Registered nurse, pharmacist or midwife trained in an EU or EEA Member State
Only persons duly legalised by Valvira are allowed to perform the duties of legalised health care professionals. Valvira grants the right to practise the profession of registered nurse, midwife or pharmacist on application to nurses trained in Finland and abroad.
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 A fee is also charged for a withdrawn application.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)
- 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.
The appendices listed below in points 4–6 may be necessary for resolving your application. Valvira may also be able to verify the information directly with the competent authority in the relevant EU or EEA Member State, in which case 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 certificates yourself. - 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.
- Certificate issued by a competent authority stating how your professional qualifications fulfil the requirements of Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications.
- Translations into Finnish, Swedish or English of the documents listed in points 4 and 5.
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.
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. If no further information is required, it is possible that your application will be processed within 30 days. The processing period for applications is 4 months, as specified in the Act on Health Care Professionals. The processing period is laid down in the relevant EU Directive and is the same in all Member States.
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:
- Legalisation and protected title registration of a professional arriving from an EU/EEA Member State EUR 710
- Recognition of professional qualification EUR 470
- Legalisation once proof of language proficiency is received after recognition of professional qualification EUR 240
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 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 need to let Valvira know if you wish to provide services on a temporary or occasional basis in Finland. You must be a citizen of an EU/EEA Member State and legally established as a health care professional in another EU/EEA Member State. You must also have a licence to practise your profession independently or to use a protected title in another EU/EEA Member State.
According to Valvira’s policy, the pursuit of a profession is considered temporary and occasional if it takes up no more than three (3) days a month. However, whether an activity is or is not to be considered temporary and occasional in nature is always evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Please note that an activity is not considered temporary or occasional if you engage in it on a permanent or continuous basis. An activity can be deemed to be ‘established’ especially if your objective appears to be circumventing the requirements relating to establishment.
Each notification is valid for 12 months. You will need to submit a new notification if you intend to continue to pursue your profession on a temporary or occasional basis beyond the initial 12-month period or if the nature of your activity changes significantly. In such cases, you must submit the relevant documents and evidence to Valvira without delay.
If you are a nurse, a physiotherapist or a pharmacist, you can apply for a European Professional Card (EPC). If you hold a European Professional Card (EPC), you do not need to submit an advance notification as defined here, and you will therefore not need to separately submit the documents and details specified below.
The notification must contain the following information: the nature of the services, the time and place where the services will be provided, information on the service provider’s insurance coverage, or similar individual or collective professional liability cover, and a statement of language proficiency (Finnish or Swedish). See our website for further instructions.
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.