Instructions

Application

Recognition of professional qualifications may be awarded to a citizen of an EU or EEA Member State, or a person of comparable status, having completed their training in another EU or EEA Member State than Finland. If you wish to work as a paramedic in Finland based on foreign education, you must apply recognition of professional qualifications.

Application form (pdf in Finnish)

Application form (pdf in Swedish)

You may also submit a freeform application indicating in what you are applying for. Also include your name and your contact details for managing the matter.
If you wish to apply for the right to practise in more than one profession, you must submit a separate application for each of them.

Application attachments

1. Document certifying your identity and nationality (passport or identity card)
2. Degree certificate with appendices (e.g. diploma supplement, academic transcript).
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Certificate of supplementary professional training and continuing education.
6. Certificate, no more than three months old, verifying that your right to practise the profession in question has not been restricted or revoked, such as a Certificate of Current Professional Status. If you have been granted the right to practise your profession in several countries, you must submit this certificate for each country.
7. Translations into Finnish, Swedish or English of all the aforementioned documents. The translations must have been made by an authorised translator in Finland or in another EU or EEA Member State. Authorised translators in Finland.
8. Freeform consent stating that Valvira has your permission to submit your application documents to a Finnish educational institution for an expert opinion if necessary. A fee will be charged from you if this is done.

Valvira may request further explanations as necessary. Please note that Valvira will not return any documents submitted, and Valvira will not make copies of any documents.

You can submit uncertified copies of your attachment documents when you file your application. However, Valvira may later require you to submit officially certified copies of those attachment documents.

If Valvira does require officially certified copies, you can obtain those from a notary public in Finland or in another EU or EEA Member State, or from a Finnish mission in other countries. You may also submit copies issued by a foreign authority and verified using the Apostille or Grand Legalisation procedure. Send to Valvira the copies that bear the original stamp and signature of the notary public or Finnish mission.

Further information on notaries public

Processing period

The average processing period for applications is 4 months. The processing period is calculated from the time when Valvira has received all the required documents.

Decision

A fee is charged for every decision concerning professional rights, even if decision is a negative one. If you cancel your application, you will be charged half of the application processing fee.
Types of fee include:

• Evaluation of your education done by a Finnish institute of education (qualification in an EU/EEA country)
• Recognition of professional qualifications
• Evaluation of your education done by a Finnish institute of education (qualification in an EU/EEA country)
• Conditional decision with specific compensation measures
• Decision after completion of specific compensation measures

The decision will be issued in Finnish or Swedish. The invoice will be sent separately by post after the decision.