Provisional degree certificate and automatic recognition system in the EU/EEA

You may apply for legalisation as a medical doctor or a dentist on a provisional degree certificate in the automatic recognition system only if your certificate shows that you have met the minimum training requirements.

If you apply for legalisation as a medical doctor or a dentist on a provisional degree certificate, this may be granted to you via automatic recognition only if you fulfill one of the following conditions:

1. the document issued for your training and any appendices are listed in the relevant Annex to the Professional Qualifications Directive, or
2. you attach to your application a certificate from a competent authority (a ‘directive certificate’) showing that your training satisfies the EU minimum requirements and is equivalent to a degree listed in the relevant Annex to the Professional Qualifications Directive.

You must submit these documents to Valvira separately for each application.

Attach a certificate of compliance with EU requirements to your application

If you are applying for legislation on a provisional degree certificate that is not listed in the relevant Annex to the Professional Qualifications Directive, under point 2 you must attach a certificate issued by the competent authority in the country of training affirming that your provisional degree certificate meets the minimum requirements of the Professional Qualifications Directive. Valvira may also independently request information on compliance with the Directive from the competent authority of another Member State. However, in Valvira’s experience not all competent authorities make active use of the information exchange system. It is therefore possible that Valvira will not be able to verify the compliance of your training with the Directive directly with the competent authority of another Member State.

Processing your application if confirmation is not obtained

If you apply for legalisation on a provisional degree certificate and Valvira does not receive confirmation from the competent authority that your qualification complies with the minimum requirements of the Professional Qualifications Directive, your application may be processed under the general recognition system or on the basis of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). In this case, your training will be compared to the corresponding Finnish training. If necessary, Valvira may request a statement from a Finnish university to support its decision-making. You will be charged a fee for such a statement. Valvira requires your consent for requesting an expert statement for which you will be charged a fee. In this case, the processing time will be longer than if your application were processed through the automatic recognition system.

New decision-making practice enters into force on 1 Jan 2026

Provisional degree certificates are granted for instance in Romania, Spain and Italy. In the past, Valvira has granted legislation as a medical doctor or a dentist on a provisional degree certificate through the automatic recognition system even if the documents supplied by the applicant were not such that they would allow for application of the automatic recognition system. Because of this, Valvira is amending its decision-making procedure to comply with the provisions of the Act on Health Care Professionals as of 1 January 2026.