Health care professional trained outside the EU or EEA
Only persons duly legalised by the Finnish Supervisory Agency are allowed to perform the duties of legalised health care professionals. The Finnish Supervisory Agency grants the right to practise a social welfare and health care profession, as well as the right to use a protected professional title, on application to persons trained in Finland and abroad.
Applying for the right to practise
Fill in the application form (pdf).Send your application with the documents listed below by post to the Finnish Supervisory Agency. Submitting all the relevant documents with your application will speed up the application process. The processing period is calculated from the time when the Finnish Supervisory Agency has received all the required documents and reports. Please do not send your application or documents by email. This will slow down the processing of your application.
The processing of an application in the Finnish Supervisory Agency is subject to a fee. By submitting an application, you agree to the fees. Please check the prices at the bottom of the page under Fees.
Send your completed application and documents by post to:
Finnish Supervisory Agency
P.O. BOX 20
13035 LVV
Courier mail (e.g. DHL or Fedex) is submitted to:
Finnish Supervisory Agency
Wähäjärvenkatu 6
FI-13100 Hämeenlinna, Finland
Requirements for documents
Submit documents issued outside the EU or EEA as officially certified copies by post to the Finnish Supervisory Agency. For documents issued in Finland or another EU or EEA country, a standard copy is sufficient. Copies can be officially certified by a notary public in Finland or in another EU or EEA Member State, or by Finnish missions 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 the Finnish Supervisory Agency the copies that bear the original stamp and signature of the notary public or Finnish mission by post. The Finnish Supervisory Agency may request further clarifications if necessary.
Please do not attach to your application any original documents that you may need later. The application documents will remain at the Finnish Supervisory Agency, and it is impossible to get them back after a decision has been made. If you request documents to be returned to you while the application process is ongoing, you must send corresponding documents that meet the formal requirements. This will significantly slow down the processing of your application.
Please attach the following documents to your application
1. Document proving identity and citizenship
- a passport or
- an identity card issued in an EU or EEA Member State or
- an alien’s passport or
- a refugee travel document
If you do not have a Finnish personal identity code, please check the Finnish Supervisory Agency website for further instructions (link).
2. Degree certificate and the contact details for your educational institution
- your degree certificate and
- the official email address and mailing address of your educational institution
Have your degree certificate legalised directly in your country of education, using either the Apostille or Grand Legalisation procedure. The procedure must prove the authenticity of the degree certificate. Please contact the foreign ministry or another relevant body in the country where you completed your training to find out how your degree certificate should be legalised in that country.
If legalisation fails, and if you have provided the contact information of your educational institution, the Finnish Supervisory Agency may check the correctness of your degree directly with the educational institution if possible. In such a case, an ordinary copy of the degree certificate is sufficient. However, this review may delay the processing of the application. Please also note that in some cases, the Finnish Supervisory Agency is unable to verify the correctness of the degree from the educational institution, in which case the only option is to legalise the degree certificate using the Apostille or Grand Legalisation procedure.
3. Degree certificate appendix
- e.g. a transcript of records or an academic transcript
4. Certificate of the right to practise the profession
- 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 the Finnish Supervisory Agency.
- 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, 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 another reliable testimonial on the matter.
The certificate of the right to practise the profession must be submitted no later than with the final legalisation application once you have completed any additional studies.
5. Consent document
- Free-form consent stating that the Finnish Supervisory Agency has your permission to submit your application documents to a Finnish educational institution for a fee-based expert opinion if necessary. When you give your consent, you agree to pay a statement fee in addition to the processing fee.
6. Certificate of sufficient language proficiency
- You can find information about the accepted certificates demonstrating sufficient proficiency in Finnish or Swedish on our website (link). These include Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificates and National Certificates of Language Proficiency. Further information about language examinations can be found on the website of the National Agency for Education.
The certificate of sufficient language proficiency must be submitted no later than with the final legalisation application once you have completed any additional studies.
The documents listed below in points 7–9 are not always mandatory. They are mandatory if it is impossible without them to determine any differences from the training required in Finland.
7. A more detailed description of the training
- A report issued by the educational institution detailing the learning outcomes, content 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 confirmation directly to the Finnish Supervisory Agency by email.
- We need sufficiently comprehensive information about your training to determine any differences from the training required in Finland.
8. Employment certificates
- Any 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.
- Please note that employment contracts are not accepted as certificates of employment.
9. Certificates of further and continuing education
- Certificates of any supplementary professional training and continuing education.
10. Translations of the documents listed in points 2 and 9
- If the original documents are not in Finnish, Swedish or English, please provide official translations as well.
- Translations must be provided by an official or authorised translator in Finland or another EU or EEA country. Authorised translators in Finland can be found through the online service of the National Agency For Education.
- The translation must be accompanied by a source document certified by the translator.
- 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 in the translation by Apostille or Grand Legalisation.
- Applying for the right to practise
- Request for further information if necessary
- Request for expert opinion if necessary
- Hearing if necessary
- Decision on any additional studies required
- Completion of any additional studies required
- Applying for the right to practise after completing additional studies
- Decision on the right to practise
Decisions on the right to practise a profession are issued in Finnish or Swedish.
The application processing period is at least 4 months. The processing period is calculated from the time when the Finnish Supervisory Agency has received all the required documents. If a request for further information needs to be sent to you, or if the Finnish Supervisory Agency has to verify your qualification, processing your application will take significantly longer.
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, the Finnish Supervisory Agency 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 for any differences in the training between countries. If differences are found between the applicant’s training and the current Finnish training, the Finnish Supervisory Agency may issue a decision that mandates you to complete additional studies.
In such a decision, the Finnish Supervisory Agency specifies the additional studies that you will need to complete to be granted a licence to practise as a professional in Finland. When you have completed the additional studies mandated by the Finnish Supervisory Agency, please read the application instructions on our website (link).
This does not apply to medical doctors and dental practitioners. If you are a medical doctor or a dental practitioner, instructions for how to apply can be found on our website.
In Finland, there are two different pharmacy professions requiring a licence to practise: pharmaceutical dispenser and pharmacist.
A pharmaceutical dispenser has completed a three-year bachelor’s degree in pharmacy. Most pharmaceutical dispensers work in pharmacies in customer service roles related to prescription and over-the-counter medicines.
A pharmacist has completed a five-year master’s degree in pharmacy. Pharmacists typically work in managerial, planning, specialist and research positions.
Please indicate for which qualification you are applying. Please also indicate if you are applying for both. Please note that if you are applying for both a pharmaceutical dispenser's and a pharmacist’s licence, you will be charged processing fees for both applications.
The processing of an application at the Finnish Supervisory Agency is subject to a fee. The fee is also charged for negative decisions, meaning cases where the right to practise is not granted. Half the application decision fee is payable if you withdraw your application. By submitting an application, you agree to the fees. An application cannot be withdrawn free of charge once its processing has begun.
Possible fees include:
- Fee for an expert opinion 200–600 euros.
- Decision mandating additional studies 520 euros.
- Legalisation after completing additional studies (if the National Supervisory Agency has issued a decision on additional studies) 870 euros.
- Legalisation without a decision mandating additional studies 1390 euros.
The total amount may consist of more than one of the payments listed above. The final payment is determined by the processing phases of the application. The invoice for the decision will be sent by post after the decision has been issued. If the Finnish Supervisory Agency requests an opinion to assess your application, a fee for the opinion will be charged in addition to the decision fee. An invoice for the opinion fee will be sent after the statement has been received by the Finnish Supervisory Agency.
Example:
Asiassa pyydetään lausuntoa, joka maksaa 200–600 euroa. Lupa- ja valvontavirasto antaa määräyksen lisäopinnoista, joka maksaa 520 euroa. Lisäopintojen suorittamisen jälkeen sinun pitää hakea lopullista ammattioikeutta, josta peritään maksu 870 euroa. Maksut ovat yhteensä 1590 euroa – 1 990 euroa.
An opinion is requested in the case, and it costs 200–600 euros. The Finnish Supervisory Agency issues an order mandating additional studies, which costs 520 euros. After completing the additional studies, you must submit your final application for the right to practise, for which a fee of 870 euros is charged. The fees total 1,590–1,990 euros.
Rights to practise that have been granted may be viewed in the public information services for social welfare and health care professionals (JulkiTerhikki and JulkiSuosikki) after the decision is issued or the registration is made. The register data is 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.
More information about the official registers of professionals underlying the public information service is available on our website (link).
The Finnish Supervisory Agency may send you any requests for further information, certificates, decisions and invoices electronically as a Suomi.fi message if you have registered for 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 email 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 a power of attorney unless specifically requested.
Contact information
E-mail: [email protected]
Telephone: +358 295 256 932 (Monday–Friday 9:00–15:00)