Guide

Instructions for applicants who have qualified outside the EU/EEA

In order for you to work as a licensed or authorised health care professional in Finland, Valvira must grant you a right to practice or authorise you to use a protected occupational title. You may be granted a licence to practice a profession or use a protected occupational title upon application and will also be entered in the Central Register of Health Care Professionals (known as Terhikki) upon application.

Only persons to whom Valvira has granted the right to practice may work as licensed health care professionals. The professions with protected occupational titles may also be practised by those who possess the required training, experience and professional skills and knowledge. Responsibility for fulfilment of these conditions and for the job title resides with the employer. The protected occupational title may not be used, however.

Practicing as a health care professional or using a protected occupational title without a licence in Finland is a criminal offence punishable by a fine or imprisonment.

Application

In order to practice a profession or use a protected occupational title, you must submit an application to Valvira. Your application must specify which profession or occupational title it concerns. If you are applying to be licensed for more than one profession or title, you must submit a separate application for each one.

Application for licensing / a protected occupational title (pdf)

Your application must be in Finnish, Swedish or English.The application may also be in free format.

Appendices to the application

1. A copy of your valid passport or similar official document to verify your identity and citizenship
2. A document certifying your change of name if any of your appended documents were issued under a name that is different from your current name
3. A copy of your original qualification certificate and any appendices demonstrating the content and scope of the qualification (e.g. diploma supplement or transcript of records)
4. Certificate of a licence to practice your profession issued by a competent foreign authority if you have been licensed to practice your profession in a country other than Finland. This certificate must be no more than three months old and it must indicate that the licence is valid and not subject to any restrictions. If you have been licensed to practice your profession in more than one country, you must submit the certificates from all those countries either in the original or as a copy.
5. If you cannot provide the certificate mentioned in point 4, the proof that practitioners of this profession are not registered in said country must be established by means of a certificate to that effect issued by the competent authority of the said country or a proof by other reliable means.
6. Copies of certificates of employment indicating work history in the profession after graduation
7. Translations into Finnish, Swedish or English of the aforementioned documents made by a translator certified or authorised in Finland or another EU/EEA member state. The translations may be submitted in the original or as copies.
8. Applicants who have completed their professional training related to the application or their general education in a language other than Finnish or Swedish must submit a copy of their National Certificate of Language Proficiency or Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate.

Formal requirements for application documents

All copies appended to your application must be authenticated.

Authenticated copies may be obtained from notaries public in Finland and other EU/EEA Member States and from Finnish missions abroad. The copies submitted to Valvira must bear the original stamp and signature of the notary public or Finnish mission. Copies issued by a foreign authority are acceptable if endorsed with an Apostille.

Translations of the documents into Finnish, Swedish or English must be appended to the application. The translations must be made by a translator certified or authorised in Finland or another EU/EEA Member State. The translations must be submitted either in the original bearing the translator’s original stamp and signature or as authenticated copies bearing the original stamp and signature of a notary public or a Finnish mission.

Valvira will not return your application documents and does not make copies of documents.

Further information on notaries public

Database search for authorised translators(search available only in Finnish)

Further information on Apostille

Verifying the qualification

Please have your qualification certificate or diploma authenticated using Apostille or Grand Legalisation endorsement. You may submit to Valvira an authenticated copy of your qualification certificate with Apostille or Grand Legalisation endorsement, but the endorsement must be on the original document itself.

If you are unable to submit your qualification certificate with Apostille or Grand Legalisation endorsement, Valvira will verify your qualification directly from the educational institution. Verifying the qualification will delay the processing of the application.

Grant of licence to practice or use occupational title when you have completed a qualification in a country that is not an EU/EEA Member State and an EU/EEA Member State other than Finland has recognised your qualification and granted you licence to practice or use occupational title

Licensing is subject to the condition that you have practiced the relevant profession for at least three years in the EU/EEA Member State in which you were licenced to practice or use the occupational title.

Appendices to the application

1. A copy of your valid passport or similar official document to verify your identity and citizenship
2. A document certifying your change of name if any of your appended documents were issued under a name that is different from your current name
3. A copy of your original qualification certificate and any appendices demonstrating the content and scope of the qualification (e.g. diploma supplement or transcript of records)
4. Certificate of a licence to practice your profession issued by a competent foreign authority if you have been licensed to practice your profession in a country other than Finland. This certificate must be no more than three months old and it must indicate that the licence is valid and not subject to any restrictions. If you have been licensed to practice your profession in more than one country, you must submit the certificates from all those countries in either the original or as a copy.
5. If you cannot provide the certificate mentioned in point 4, the proof that practitioners of this profession are not registered in said country must be established by means of a certificate to that effect issued by the competent authority of the said country or a proof by other reliable means.
6. Certificate issued by a competent authority verifying that your qualification complies with EU requirements either in the original or as a copy.
7. Translations into Finnish, Swedish or English of the aforementioned documents made by a translator certified or authorised in Finland or another EU/EEA member state. The translations may be submitted in the original or as copies.
8. Applicants who have completed their professional training related to the application or their general education in a language other than Finnish or Swedish must submit a copy of their National Certificate of Language Proficiency or Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate.

Language skills

As a health care professional, you must have sufficient spoken and written language skills to be able to carry out your duties. The official languages of Finland are Finnish and Swedish.

Applicants must submit with their application either their Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate or National Certificate of Language Proficiency. The Civil Service Language Proficiency Test must be passed with a level of Satisfactory or higher in all subject areas. For the National Certificate of Language Proficiency, an intermediate level (levels 3–4) or higher is required. The national certificate of language proficiency needs to include all the skill components of the test, each passed on a level of satisfactory (3-4) or higher.

Certificates of studies in the Finnish or Swedish language, e.g. language course certificates, will not be accepted as proof of language skills by themselves. For further information on language examinations and certificates, please see the website of the National Board of Education (www.oph.fi).

Evaluation of training

When necessary, Valvira may commission expert opinions in support of its decision-making. Expert opinions are subject to a fee. Training completed outside the EU/EEA is compared directly against equivalent training provided in Finland.

Processing time

The application processing time is roughly 4 months and it begins to run once Valvira has received all necessary documents.

Decision

Professional practice rights decisions are subject to a fee, and the fee will be charged also from the negative decisions. Half of the application processing fee will be charged for the cancelled application. Currently valid fees.

The decision on your licence to practice your profession will be issued in Finnish or Swedish. The invoice will be sent as a separate mail delivery.

Relevant legislation

Act on Health Care Professionals

Decree on Health Care Professionals

www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/kokoelma/2011/20110377.pdf (in Finnish only)