Valvira, The National Supervising Authority for Welfare and Health

Physical address:

Lintulahdenkatu 10
00530 Helsinki, Finland
Tel. +358 295 20911
E-mail: kirjaamo(at)valvira.fi
www.valvira.fi/en

Valvira, The National Supervising Authority for Welfare and Health

P.O. Box 210

FI-00531 Helsinki, Finland

Tel. +358 295 20911

E-mail: kirjaamo(at)valvira.fi
Web: www.valvira.fi/en

Education completed inside the EU/EEA countries:
- Extract from the population register or certified copy of passport
- Degree certificate awarded by the university or other educational establishment, in original or officially certified copy
- Certified proof of licensing or registration in the country of origin
- Proof of completion of training in accordance with Directive 2005/36/EC issued by a competent authority

Education completed outside the EU/EEA countries:
The main principle is that that educational qualifications awarded outside the EU/EEA countries will be compared directly to the equivalent education provided in Finland. The comparison of qualifications will be carried out by a university or other institute of education that will issue a statement indicating whether the existing qualifications can, in principle, be upgraded to conform to Finnish standards and, if so, what additional studies should be completed by the applicant to achieve this.

Inquiries concerning the equivalence of qualifications can be made through Valvira. Alternatively, the applicant can directly contact the Finnish university or institute of education providing the appropriate training.

If you wish to have the equivalence of your qualifications determined by Valvira, please submit the following documents to Valvira. Valvira will forward the documents to a university or institute of education to request a statement on the application. The party issuing the statement may require a processing fee up to a maximum of € 336. A separate application and set of documents are required for each individual profession for which determination of equivalence is requested.

Documents required:
- Application form. The application must clearly indicate the profession to which it relates.
- Extract from the population register or officially certified copy of passport
- Officially certified copy of the diploma
- Translations of the diplomas by a certified translator into Finnish, Swedish or English
- Officially certified copies of documents indicating the studies (subjects) included in the degree including the number of lessons in the original language accompanied by official translations by a certified translator into Finnish, Swedish or English
- Officially certified copies of certificates indicating work history in the profession involved
- National Certificate of Language Proficiency in Finnish or Swedish or the Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate if the applicant is not an EU/EEA citizen

- As an applicant, you may also contact the Finnish university or institute of education providing the training for the purpose of determining the equivalence of qualifications. It is advisable to first contact the student advisor of the university or institute to find out about the application procedure and other practical arrangements. The institutes of education may test your knowledge of Finnish or Swedish, hold other examinations or impose other requirements.

Language skills

All medical or health care professionals working in Finland must be able to speak either Finnish or Swedish. Finland is officially a bilingual country and some 5% of the population speaks Swedish as their first language.

Citizens of non-EU/EEA member states need to present Valvira with an official language certificate that verifies they have satisfactory skills in Finnish or Swedish. The Finnish National Board of Education grants two kinds of National certificates of Language Prifiency and both of them are accepted by Valvira. The tests for the Certificates are quite demanding and Valvira requires that you pass with a Satisfactory grade, at least.