Work in Poland as a foreign doctor, nurse or AHP (2026)

• NILNaczelna Izba Lekarska and regional medical chambers

  Doctors and dentists: right to practise, Polish language exam, Central Register of Doctors

  How to register with the NIL

• NIPiPNaczelna Izba Pielęgniarek i Położnych and regional chambers

  Nurses and midwives: right to practise and Central Register of Nurses and Midwives

  How to register with the NIPiP

1. 1

   1. Choose your route: full right to practise or the simplified consent

   If you are a doctor without a specialist title, or a nurse with under 3 years of recent experience, only the full route is open to you. Specialists with 3 years of specialist experience in the last 5 years, and nurses or midwives with 3 years of experience in the last 5 years, can also use the simplified route, which is faster to start but ties you to one employer and ends after 5 years. Many people start on the simplified route and work towards the full route in parallel, as the Ministry of Health describes.
2. 2

   2. Legalise or apostille your diploma and get sworn translations

   Every route needs your diploma either legalised by the Polish consul for the country where it was issued or carrying an apostille, plus a translation into Polish by a sworn translator working in Poland or another EU country. For the simplified route the Ministry of Health can waive legalisation only where it is impossible or seriously difficult, and you must prove that with evidence such as correspondence with the issuing body. Start this first, because every later step depends on it.
3. 3

   3a. Full route for doctors: pass the LEW or nostrify your diploma

   The LEW is a 200-question written test in Polish, held twice a year by CEM, with a pass mark of 60%. You apply through the CEM portal by 28 February for the spring session or 31 July for the autumn session, post the signed application with your legalised diploma and translation by 5 March or 5 August, and pay 700 zł. The alternative is nostrification at a Polish medical university, which compares your programme with its own and can require extra exams or placements.
4. 4

   4a. Full route for doctors: pass the Polish language examination

   Unless you studied medicine in Polish, you need the Polish examination run by the Supreme Medical Council (Naczelna Rada Lekarska). It has four parts: a dictation, a listening test, reading aloud and understanding a text, and a simulated history-taking and patient advice task on two medical problems. You need at least 55% in each part, the fee is 500 zł, parts you pass are kept for later attempts and you can retake after at least 6 months.
5. 5

   5a. Full route for doctors: complete or have recognised the postgraduate internship

   With the LEW and the Polish examination, the regional medical council grants a right to practise for the duration of the internship, which lasts at least 12 months and starts on 1 March or 1 October. Alternatively, the Minister of Health can recognise an internship completed abroad as equivalent in whole or in part; you apply through the director of CMKP with documents on its programme, length and completion. Doctors who worked under the simplified route for a total of 2 years in a publicly funded provider can also ask the Minister to treat that work as equivalent to the internship.
6. 6

   6a. Full route for doctors: pass the LEK and get your full right to practise

   The LEK is a 200-question test lasting 4 hours with a pass mark of 56%, held in February and September; CEM publishes each sitting date at least six months ahead. You apply through the SMK system by 30 November of the previous year for February or by 15 July for September. With the LEK passed, the regional medical council grants a right to practise without restrictions, and you can then apply to the Minister of Health, through CMKP, to have a non-EU specialist title recognised.
7. 7

   3b. Simplified route: get an employer's certificate

   A healthcare provider in Poland that wants to employ you issues a certificate naming the units where you may work, the planned period of employment and the scope of work. For doctors the scope must match your specialist title and the certificate must name a supervising doctor with a second-degree specialisation or specialist title, who will oversee your work for 1 year. The certificate can be used for 3 months from the date it is issued, so time it with your other documents.
8. 8

   4b. Simplified route: apply to the Ministry of Health for consent

   Send the signed application, your declaration that your Polish is sufficient for the scope of work, the employer's certificate, a medical certificate of fitness no more than 3 months old, declarations on legal capacity and good conduct, proof of experience, your legalised diplomas and, for doctors, proof that your specialist training matches the Polish programme. Applications go by post or in person to the Department of Medical Staff Development in Warsaw, or through e-Doręczenia, and the service is free. Documents can also be lodged through a Polish consul, who issues a visa once the Ministry sends the decision.
9. 9

   5b. Simplified route: get the right to practise from the regional chamber

   Doctors must apply to the regional medical council within 6 months of the Ministry's decision, or the council must refuse. The council grants a right to practise limited to the scope, period and place in the decision within 30 days, but only after you show a Polish certificate at level B1 or higher from the list the Minister of Health publishes. Nurses and midwives apply to the regional council of nurses and midwives on the same B1 condition and work their first year under the supervision of a nurse or midwife named by the employer.
10. 10

    6b. Simplified route: work within the limits and plan your next step

    You are employed on a fixed-term employment contract that cannot run past the end of your right to practise, and you cannot work for another provider without a further Ministry decision. The right lasts at most 5 years and cannot be extended or reissued on the same basis, so use the time to pass the LEW, the Polish examination and the LEK (doctors) or to nostrify your diploma or enrol on a Polish nursing degree (nurses and midwives). The Act lets a nursing council extend the right by up to 3 years while you study at a Polish nursing or midwifery school.

• Poland does not use IELTS, OET or any English test for licensing. The language requirement is Polish, and the level and the proof you need depend on your route and profession.
• Doctors and dentists on the full route need the Polish language examination run by the Supreme Medical Council, unless they completed their medical studies in Polish. It has four parts (dictation, listening, reading aloud with comprehension, and a simulated consultation on two medical problems), you need at least 55% in each part, and the fee is 500 zł.
• The doctors' regulation says you must be able to use correct medical terminology, read professional literature and Polish rules on medical practice, take histories and advise patients, take part in case conferences and write medical records, prescriptions and referrals correctly by hand.
• Nurses and midwives on the full route need an official certificate of Polish (urzędowe poświadczenie znajomości języka polskiego) issued under the Polish Language Act. NIPiP explains that these certificates are issued by the State Commission for the Certification of Proficiency in Polish as a Foreign Language after a paid examination; details and fees are on certyfikatpolski.pl.
• On the simplified route, doctors, nurses and midwives first sign a declaration that their Polish is sufficient for the work they will do. Since 25 October 2024 the regional chamber issues the right to practise only once you show a Polish certificate at level B1 or higher from the list the Minister of Health publishes in the Public Information Bulletin.
• The LEW is set only in Polish. The LEK is held in Polish; CEM charges 400 zł for each entry to the LEK in a foreign language, and the Act links that option to people who studied in that language at a Polish university, so check your eligibility with CEM before you plan on an English sitting.

• No separate work permit for licensed doctors and nurses

  A regulation of 20 November 2025 under the Act of 20 March 2025 on employing foreigners lets a foreigner who is legally staying in Poland work without a work permit or employer's declaration if they practise as a doctor or dentist with a right to practise under the doctors' Act, or as a nurse or midwife with a right to practise under the nurses' Act. You still need a visa or residence permit that allows you to stay.

• Entry on the simplified route

  Under both professional Acts, you can lodge your simplified-route documents through a Polish consul. The Ministry of Health sends its decision electronically to the consul, who then issues a visa unless there are grounds to refuse it. Ask the consulate which visa it will issue and what else it needs.

• Temporary residence and work permit

  For longer stays, the Act on Foreigners provides a temporary residence and work permit (zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy i pracę), applied for at the voivode's office for the region where you live. The stamp duty for this permit is 440 zł under the Stamp Duty Act.

• EU Blue Card

  The Blue Card permit for highly qualified work needs a contract of at least 6 months, the formal qualifications required for a regulated profession (for doctors and nurses, a Polish right to practise), health insurance and an annual gross salary of at least 150% of the previous year's average national salary. GUS put the 2025 average at 8,903.56 zł a month, so the threshold for 2026 applications works out at about 13,355 zł gross a month. The permit is issued for the work period plus 3 months, up to 3 years, and the stamp duty is 440 zł.

• Internship and specialist training

  A non-EU doctor can be granted a right to practise for the whole of the postgraduate internship or of specialist training, provided they meet the diploma, language and fitness conditions. Interns and residents are paid at rates set by the Minister of Health.

• EU, EEA and Swiss citizens and qualifications

  EU citizens with a diploma listed under the EU Professional Qualifications Directive get the right to practise from the regional council without the LEW or LEK, but must still show the Polish knowledge needed for the profession. Non-EU nationals with a non-EU diploma that another EU country has recognised, plus 3 years of experience there, can apply to the Minister of Health under the general recognition system. Diplomas listed for the UK before 1 January 2021 keep some of these rights.

Poland sets a statutory minimum basic salary for medical staff employed by healthcare providers. From 1 July each year it equals a coefficient in the Act multiplied by the previous year's average monthly salary in the national economy published by GUS. The figures below apply that formula to the 2025 average of 8,903.56 zł, giving the minimum gross basic monthly salary from 1 July 2026; we calculated them from the official coefficients and the GUS figure. They are floors, not typical pay: allowances, on-call duty and civil-law contracts are common, and many doctors earn more. Pay for interns and resident doctors is set separately by the Minister of Health.

Monthly amounts

• Doctor or dentist with a specialisation (coefficient 1.45)

  12,910.16 zł

  Minimum basic salary from 1 July 2026, from the Act's coefficient and the GUS 2025 average.

• Nurse or midwife with a master's degree and specialisation (1.29)

  11,485.59 zł

  Same coefficient group as pharmacists, physiotherapists and others with a master's degree and specialisation.

• Doctor or dentist without a specialisation (1.19)

  10,595.24 zł

  Minimum basic salary from 1 July 2026.

• Nurse or midwife with a master's degree, or a bachelor's or secondary qualification plus specialisation (1.02)

  9,081.63 zł

  Minimum basic salary from 1 July 2026.

• Nurse or midwife with a bachelor's degree, or secondary education without specialisation (0.94)

  8,369.35 zł

  Minimum basic salary from 1 July 2026.

• Interns (stażyści) and residents (rezydenci): Set by the Minister of HealthThe Act requires their basic salary to reach at least the level given by the formula (0.95 for interns); check the current regulation.