BIG registration

BIG stands for Beroepen in de Individuele Gezondheidszorg, professions in individual healthcare. The BIG-register, run by CIBG for the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, lists everyone legally authorised to practise these professions. Once registered, your name, profession, BIG number and any specialism are published, the professional title becomes yours to use, and you fall under Dutch disciplinary law.

Registration is mandatory for the 11 Article 3 and 36a professions: pharmacist, doctor, physiotherapist, health psychologist, clinical technologist, physician assistant, psychotherapist, dentist, nurse, midwife and general educational psychologist. Other health professions can work after their qualification is recognised, without BIG registration.

Registration brings obligations as well as rights. Doctors, dentists and midwives on the register may carry out certain reserved procedures independently, and registered nurses can have prescribing authorisation listed. If you asked for a foreign specialty to be recognised, a positive decision is passed to the Specialist Registration Committee for your specialty.

1. Apply for recognition of your qualification. For qualifications from outside the EU, the CBGV assesses whether your training is equivalent in content and level to Dutch training.
2. Provide language evidence. You need Dutch at the required level and, for many professions, English reading proficiency. See NT2.
3. Provide good standing from every country where you lived for more than three months after qualifying, plus a sworn personal statement no older than three months.
4. Complete any conditions, such as the BI-test, an adaptation internship or a skills test.
5. Register. If you asked for BIG registration in your recognition application, the BIG-register contacts you after a positive decision.

Our BIG test guide covers the assessment route in detail.

The BIG-register states a maximum processing time of 12 to 13 weeks for recognition once your file and all documents are complete, which can be extended by one month. BIG registration itself costs €85 for five years. Every five years all registered professionals must re-register by showing they have worked enough hours in their profession or by obtaining a Periodic Registration Certificate through training.

If you qualified, or were recognised, more than five years ago, you must meet the re-registration criteria straight away and send proof of work experience, such as an employer's declaration and job description. Work abroad counts only if it was done in an authorised way. If you lack the hours, a training route leading to a Periodic Registration Certificate may be possible.

• Submitting before every document is ready. Unsubmitted applications are kept for six months.
• Missing a certificate of good standing from a country where you lived but did not work. You need a non-registration statement instead.
• Leaving the language certificates until last. The BIG-register says that without the Dutch and English certificates your recognition application cannot be processed.