Decision mandating completion of additional studies

When you apply for the right to practise as a health care professional and you have completed your training in a country outside the EU/EEA, Valvira will investigate whether your training qualifies for the same profession as the corresponding Finnish training. Work experience, supplementary professional training and continuing education may be considered in the comparison and may compensate any differences in the training between countries. If differences are found between the applicant’s training and the current Finnish training, Valvira may mandate the applicant to complete additional studies.

In such a decision, Valvira specifies the additional studies that you will need to complete in order to be granted a licence to practice as a professional in Finland. This does not apply to physicians and dentists. Instructions for how to apply if you are a physician or a dentist can be found on our website.

If you are undergoing additional studies in order to gain the right to practice in a social welfare profession, please contact the customer service for rights to practise (contact details below).

How to complete the additional studies

When you wish to complete the additional studies mandated by Valvira, please directly contact an educational institution in Finland that provides the appropriate training. The educational institution will advise you how to complete the studies mandated in the decision. Please note that the educational institution may require you to apply for the right to study or to submit a certificate of language proficiency.

How to apply for the right to practise in a profession once you have completed the additional studies mandated by Valvira

Fill in the application form (pdf). Send the application and appendices to Valvira as e-mail attachments or by mail. The processing period is calculated from the time when Valvira has received all the required documents.

Send your completed application and appendices by e-mail to: [email protected].
Please note that e-mail is not recommended for sending confidential information. You can send a secure e-mail via the Valvira secure message service. Further information on how to deliver material to Valvira by e-mail can be found on our website.

OR send your completed application and appendices by mail to:
National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira)
PO Box 43
FI-00521 Helsinki

Append copies of the following documents to your application:

1. Certificate of completion of additional studies
   You must also attach the following documents if you did not already submit them:
2.  Certificate of sufficient language proficiency.
3. A certificate verifying that your right to practise the profession in question has not been restricted or revoked (e.g. Certificate of Good Standing). This certificate must be no more than three months old when received by Valvira. You must submit such a certificate from every country where you have been legalised to practise your profession. If you have practised your profession in a country where practitioners of that profession are not registered, then you need to submit an affidavit from the competent authority in that country stating that practitioners of your profession are not registered in that country, or some other reliable testimonial of the matter.
   You must submit an officially certified copy of document no. 3. Copies can be officially certified by a notary public in Finland or in another EU or EEA Member State, or by a Finnish mission in other countries. Copies issued by a notary public outside the EU/EEA and furnished with an Apostille or Grand Legalisation are also acceptable. You must submit to Valvira, by mail, the copies that bear the original stamp and signature of the notary public or Finnish mission.
4. Translation into Finnish, Swedish or English of document no. 3.
   The translations must have been produced by an authorised translator in Finland or in another EU/EEA Member State. Authorised translators in Finland can be found through the online service of the National Agency For Education. If the translator is not an official or authorised translator in an EU/EEA Member State, the translation may nevertheless be acceptable if the translator’s status is confirmed by Apostille or Grand Legalisation.

Valvira may request further explanations as necessary. Please note that Valvira will not return any documents submitted or make copies.