Eligibility, 40-Hour Training, Fees & Recertification

Eligibility, 40-Hour Training, Fees & Recertification

Quick Answer: To sit for CHI certification, you must be 18 or older, hold a U.S./territory high school diploma or equivalent, complete at least 40 hours of healthcare interpreter training, and demonstrate proficiency in both English and your target language. Total fees run $40 (application) + $191 (CoreCHI) + $302 (CHI performance exam) = $533. The credential must be renewed every 4 years with 32 hours of continuing education.

Before you can register for either CoreCHI or the CHI performance exam, CCHI requires candidates to meet several baseline eligibility criteria. This section walks through each requirement, the full fee structure, and what maintaining the credential looks like after you pass.

Eligibility Requirements

To apply for CHI certification, a candidate must meet all of the following:

These four requirements exist independently of the exams themselves — you cannot register for CoreCHI or the CHI performance exam without first satisfying them. CCHI verifies eligibility documentation as part of the application process, before granting exam eligibility.

Why 40 Hours of Training?

The 40-hour training requirement reflects CCHI's position, informed by its Job Task Analysis research, that healthcare interpreting requires structured preparation beyond raw bilingual fluency alone. Being fluent in two languages is necessary but not sufficient — a qualified healthcare interpreter also needs training in interpreter ethics, modes of interpreting, medical terminology conventions, and the U.S. healthcare context, which is exactly the material this study guide (and the CoreCHI exam) covers. The 40-hour minimum can typically be satisfied through a recognized healthcare interpreter training program; CCHI does not mandate a single specific curriculum, but the training must cover recognized healthcare interpreting competencies.

Full Fee Breakdown

Pursuing the complete CHI credential involves three separate fees, paid at different stages of the process:

Notice that the CHI performance exam ($302) costs more than CoreCHI ($191) — more than one-and-a-half times as much. This reflects the added cost of video-recorded, human-scored oral exam administration compared to a computer-scored multiple-choice format. Candidates should budget for all three fees before beginning the process, since the application fee is a prerequisite gate rather than an optional add-on.

It's worth noting these fees apply specifically to the CoreCHI + CHI performance exam path. Candidates pursuing CoreCHI-P or ETOE instead would not pay the $302 CHI performance exam fee, since those paths don't include a performance-exam component (see Section 1.1 for the difference between credential paths).

Recertification: Every 4 Years

The CHI credential is not permanent — it must be renewed on a 4-year cycle. Recertification requires:

• Completing continuing education (CE) hours during the 4-year cycle (32 hours, drawn from CCHI-approved sources covering interpreting practice, ethics, and related professional development topics)
• Submitting recertification documentation and paying an associated recertification fee before the credential's expiration date

The recertification requirement exists because healthcare interpreting is a field where terminology, legal requirements (such as language-access regulations), and best practices continue to evolve — a credential earned once, without ongoing education, would not reliably reflect current competency years later. Interpreters should track their CE hours throughout each 4-year cycle rather than attempting to accumulate them all shortly before the renewal deadline, since CCHI-approved CE opportunities can take time to schedule and complete.

What Counts as Qualifying Continuing Education

CCHI's 28-hour continuing education requirement is not satisfied by arbitrary coursework — it must be drawn from CCHI-approved sources and generally falls into categories such as interpreting skills practice, healthcare terminology updates, ethics and standards of practice, and topics related to the U.S. healthcare system or cultural responsiveness. This mirrors the same five domains tested on CoreCHI, which means an interpreter's recertification education naturally reinforces the same knowledge base the original exam covered — the learning doesn't stop once the credential is earned. CCHI publishes a directory of approved CE providers and courses, and interpreters should confirm a course carries CCHI-approved CE credit before enrolling, since not all healthcare-adjacent training automatically qualifies.

Putting It Together: The Full Path to CHI

Combining this section with 1.1-1.3, here is the complete sequence a candidate follows to earn and maintain the CHI credential:

1. Confirm eligibility (age 18+, HS diploma/equivalent, 40 hours of training, dual-language proficiency)
2. Pay the $40 application fee and submit documentation
3. Register for and pass CoreCHI ($191 fee) — 100 questions, 5 domains, scaled score 450 to pass
4. Register for and pass the CHI performance exam in your language ($302 fee) — consecutive/simultaneous/sight/written interpreting, video-recorded
5. Receive the CHI credential
6. Maintain the credential with 32 CE hours every 4-year recertification cycle

With the full exam landscape now mapped out, the remaining chapters of this guide teach the content itself — starting with Chapter 2's deep dive into the ethics domain that anchors nearly a quarter of the CoreCHI exam.