Practical nurse trained in an EU or EEA Member State
Valvira grants the right to use the protected occupational title of practical nurse to social welfare and health care professionals trained in Finland and abroad. Other people who have sufficient education, experience and professional skills can also be employed in a profession that has a protected occupational title. However, you must not use a protected occupational title unless you have been granted the right to do so by Valvira.
Valvira registers practical nurses in the central registers of social welfare and health care professionals (JulkiSuosikki and JulkiTerhikki, respectively). The right to use the protected occupational title of practical nurse cannot be granted based on a registered nurse’s training.
Applying for the right to practise
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.
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 A fee is also charged for a withdrawn application.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”.
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:
- Passport or ID card issued in an EU/EEA Member State (i.e. document verifying your identity and nationality). Please read the instructions on our website if you do not have a Finnish personal identity number.
- Your degree certificate with appendices (e.g. diploma supplement, academic transcript)
- A certificate verifying that your right to practise the profession in question has not been restricted or revoked (e.g. Certificate of Current Professional Status). 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. OR If you want Valvira to check your credentials directly with the competent authority, then you need to declare all the countries in which you have been granted the right to practise your profession.
Valvira may also be able to verify the information directly with the competent authority in the relevant EU or EEA Member State, and you do not need to submit these documents. This verification may delay the processing of your application. If Valvira is unable to verify the information with the competent authority, then you must submit the relevant certificate yourself.
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 2–3.
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 (oph.fi). 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.
- Certificate of sufficient language proficiency. Further information on language proficiency requirements is available on our website.
If you do not submit a certificate of language proficiency, Valvira can only recognise your professional qualifications. In order to be eligible for this, you must be a citizen of an EU or EEA Member State or a person of comparable status, and you must have completed your training in an EU or EEA Member State. Recognition of professional qualifications does not automatically entitle you to practise your profession or to use a protected occupational title in Finland. Further information on the recognition of professional qualifications.
You do not need to submit a certificate of language proficiency if you are applying for registration only as a social welfare professional. Employers are required to evaluate whether a person has sufficient language proficiency in order to perform their duties.
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 (oph.fi). 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, the processing of your application will be significantly slowed down.
- Applying for the right to practise
- Request for further information if necessary
- Request for expert opinion if necessary
- Hearing if necessary
- Recognition of professional qualification (only for health care professionals)
- Decision on conditional recognition or recognition
- Completing additional measures, if any
- Decision on the right to practise
If any documents are missing from your application that Valvira requires, Valvira will request them from you within 30 days of receiving your application. The processing period is calculated from the time when Valvira has received all the required documents. The processing period will be 3–4 months.
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. Please note that the application fees are lower if you apply to the central registry of health care professionals or when applying to both registers at the same time. The application fees are higher if you only apply to the central registry of social welfare professionals.
Types of fee for the registering to central registry of health care professionals:
- Fee for expert opinion EUR 100-400
- Decision of recognition of professional qualification EUR 470
- Protected title registration once proof of language proficiency is received after recognition of professional qualification EUR 240
- Decision of conditional recognition of professional qualification EUR 710
- Recognition of professional qualification or protected occupational title registration after an adaptation period or aptitude test or additional studies EUR 180
- Right to use a protected occupational title EUR 710
Types of fee for the registering to central registry of social welfare professionals:
- Fee for expert opinion EUR 100-400
- Decision of conditional recognition of professional qualification EUR 1470
- Protected occupational title registration after an adaptation period or aptitude test or additional studies EUR 370
- Right to use a protected occupational title EUR 1470
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.
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.
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.