Practical nurse trained outside the EU or EEA
The Finnish Supervisory Agency 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, only persons granted the right to use a protected occupational title by the Finnish Supervisory Agency may use that title.
The Finnish Supervisory Agency registers practical nurses in the central registers of social welfare and health care professionals (Terhikki and Suosikki). 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 a profession
Fill in the application form (pdf). Please indicate on the form whether you are applying for registration in the central register of social welfare professionals or the central register of health care professionals or both.
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 attachments 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 any original documents that you may need later to your application. 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
Attach the double-page spread in the passport containing personal data. (page showing personal data and a photo). - an identity card issued in an EU or EEA Member State or
Attach both sides of the ID card. - an alien’s passport or
Attach the double-page spread in the alien’s passport containing personal data.
Also attach the Additional entries page, which shows any special conditions and restrictions.
(Note: the alien’s passport contains the holder’s personal data and additional entries on different pages.) - a refugee travel document
Attach the double-page spread in the refugee travel document containing personal data.
Please note that only the above-mentioned documents are accepted as proof of identity.
For example, a residence permit card or a driving licence cannot be used as proof an identity in this application.
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. transcript of records or 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 or compensatory measures required (an adaptation period or an aptitude test).
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. 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 or compensatory measures required (an adaptation period or an aptitude test).
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.
- Application for the right to practise
- Request for further information if necessary
- Request for expert opinion if necessary
- Hearing if necessary
- Decision mandating additional studies or decision on conditional recognition
- Completion of additional studies or compensatory measures
- Application for the right to practise after completing additional studies or compensatory measures
- Decision on the right to practise the profession
The processing period for an application 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. Where necessary, the Finnish Supervisory Agency may request an expert opinion on your professional qualifications, which is subject to a fee payable by the applicant. 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 on the completion of additional studies or a conditional recognition decision requiring the applicant to complete an adaptation period or an aptitude test.
In such a decision, the Finnish Supervisory Agency specifies the additional studies or compensatory measures that you will need to complete to be granted a licence to practise as a professional in Finland. If you have completed the additional studies mandated by the Finnish Supervisory Agency, please read the application instructions on our website. When you have completed the compensatory measures mandated by the Finnish Supervisory Agency, please read the application instructions on our website.
The Finnish Supervisory Agency charges a fee for every decision concerning rights 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 fees are lower if you apply for the right to use a protected occupational title in health care or the right to use a protected occupational title in both health care and social welfare. The fees are higher if you only apply for the right to use a protected occupational title in social welfare.
Types of fees for registering to the central registry of health care professionals:
- Fee for an expert opinion 200–600 euros.
- Decision mandating additional studies 520 euros.
- Right to use a protected occupational title after completing additional studies 870 euros.
- Right to use a protected occupational title 1390 euros.
Types of fees for registering with the central registry of social welfare professionals:
- Fee for an expert opinion 200–600 euros.
- Decision on conditional recognition 2500 euros.
- Right to use a protected occupational title after completing compensatory measures 830 euros.
- Right to use a protected occupational title 3330 euros.
The decision on the right to practise a profession is issued in Finnish or Swedish. The invoice for the decision will be sent by post after the decision has been issued. If the Finnish Supervisory Agency has requested an expert statement, an invoice for the statement fee will be sent after the Finnish Supervisory Agency has received the statement.
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. This includes rights such as the registration of the adaptation period.
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 9:00–11:00 and 12:00–14:00)