The $85 USD covers the cost of a personalized review of your application by a member of the Credentialing Team. This is a one-time, nonrefundable fee. The application fee does not include the annual membership dues of $65 USD.

Applications are diligently reviewed on a rolling basis by our Credentialing Team. Please allow up to 3-4 weeks after submitting your payment.

If you do not already hold an RYT credential with Yoga Alliance, and your ETP application is approved for the E-RYT 500 credential, you have 365 days to register as an E-RYT 500. After 365 days, the data will be erased and you will need to restart the application and pay the application fee again.

A Pathway of Study is a dedicated, integrated focus of study from a singular school, style, or tradition of yoga.

Documentation of Training includes one Official Training Document, or multiple forms of Other Documentation that include all information required of the Official Training Document (see definition below).

Please see a sample Yoga-related resume here.

Please see a sample Letter of Intent here.

An Official Training Document can be a certificate, diploma, or signed letter that includes the following information:

• Name* of the trainee
• Hand signed by an authorized signatory for the school
• Printed legal name of the signatory
• Training completion date (day/month/year)
• Number of training hours in the program
• Program pathway or style of training
• Training location in English characters

*If the trainee’s name has changed, provide documentation of proof of name change.

Please consider if the documentation you provide answers the following questions:

• What You Learned: Consider what topics you covered, the lineage or pathway of study, and how this advanced your knowledge.
• Time and Length of Training: Specific dates and hours of study.
• Confirmation of Receipt: Any documentation that confirms you were registered in the program.

If you are able to provide sufficient Other Documentation that addresses the requirements for an Official Training document, you may still apply!

Not without documentation. In order to approve your application and confirm you meet the requirements; you will need to provide us with a way to verify your experience.

In several places throughout the application, you will be asked to provide a brief description of your teaching and training experience. Please provide 3-5 sentences that outlines or summarizes your experience. Please note that your responses will determine whether your application is approved or declined.

The definition of "the advancement of knowledge" as put forth by our Standards team states that a training "builds upon and deepens the trainee’s understanding of the fundamental concepts of the practice and teaching of yoga…[and] prepares its trainees to teach principles and techniques of yoga that are more advanced, more detailed, and/or subtler."

In order to approve your application and confirm you meet the requirements, you will need to provide us with a way to verify your experience.

Yes, you will be alerted via email when all 3 of your references have responded. You may also check your dashboard by logging into www.yogaalliance.org to see the individual status of each reference.

If you need to make edits to your application after submission, please reach out to us at credentialingteam@yogaalliance.org.

We will be asking your references questions relative to your yoga and yoga teaching skills, ethics, ability, and experience.

Once your application has been completed, your references will be notified via email. We will send reminder emails to both you and your references during the 30-day window. You will have the opportunity to view the status of your references’ submission status and make changes if needed within your Dashboard. Please email credentialingteam@yogaalliance.org or visit our Help Center if you have any questions.

The reference questionnaire may take between 20 and 30 minutes. Please also note they will need access to internet, phone, and ability to receive all notifications coming via email.

All reference responses are confidential. While we cannot keep your references from disclosing their responses to you, Yoga Alliance will not share their submissions with you.

No. Those who meet the Experienced Teacher Pathway qualifications will have experience with all three references: a student, colleague, and teacher. In order to approve your application and confirm you meet the requirements; you will need to provide us with these required reference types.

Yes, your E-RYT 500 is the requirement to be a Lead Trainer in RYS 200, 300, and 500 trainings! Please see specific requirements for Lead Trainers of RCYS and RPYS here.

Yes. This pathway is to create space for teachers who have previously been left out of E-RYT 500 registration opportunities. In some cases, this includes teachers that may already be registered with YA at another level of teaching credential. All applications will be individually assessed based on the ETP application requirements. We encourage applicants to provide as much information as possible about their qualifications and experience.