In this paper, we deal with the approximate controllability for semi-linear retarded functional integro-differential equations by using the Fredholm theory in Hilbert spaces. We no longer require the compactness of structural operators to obtain the approximate controllability for the nonlinear differential system, but instead we use the theory of interpolation spaces and the regularity of solutions of semi-linear given equations with unbounded principal operators. Finally, based on the properties of general degree theory in infinite dimensional spaces, we investigate the relation between the reachable set of trajectories of the semi-linear retarded functional integro-differential system and that of its corresponding linear system excluded by the nonlinear term.