Social welfare professionals trained outside the EU/EEA
In order to work in Finland as a social worker, social service professional (‘sosionomi’), professional of applied gerontology (‘geronomi’) or rehabilitation councellor, you must be granted a right to practice by Valvira. In order to be allowed to use the title of practical nurse (‘lähihoitaja’) in a social welfare occupation, you must register this protected occupational title with Valvira. Valvira grants rights to practice and protected occupational title registrations on application, also on the basis of degrees completed abroad.
Applying for the right to practise
Fill in the application form (pdf). Send your application with attachments to Valvira. If you submit all the relevant documents with your application, the application process will be quicker. The processing period is calculated from the time when Valvira has received all the required documents and reports. Please do not send your application or attachments by e-mail in advance, because this will slow down the processing of your application.
The processing of an application in Valvira is subject to a fee. A fee is also charged for a withdrawn application. By submitting an application, you agree to the fees. Please check the prices at end of the instructions, under “Fees”.
Send your completed application and appendices by mail to:
National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira)
PO Box 43
FI-00521 Helsinki
You must supply officially certified copies of the documents listed below (1–6). 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 (valvira.fi). You must submit to Valvira, by mail, the copies that bear the original stamp and signature of the notary public or Finnish mission.
Please, attach the following documents to your application:
- Passport, identity card issued in an EU/EEA Member State, alien’s passport or refugee travel document (proof of your identity and nationality). Please read the instructions on our website if you do not have a Finnish personal identity number.
- Degree certificate and the official e-mail address and mailing address of your educational institution.
If you give the contact details, Valvira may verify the legitimacy of your degree. This verification may delay the processing of your application. You do not need to submit an officially certified copy if Valvira verifies your degree directly with your educational institution. If Valvira is unable to obtain the required information directly from your educational institution, you must submit your degree certificate, verified by Apostille or Grand Legalisation.
OR
Please have your original degree certificate (diploma) legalised in the country in which you completed your training, using the Apostille or Grand Legalisation procedure. This procedure must verify that your degree certificate is legitimate. Find out from the foreign ministry or other body in your country of education how to legalise your degree certificate (diploma). - Your degree certificate appendix (e.g. transcript of records, academic transcript).
- 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.
- Translations into Finnish, Swedish or English of the documents listed in points 2–4.
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 with an Apostille or Grand Legalisation. - Freeform consent stating that Valvira has your permission to submit your application documents to a Finnish educational institution for an expert opinion if necessary.
The appendices listed below in points 7–9 are not necessarily mandatory, but they are recommended, because they may be required for obtaining an expert opinion. In order to evaluate an application, information regarding the completed education is needed. This information needs to be comprehensive enough to allow determining the possible differences between the completed education and the education required in Finland. - Report issued by the educational institution detailing the learning outcomes, contents and scope in hours of the units included in your degree and the operating environments in which you completed your practical training and your duties therein.
If the educational institution supplies a general study programme to provide this information, the institution must separately confirm that you have completed the units required. The educational institution may deliver the report directly to Valvira by e-mail. It is in your interests to supply information on your training in as much detail as possible, because Valvira will compare the content of your training to the corresponding training given in Finland. - Employment certificates for work in the profession following completion of your training. Employment certificates must have been issued by your employer, and they must state at least your job title, your job duties and the duration of your employment.
- A certificate of any supplementary professional training and continuing education.
- Translations into Finnish, Swedish or English of all the aforementioned documents.
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 with an Apostille or Grand Legalisation.
Valvira may request further clarifications if necessary. The application documents will remain in Valvira, and it is not possible to get them back after a decision has been made. If you request for documents to be returned to you while the application process is ongoing, you must send in replacing documents that meet the formal requirements. This will significantly slow down the processing of your application.
Valvira may request you to submit a certificate of sufficient language proficiency in Finnish or Swedish when you apply for your final right to practise. Please visit our website for further information on how to demonstrate language proficiency.
- Applying for the right to practise
- Request for further information if necessary
- Request for expert opinion if necessary
- Hearing
- Conditional decision(s)
- Completing additional measures, if any
- Decision on the right to practise
In most cases, the processing period will be at least 4 months. The processing period is calculated from the time when Valvira has received all the required documents. If Valvira has to send you a request for further information or if Valvira has to verify your qualification, then processing your application will take significantly longer.
If there are significant differences between the education that the applicant has received abroad and the education in Finland, Valvira will issue a certificate of conditional recognition of professional qualifications. In social care this can be issued for all qualifications completed abroad and in health care for qualifications received in another EU or EEA country. The certificate of conditional recognition will specify the additional measures required to compensate for the differences. Additional measures include an aptitude test and an adaptation period. The applicant cannot be licensed to practise their profession until the additional measure specified has been acceptably completed. The applicant will need to reapply for a licence once they have completed the additional measure.
Valvira may grant the right to practise as a social worker or ‘sosionomi’ (Bachelor of Social Services) also on the basis of a decision by the Finnish National Agency for Education. Before the entry into force of the Act on Social Welfare Professionals in 2016, the National Agency for Education dealt with applications for recognition of professional qualification in social services. The decisions made up until then by the National Agency for Education remain valid and may be relevant for the processing of an application for the right to practise by Valvira. This depends on the type of decision made by the National Agency for Education.
Your application may be processed on the basis of a decision by the National Agency for Education only if you are applying for the same right to practise to which the National Agency for Education originally equated your professional qualification. Having a decision of conditional recognition of professional qualification or a decision of recognition of professional qualification from the National Agency for Education will expedite your application process at Valvira. Having a decision of equivalent qualification will have no bearing on the processing at Valvira of your application for the right to practise.
Decision of conditional recognition of professional qualification by the National Agency for Education
A decision of conditional recognition of professional qualification means that you must improve your competence by undergoing an adaptation period, taking an aptitude test or completing further studies. Under such a decision by the National Agency for Education, you may be granted the right to practise as a social worker or social advisor once you have improved your competence by undergoing an adaptation period, taking an aptitude test or completing further studies. Under current legislation, the right to practise as a social advisor is equal to the right to practise as a ‘sosionomi’.
Once you have acceptably completed the adaptation period, aptitude test or additional studies, you may apply to Valvira for the right to practise. Append to your application copies of a document verifying your identity and nationality, your decision from the National Agency for Education and your certificate of completing the additional measures required. You do not need to append your training or employment certificates to this application.
How to complete the additional measures
During the adaptation period, the applicant works under the guidance and supervision of another professional. Find yourself a job for the adaptation period consistent with the decision of the National Agency for Education and enter an agreement with the employer to complete the adaptation period as required. Further information on completing the adaptation period can be found on our website. The supervisor of your adaptation period will issue a statement confirming that you have acceptably completed the adaptation period.
If your qualification has been deemed equivalent to the professional qualification of a social worker and you wish to complete an aptitude test or further studies, please contact Sosnet, the Finnish National University Network for Social Work. If your qualification has been deemed equivalent to the professional qualification of a social advisor and you wish to complete an aptitude test or further studies, please contact any Finnish university of applied sciences that has a ‘sosionomi’ (Bachelor of Social Services) programme. The educational institution in question will issue a certificate on acceptable completion of your aptitude test or further studies.
Decision of recognition of professional qualification
A decision of recognition of professional qualification by the National Agency for Education means that due to the qualification you have – plus any aptitude test, adaptation period or further studies you may have completed – you are eligible for the professional qualification of a social worker or social advisor.
You may apply directly to Valvira for legalisation in social welfare on the basis of the decision of the National Agency for Education. You must apply for the same right to practise that the decision of the National Agency for Education concerns. If your decision is for the professional qualification of social advisor, you must apply to Valvira for the right to practise as a ‘sosionomi’.
Append to your application copies of a document verifying your identity and nationality and your decision from the National Agency for Education. You do not need to append your training or employment certificates to this application.
In order to work in Åland as a social worker or ‘sosionomi’ (Bachelor of Social Services), you must be granted a right to practise by Valvira. In order to use the protected occupational title of practical nurse in Åland, you must apply to Valvira for the right to practise as a practical nurse. Valvira grants the right to practise as a social worker or as a ‘sosionomi’ and the right to use the protected occupational title of practical nurse also on the basis of decisions made by the Government of Åland before 2021.
You may apply to Valvira for the right to practise in social welfare or for the right to use the aforementioned occupational title on the basis of a decision by the Government of Åland IF the Government of Åland, in that decision, equated your qualification completed abroad to:
- the training of a Finnish social worker, or
- the training of a Finnish ‘sosionomi’ (Bachelor of Social Services), or
- the qualification of a Finnish practical nurse.
Your application may be processed on the basis of a decision by the Government of Åland only if you are applying for the same right to practise to which the Government of Åland originally equated your professional qualification. Under current legislation, the right to practise as a social advisor is equal to the right to practise as a ‘sosionomi’.
Append to your application for the right to practise a copy of the decision issued by the Government of Åland.
Valvira charges a fee for every decision concerning licences to practise a profession, including when an application is denied. Half the processing fee is payable if you withdraw your application.
Types of fee include:
- Fee for expert opinion EUR 200–600
- Decision on conditional recognition EUR 2500
- Legalisation after an adaptation period or aptitude test EUR 830
- Legalisation on the basis of a recognition decision by the National Agency for Education EUR 420
- Legalisation EUR 3330
The decision on the right to practise a profession will be issued in Finnish or Swedish. The invoice will be sent separately by post after the decision. If Valvira has requested an expert statement, the invoice for the statement fee will be sent to you after Valvira receives that statement.
You will find the information on the rights to practise granted to you in JulkiTerhikki or JulkiSuosikki.
Rights to practise granted may be viewed in the public information services for social welfare and health care professionals (JulkiSuosikki and JulkiTerhikki, respectively) after the decision is issued or the registration is made. The register data are updated once a day.
A right to practise granted for a fixed term will be visible in the public information service only while it is valid, as with the registration for an adaptation period.
Valvira may send you any requests for further information, certificates and decisions electronically as a Suomi.fi message if you have registered in that service. Suomi.fi messages may only be used for matters that are currently pending. You may register for Suomi.fi messages at the suomi.fi website or by downloading the Suomi.fi mobile app.
In application matters, we will only deal with the applicants themselves. However, an applicant may authorise an agent or an assistant to act on their behalf in the matter of their application. In this case, the agent or assistant must present a power of attorney authorising them to act for the applicant. The power of attorney may be an e-mail or physical document sent by the applicant, stating that the applicant authorises the person in question to act for them in the matter of the application. However, attorneys-at-law and public legal aid attorneys do not need to present said document unless specifically requested.