The Virginia Hearing Aid Specialist license, issued by the Board for Hearing Aid Specialists and Opticians in the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR), authorises the holder to engage in the practice of fitting or dealing in hearing aids in Virginia. The PassProfessor Virginia Hearing Aid Specialist program prepares candidates for the three examinations that stand behind that license — the written examination, the rules and regulations examination, and the practical examination. The companion exam guide at /virginia-hearing-instrument-specialist-exam-guide/ works through the same verified facts in greater depth.
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What this credential certifies
The Virginia Hearing Aid Specialist license certifies that its holder has documented training and experience across the full subject set Virginia requires for fitting and dealing in hearing aids, and has passed all three of the Board’s examinations. The licensed specialist tests hearing for the purpose of selecting and adapting hearing aids, takes and evaluates earmold impressions, selects and fits instruments, instructs the purchaser in orientation and after-fitting care, recognises visible disorders of the ear that require medical referral, and sells hearing aids, accessories, and services within the Board’s standards of practice and conduct.
The license is Virginia’s own credential, and Virginia law is blunt about its reach: no person may practise as a Hearing Aid Specialist in Virginia without a license issued by the Board, and a license held in another state does not by itself authorise practice in Virginia. The credential is also distinct from the trainee tier beneath it: the Temporary Permit exists solely so a trainee can gain the training and experience licensure requires, under a licensed sponsor — it is the route into the credential, never the credential itself.
The examinations at a glance
| Item | Verified position |
|---|---|
| Program | Virginia Hearing Aid Specialist, the DPOR license for the practice of fitting or dealing in hearing aids in Virginia |
| Licensing body | Board for Hearing Aid Specialists and Opticians, Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR); regulations at 18VAC80-20, as amended effective December 29, 2025 |
| Examinations | Three examinations, all of which must be passed: the written examination — the International Licensing Examination for the Hearing Instrument Dispenser (ILE), as the Board’s license application states — the rules and regulations examination, and the practical examination; each section of the practical examination must be passed, and a candidate who fails one or more practical sections retakes only the sections failed |
| Passing standard | The Board publishes no numeric passing score for these examinations in 18VAC80-20-80; no pass mark is stated on this page because the Board does not publish one in that form |
| Application fee | $125 (the Board’s application fee for initial licensure under 18VAC80-20-70; the written examination fee and the practical examination fee are established separately under that section) |
| Eligibility | At least 18 years of age; high school completion or a high school equivalency course; documented training and experience covering the fourteen subjects the Board lists at 18VAC80-20-30, verified by a licensed sponsor’s statement including at least six months of experience under the Temporary Permit, by an accredited college or university transcript or other notarised documentation, or by completion of a registered apprenticeship |
| Trainee tier | Hearing Aid Specialist Temporary Permit, issued solely to gain the training and experience required for licensure, held under a licensed sponsor; a registered apprenticeship is held to be a Board-approved temporary permit |
| License term | Licenses expire two years from the license effective date under 18VAC80-20-90, as amended effective December 29, 2025; renewal by fee, with reinstatement required once renewal is more than 30 days late |
| Administrator note | PassProfessor is independent and is not affiliated with the Board for Hearing Aid Specialists and Opticians, DPOR, or the International Hearing Society (IHS) |
Not the Temporary Permit: the trainee tier candidates routinely misread
Virginia’s route confuses newcomers because the trainee document looks like a junior license. It is not. The Temporary Permit is issued for a period of 18 months under 18VAC80-20-40, as amended, and solely for the purpose of gaining the training and experience required to become a licensed Hearing Aid Specialist. The permit names a licensed sponsor, and the sponsor’s obligations are strict: the sponsor assumes full responsibility for the permit holder’s competence and proper conduct, must not assign independent field work without on-site direct supervision until the permit holder is adequately trained for it, must document the hours of direct supervision, must return the permit if the training programme is discontinued, and must not refer the permit holder for testing until the permit holder has completed at least six months of training under the permit. After 18 months the former permit holder must sit for the examination. The Board may extend a permit, at its discretion, where serious personal illness or injury, a death in the immediate family, military or Peace Corps service, or other good cause of similar magnitude has intervened. A registered apprenticeship under the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement is held to be a Board-approved temporary permit, so the apprenticeship route and the permit route meet at the same examinations.
What the examinations cover
Virginia publishes no separate examination blueprint for this license. What it publishes — at 18VAC80-20-30, and again as the sponsor’s training obligations at 18VAC80-20-40 — is the fourteen-subject training set every applicant must document, and that set is the honest map of what the examinations examine. In full, the subjects are: basic physics of sound; basic maintenance and repair of hearing aids; the anatomy and physiology of the ear; the function of hearing aids and amplification; visible disorders of the ear requiring medical referrals; practical tests utilised for selection or modification of hearing aids; audiometric testing, including pure tone audiometry, air conduction and bone conduction, speech reception threshold testing, and speech discrimination testing; masking when indicated; recording and evaluating audiograms and speech audiometry to determine the proper selection and adaptation of hearing aids; taking earmold impressions; proper earmold selection; adequate instruction in proper hearing aid orientation; the necessity of proper procedures in after-fitting checkup; and the availability of social service resources and other special resources for the hearing impaired.
The three examinations divide that territory by kind. The written examination — the International Licensing Examination for the Hearing Instrument Dispenser (ILE), as the Board’s license application states — examines the knowledge base: acoustics, ear anatomy and physiology, audiometric method, hearing aid function, and the evaluation of results. The rules and regulations examination examines Virginia’s own law of the profession: Chapter 15 of Title 54.1 of the Code of Virginia and the Board’s regulations at 18VAC80-20, which every applicant must attest, as part of the application, to have read and understood. The practical examination, administered by the Board, examines the hands-on craft — the testing, impression-taking, and fitting procedures performed to standard — and it is scored section by section: the applicant must pass each section, and a candidate who fails one or more sections retakes only the sections failed.
What makes these examinations demanding
Three features make the Virginia set harder than a single written paper. First, the candidate must pass all three examinations — knowledge, state law, and demonstrated craft — and strength in one does not offset weakness in another. Second, the clock in 18VAC80-20-80 is unforgiving: a candidate who has not passed all examinations within two years from the date the Board finds the candidate eligible must reapply as a new applicant and repeat all examinations, so a slow sequence of single attempts can consume the eligibility period itself. Third, the practical tests performed skill under observation, section by section; audiometric technique, masking judgement, and earmold work that a candidate can describe in prose can still fail when the Board watches it done.
The route, in order
The route runs: meet the basic qualifications — at least 18 years of age and high school completion or a high school equivalency course — gain the required training and experience, most commonly under a Temporary Permit with a licensed sponsor, or through a registered apprenticeship, or through accredited coursework documented by transcript — submit the complete application and the $125 application fee, with the supporting documentation the application requests, including the required disclosures on criminal convictions and on licensure and discipline elsewhere, and the signed statement that the applicant has read and understands Chapter 15 of Title 54.1 and 18VAC80-20 — be found eligible, and be contacted to schedule the examinations — pass the written examination, the rules and regulations examination, and every section of the practical examination inside the two-year eligibility period — and receive the license. There is no practice in Virginia on an out-of-state license: a specialist licensed elsewhere still completes the Virginia application and may be exempted from all or part of the examinations. Licensure by endorsement, at 18VAC80-20-50, requires the applicant to show that the other license’s requirements are substantially equivalent to Virginia’s and to complete the examination sections the Board specifies — and an applicant who demonstrates active engagement in the profession for the preceding five years will only be required to take the rules and regulations examination. Military training is creditable where substantially equivalent, with partial credit for the portions that are.
Two exemptions belong in this route, stated exactly as the Board publishes them. Virginia-licensed audiologists who earned a doctoral degree in audiology are not required to pass an examination for this license, and certain physicians certified in otolaryngology are likewise exam-exempt, as the Board’s application materials state; other licensed audiologists are exempt from certain portions of the examination, and the Board directs licensed audiologists to contact the Board office to determine which sections they must take. Those exemptions are the Board’s, on the Board’s terms; the standard route for every other applicant is the full three-examination set.
Staying licensed: renewal and the working credential
Under 18VAC80-20-90, as amended effective December 29, 2025, the license expires two years from its effective date. The Board sends a renewal notice, but failure to receive it does not relieve the licensee of the obligation to renew by returning the renewal fee before expiry. A licensee who has not renewed within 30 days after expiry must apply for reinstatement instead; two years after the expiration date, reinstatement is no longer possible, and the former licensee must apply as a new applicant, meeting all requirements in the regulations then in force. A reinstated licensee is regarded as having been continually licensed, and remains under the Board’s disciplinary authority throughout. The working obligations run alongside the calendar: the license must be visibly displayed at each physical site of employment, licensees must operate under the name in which the license is issued, and the Board must be notified in writing within 30 days of any change of name, address, or email address. Practice after expiry is prohibited.
What the PassProfessor program will cover
Built to Virginia’s published subject set, examination by examination. The program is organised on the three examinations as the Board structures them — the written examination’s knowledge base, the rules and regulations examination’s Virginia law, and the practical examination’s performed craft — worked against the fourteen subjects at 18VAC80-20-30: acoustics and ear anatomy, audiometric testing and masking, audiogram evaluation, hearing aid function and repair, earmold impressions and selection, orientation and after-fitting care, and medical-referral recognition.
The route, taught as part of the subject. Virginia candidates lose time in the machinery around the examinations: the sponsor relationship and its six-month referral floor, the 18-month permit period, the two-year window to pass all examinations from the eligibility date, and the endorsement route for experienced out-of-state licensees. The program teaches the route as the Board publishes it, so application, permit, and sittings are planned as one sequence.
Independence, stated plainly. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the Board for Hearing Aid Specialists and Opticians, the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, or the International Hearing Society. Completing this program confers no license and satisfies no training, permit, or examination requirement; the Board alone licenses, and candidates apply, train, and test through the Board.
Tell me when enrollment opens. The Virginia Hearing Aid Specialist program is in the works as PassProfessor expands its catalog of health examination preparation, and enrollment is not yet open. Leave an email address and PassProfessor will write to you when the program is ready — and only about this program. No date is promised, because the program will open when it meets the standard described above, not before.
Frequently asked questions
Who issues the Virginia Hearing Aid Specialist license?
The Board for Hearing Aid Specialists and Opticians, in the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR), under the Hearing Aid Specialists Regulations at 18VAC80-20.
How many examinations must a Virginia applicant pass?
Three, under 18VAC80-20-80: the written examination, the rules and regulations examination, and the practical examination. The Board’s license application identifies the written examination as the International Licensing Examination for the Hearing Instrument Dispenser (ILE).
What passing score does Virginia require?
The Board publishes no numeric passing score in 18VAC80-20-80, so this page states none. What the regulation does publish is structural: each practical section must be passed, failed practical sections alone are retaken, and all examinations must be passed within two years of the eligibility date, or the candidate reapplies as a new applicant and repeats all examinations.
What is the Temporary Permit, and how long does it last?
The Temporary Permit is the trainee tier: it exists solely so the holder can gain the training and experience licensure requires, under a licensed sponsor who is responsible for the holder’s training and supervision. Under 18VAC80-20-40, as amended effective December 29, 2025, the permit is issued for a period of 18 months, and the sponsor must not refer the holder for testing until the holder has completed at least six months of training under the permit. A registered apprenticeship is held to be a Board-approved temporary permit.
What training must an applicant document?
Training and experience covering the fourteen subjects at 18VAC80-20-30 — from the physics of sound and audiometric testing to earmold impressions, hearing aid orientation, and medical-referral recognition — verified by a licensed sponsor’s statement including at least six months of experience under the Temporary Permit, by an accredited college or university transcript or other notarised documentation, or by a registered apprenticeship completion form.
Can I practise in Virginia on a license from another state?
No. Virginia law prohibits practising as a Hearing Aid Specialist in Virginia without a Virginia license. A specialist licensed elsewhere still completes the Virginia application and may be exempted from taking all or part of the examinations; under licensure by endorsement at 18VAC80-20-50, an applicant who demonstrates active engagement in the profession for the preceding five years will only be required to take the rules and regulations examination.
Are audiologists or physicians exempt from the examinations?
As the Board publishes it: Virginia-licensed audiologists who earned a doctoral degree in audiology are not required to pass an examination for this license, and certain physicians certified in otolaryngology are likewise exam-exempt. Other licensed audiologists are exempt from certain portions of the examination, and the Board directs them to contact the Board office to determine which sections they must take.
How much is the application fee?
$125 for initial licensure under 18VAC80-20-70, payable to the Board with the application. The same section sets a $125 temporary permit fee, a $125 renewal fee, and a $125 reinstatement fee; the written examination fee and the practical examination fee are established separately under that section.
How long does the license last, and how is it renewed?
Two years from the license effective date, under 18VAC80-20-90 as amended effective December 29, 2025. Renewal is by fee before expiry; a licensee more than 30 days late must apply for reinstatement, and two years after expiry reinstatement is no longer possible and the former licensee applies again as a new applicant.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with the Board or DPOR?
No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the Board for Hearing Aid Specialists and Opticians, DPOR, or the International Hearing Society. The Board alone issues the license.
When does enrollment open?
The program is in the works and enrollment is not yet open. Leave an email address on this page and PassProfessor will write to you when the program is ready — and only about this program.