Social welfare professional trained in an EU or EEA Member State
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 practise by the Finnish Supervisory Agency. 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 the Finnish Supervisory Agency. The Finnish Supervisory Agency grants rights to practise and protected occupational title registrations on application, also on the basis of degrees completed abroad.
Applying for the right to practise
Submit your application and attach appendices through our online service, if you are able to use strong identification. You can identify yourself using online banking credentials, a mobile certificate or an organisation card. Processing an application via online service is the fastest and most cost-effective for you.
On your first visit, you will need to set up an account that you can also log in to later. You must activate the account via a link that will be sent to you by e-mail.
Once you have entered your language preference and contact details in the online service, you will be able to fill out the application. When you send your application, you will receive a confirmation by e-mail to the address you gave. If you give your consent to being notified electronically, the decision or certificate will be sent in your online account, not mailed to your home. For more on how to use our online service, please visit our website.
You can send the application (pdf) and the documents listed below to the Finnish Supervisory Agency by post. The processing period is calculated from the date when the Finnish Supervisory Agency receives all the required documents. However, if you use post instead of the online service, even if you could use online service, your application processing fee will be increased by 20%.
Send your completed application and appendices by e-mail to: kirjaamo(at)lvv.fi.
Please note that e-mail is not recommended for sending confidential information. You can send a secure e-mail via the Finnish Supervisory Agency secure message service. See our website for further information on how to deliver material to the Finnish Supervisory Agency by e-mail.
Or send your completed application with attachments by post to:
Finnish Supervisory Agency
P.O. BOX 20
13035 LVV
Courier mail (e.g. DHL or Fedex) is to be sent to:
Finnish Supervisory Agency
Wähäjärvenkatu 6
FI-13100 Hämeenlinna, Finland
Append copies of the following documents to your application
1. Document verifying your identity and nationality
- passport or
Attach a copy of the double-page spread in the passport containing personal data. (page showing personal data and a photo). - ID card issued in an EU/EEA Member State or
Attach a copy of both sides of the ID card. - alien's passport or
Attach a copy of the double-page spread in the alien’s passport containing personal data.
Also attach a separate copy of 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.) - refugee travel document
Attach a copy of 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 with appendices
- e.g. diploma supplement or academic transcript
3. 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 Current Professional Status).
- This certificate must be no more than three months old when received.
- You must submit such a certificate from every country where you have been legalised to practise your profession.
- If you have practised the profession in a country that does not register these professionals, please provide a certificate from the competent authority of the above-mentioned country stating that the country does not register these professionals or another reliable account of the matter.
- The Finnish Supervisory Agency can check the information directly with the competent authorities of EU and EEA Member States, in which case you do not need to submit this document. The review may delay the processing of the application. If the Finnish Supervisory Agency does not receive information from the competent authority, you must provide the relevant certificate yourself.
The certificate of the right to practise the profession must be submitted at the latest in connection with the final application for legalisation once you have completed any required compensatory measures.
4. Consent document
- Freeform consent stating that the Finnish Supervisory Agency has your permission to submit your application documents to a Finnish educational institution for an expert opinion if necessary, which is subject to a fee charged to you. By giving your consent, you agree to pay a statement fee in addition to the processing fee.
The following documents mentioned in points 5-7 are not necessarily mandatory. They are mandatory if, without them, it is not possible to establish any significant differences with regard to the education required in Finland.
5. Detailed description of the education
- A 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 to the Finnish Supervisory Agency by e-mail (contact details below).
- We need sufficiently comprehensive information about the education to establish any significant differences between the education required in Finland.
6. 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 must state at least your job title, duties and the duration of your employment.
- Please note that employment contracts are not accepted as employment certificates.
7. Certificates of any supplementary training and continuing education
- Certificates of any supplementary professional training and continuing education.
8. Translations of the documents listed in points 2-7
- If the original documents are not in Finnish, Swedish or English, please also provide official translations.
- The translations must have been produced by an official or authorised translator in Finland or in another EU/EEA Member State. Authorised translators in Finland can be found through the online service of the Finnish National Agency for Education.
- The translations must be accompanied by the document in the original language certified by the translator.
- An official translator outside the EU/EEA may be acceptable if the translator’s status is confirmed in the translation with an Apostille or Grand Legalisation.
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.
The Finnish Supervisory Agency may request additional clarifications if necessary. Please do not attach any original documents that you may need later to your application. The application documents will remain in the Finnish Supervisory Agency 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 before a decision is made, we can return them. In this case, you must provide corresponding copies of the documents. However, this will slow down the processing of your application.
- Applying for the right to practise
- Request for further information if necessary
- Request for comments if necessary
- Hearing if necessary
- Conditional decision of recognition of professional qualification or decision on right to practise
- Completing compensatory measures, if any
- Decision on the right to practise
Within 30 days of receiving the application, the Finnish Supervisory Agency will ask the applicant to submit any missing documents.
Applications submitted by citizens of EU/EEA Member States who have completed their degree in an EU/EEA Member State other than Finland will be resolved by the Finnish Supervisory Agency within 3 months of receiving all the documents required for the application.
The Finnish Supervisory Agency may also grant the right to practise as a social worker or ‘sosionomi’ (Bachelor of Social Services) 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 Finnish National Agency for Education dealt with applications for recognition of professional qualification in social services. The decisions made up until then by the Finnish National Agency for Education remain valid and may be relevant for the processing of an application for the right to practise by the Finnish Supervisory Agency. 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 Finnish National Agency for Education only if you are applying for the same right to practise to which the Finnish 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 the Finnish Supervisory Agency. Having a decision of equivalent qualification will have no bearing on the processing at the Finnish Supervisory Agency of your application for the right to practise.
Decision of conditional recognition of professional qualification by the Finnish 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 Finnish 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 the Finnish Supervisory Agency for the right to practise. Append to your application copies of the decision from the Finnish National Agency for Education and the 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 Finnish 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 Finnish 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 the Finnish Supervisory Agency for legalisation in social welfare on the basis of the decision of the Finnish National Agency for Education. You must apply for the same right to practise that the decision of the Finnish National Agency for Education concerns. If your decision is for the professional qualification of social advisor, you must apply to the Finnish Supervisory Agency for the right to practise as a ‘sosionomi’..
Append to your application a copy of the decision from the Finnish 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 the Finnish Supervisory Agency. In order to use the protected occupational title of practical nurse in Åland, you must apply for the right to practise as a practical nurse. The Finnish Supervisory Agency also 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 on the basis of decisions made by the Government of Åland before 2021.
You may apply to the Finnish Supervisory Agency 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 your decision from the Government of Åland to your application for the right to practise.
If there are significant differences between the social welfare education that the applicant has received abroad or healthcare education received in an EU or EEA Member State and the education in Finland, the Finnish Supervisory Agency will issue a certificate of conditional recognition of professional qualification. The certificate of conditional recognition will specify the additional measures required to compensate for the significant 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.
A fee is charged 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 fees include:
- Fee for expert opinion 100–400 euros
- Decision on conditional recognition 1470 euros
- Legalisation after an adaptation period or aptitude test 370 euros
- Legalisation on the basis of a recognition decision by the Finnish National Agency for Education 250 euros
- Legalisation of a professional or registration of protected occupational title 1470 euros
If you have the option of using the online service to apply for professional rights, it will be the most cost-effective for you. If you use another application channel anyway, your application processing fee will be increased by 20%.
The decision on the right to practise a profession will be issued in Finnish or Swedish. The invoice will be sent after the decision. If the Finnish Supervisory Agency has requested an expert opinion, the invoice for the fee for expert opinion will be sent to you after the Finnish Supervisory Agency receives that opinion.
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 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. An example of such a right is the registration for an 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 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 attorney to act on their behalf in the matter of their application. In this case, the agent or attorney 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. 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)
Application documents to the address: [email protected]