was observational, do not log it.

A habit worth building from day one: log cases at the end of each shift, not in a batch weeks later. Reconstructing dates and roles from memory is how errors, and later verification headaches, creep in.

Who Can Verify Your Experience

Every repetition has to be verified by a qualified individual. ARRT accepts verification from an ARRT-certified and registered technologist, a supervisor, or an interpreting physician. For postprimary clinical requirements, the verifier does not need to have directly observed your work and may verify remotely.

That flexibility is helpful, but it does not remove the need for a credible paper trail. Your verifier is attesting that the log reflects work you actually performed, so choose someone who knows your role in the department and can stand behind the entries. Ask early, agree on a verification routine (for example, a monthly sign-off), and avoid saving all of it for a single hurried signature at the end of the window.

Applying, Fees and Exam Day Mechanics

Once the education, clinical and ethics requirements are in place, you apply through ARRT. The fee structure is straightforward:

For the full picture, including what to budget beyond ARRT fees, see our RTVI certification cost breakdown.

Exam format

The exam is delivered at Pearson VUE test centers. It is computer-based and primarily single-best-answer multiple-choice, with possible alternative item formats and image-based questions; the ARRT handbook also describes multiple-response and ordered-response formats. Key logistics:

• 210 total questions: 160 scored and 50 unscored pilot questions, which are not identified for you.
• 210 minutes of answering time within a 230-minute appointment that includes the tutorial, nondisclosure agreement and survey.
• Closed book. Basic and scientific on-screen calculators are available, and Pearson can supply a basic four-function calculator on request. Personal calculators are prohibited.
• Answer before advancing, but you may flag questions and return to them.

Scoring and attempts

The passing score is 75 on ARRT's 1-99 scaled-score range. That is a scaled score, not 75 percent correct, a distinction we unpack in our RTVI passing score guide. You have three examination attempts within three years of the opening of your initial examination window. In the ARRT Annual Exam Report for 2025, 61.2% of first-time candidates passed (n=454); our RTVI pass rate analysis discusses how to interpret that figure responsibly.

Scheduling specifics, including window dates, are covered in our RTVI exam dates guide.

What the Exam Tests After You Qualify

Meeting the requirements gets you a seat; the content specifications determine what you face once you are in it. The controlling document is the ARRT Vascular Interventional Radiography Examination Content Specifications (board approved July 2022, effective July 1, 2023). The official scored-question allocations out of 160 are:

Within Procedures, the largest category, the split is Vascular Diagnostic Procedures (41), Vascular Interventional Procedures (41) and Nonvascular Procedures (30). Notice how closely this tracks the clinical requirement structure: the same three procedure groupings you spend two years logging are the ones that dominate the exam. Candidates who log a balanced set of repetitions are, in effect, rehearsing the heaviest part of the test.

One note on sources: the 2025 annual report introduction lists a July 2024 revision date, but the dedicated specifications and ARRT's issuer announcement establish July 1, 2023 as the effective date. We treat the dedicated specifications as controlling.

If you are weighing whether the effort is worthwhile, our analysis of whether the RTVI certification is worth it and the difficulty guide are good companions to this article.

A Sample Qualification Timeline

The following sequence is one reasonable way to organize the requirements. It is a planning aid built around the rules above, not an ARRT-mandated schedule.

Because Procedures carries 112 of 160 scored questions, it deserves the largest share of your review time once you are cleared to test. Our RTVI study guide and one-page cheat sheet are built around that weighting. If you want a feel for the question style before you apply, you can try the RTVI practice tests to see how scenario-based items read.

Keeping the Credential After You Earn It

Qualifying is not the finish line; ARRT credentials carry ongoing obligations. To keep VI active you must:

• Renew annually. The fee is $65 regardless of how many ARRT credentials you hold.
• Stay in ethics compliance. This is a continuing requirement, not a one-time check.
• Earn 24 approved CE credits per two-year biennium. This is per biennium, not per credential, so holding both Radiography and VI does not double the requirement.

Credentials earned on or after January 1, 2011 are also subject to Continuing Qualifications Requirements (CQR) every 10 years. CQR involves a professional profile, a structured self-assessment and any prescribed CE. ARRT also allows you to accept the maximum CQR CE prescription instead of taking the self-assessment.

Many technologists pursue VI to move into interventional suites and related roles; see our overviews of RTVI jobs and the RTVI salary guide for what to expect from the market.

Frequently Asked Questions