Work as a doctor in the Netherlands: BIG registration (2026)

• A basic medical degree from outside the EEA and Switzerland that entitles you to practise as a doctor in the country that awarded it.
• Dutch at B2+ (above B2, below C1) from an institute on the BIG register's list, because the Staatsexamen NT2 does not test at that level.
• English reading at B2: IELTS 5.5 to 6.0, TOEFL 72 to 94, Cambridge 160 to 179 or EnglishScore.
• A place in the BI-test for doctors (iVTG and DKV), which the BIG register arranges after it accepts your application.
• Willingness to complete a hospital internship or further training if the CBGV advises it; for doctors this is the usual outcome rather than the exception.
• Hold off sending your medical syllabus: the BIG register asks doctors for it only when it needs it.
• Specialists: a separate request for specialist recognition, decided by the RGS after your basic medical degree is dealt with.
• Doctors who want to enter Dutch specialist training (aios) also need a training post at a place the RGS recognises.

Check your route with the route finder

• BIGBIG register (CIBG)

  Doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists and other regulated professions

  How to register with the BIG

1. 1

   Get Dutch to B2+ at a listed institute

   Doctors sit at the university (wo) level in the BIG register's language table, so B2+ is required. Only listed providers such as Babel Language Institute, NedLes, BGB Academy, Elycio Talen and VU-NT2 can certify it. The roadmap puts average learning time at one and a half to two years, so most doctors start Dutch before anything else.
2. 2

   Book the BIG register's free consultation

   A 30-minute consultation hour, online or in The Hague, can be booked through [email protected]. Use it to ask how long the doctors' BI-test queue is and whether your specialist title should be raised now or later. It costs nothing and can save months.
3. 3

   Apply for the certificate without the syllabus

   Apply through mijn.bigregister.nl with your diploma, course overview, certified passport copy, declaration of competence and language certificates. Unlike most professions, doctors wait for the BIG register to request the syllabus. The general document and certification rules are explained in the Netherlands country guide.
4. 4

   Wait for a BI-test place and use the time

   Once your file is accepted you are invited to register and pay for the BI-test. The BIG register currently says places for doctors are full with no known reopening date, so treat the wait as study time. KNMG members can practise with progress tests through Medisch Contact, and support groups such as VBGA, OBUA and Stichting Op Weg Naar Werk help foreign-trained doctors prepare.
5. 5

   Sit the iVTG and the clinical skills test

   The iVTG is the progress test Dutch medical schools use, so it covers everything a basic doctor should know, including fields you have not practised for years. The DKV tests clinical skills with test subjects on set topics. Results arrive within 3 to 6 weeks and show the CBGV where you sit against a Dutch graduate.
6. 6

   Discuss the CBGV's advice on an internship

   The medical subcommittee of the CBGV, made up of practising doctors and educators, uses your test results, training and experience to advise within 12 weeks. Most doctors are advised to complete a hospital internship or courses in specific areas. Finding the placement is your job; OBUA specialises in arranging training and internships for foreign doctors.
7. 7

   Finish the internship and receive your certificate

   When the advised training is done, the BIG register issues an intended decision; you have two weeks to react before the final decision. A positive decision is your certificate of competence. A refusal can be challenged by objection within 6 weeks.
8. 8

   Register as an arts and start under supervision

   Register in the BIG register for €85 with recent certificates of current professional status and good conduct. Your first registration is conditional for 3 months while you work under a BIG-registered doctor's supervision. The general registration paperwork is set out in the Netherlands country guide.
9. 9

   Apply to the RGS if you are a specialist

   Specialist recognition is a separate procedure handled by the RGS; KNMG's team for foreign-trained doctors can be reached on [email protected]. The roadmap estimates about €2,285 for specialist recognition and registration, plus about €750 if the RGS requires an adaptation internship. Without RGS recognition you cannot use a Dutch specialist title, whatever your Gulf or home board says.

• Interuniversity Progress Test for Medicine (iVTG)

  A knowledge test written for Dutch medical students at every stage, used as the knowledge part of the doctors' BI-test from 1 March 2026. It samples the whole of basic medicine, not only your own specialty. The roadmap suggests the progress test manual and e-learning, the Compendium Medicine website and StudeerGeneeskunde.nl clinical books, and warns that its scenario books do not suit BI-test preparation.

• Clinical skills test (DKV)

  A practical test with test subjects on designated topics, taken in the Netherlands. The clinical knowledge part (DKK) that used to sit alongside it was dropped on 1 March 2026 to allow more doctors to be tested. The BIG register says the quality of the test is unchanged.

• Fee and availability

  The BIG register's test page lists no fee for doctors and says there are no test places at the moment; it is not known when new participants can be scheduled. Its roadmap page still mentions a €1,700 contribution and says the doctors' test is full for this year and next year. If you have paid and cannot take part, the BIG register says the amount is refunded.

• Dutch at B2+ certificate

  Taken at one of the listed institutes, covering reading, writing, speaking and listening, and no more than two years old when you apply.

• Doctors need Dutch at B2+, the level the BIG register sets for university-trained professions; it sits between B2 and C1.
• The Staatsexamen NT2 does not certify B2+. Use an institute the BIG register lists: Babel Language Institute, NedLes, BGB Academy, Elycio Talen or VU-NT2.
• English reading at B2 is also required, because much medical literature you will use is in English: IELTS 5.5 to 6.0, TOEFL 72 to 94, Cambridge 160 to 179, or EnglishScore.
• Years of practice in English in the Gulf or elsewhere do not replace either certificate. Proof that your medical education was taught in Dutch can count for the Dutch requirement.
• The iVTG and the clinical skills test are taken in Dutch, so your Dutch also has to carry you through the BI-test, not just the paperwork.

Estimate your total cost

• Dutch to B2+: the BIG register says one and a half to two years on average, longer if you are working full time.
• Wait for a doctors' BI-test place: currently unknown; the BIG register says places are full with no date for new bookings.
• Test results within 3 to 6 weeks, then CBGV advice within 12 weeks of the result.
• Hospital internship or extra training: from a few months to three years, according to the roadmap, and placements are hard to secure.
• Conditional registration: 3 months under supervision before your arts registration becomes definitive; RGS specialist recognition runs on its own clock after that.

Gross monthly pay in general hospitals for a 36-hour week, from the Cao Ziekenhuizen aios scale and the AMS salary table, effective 1 August 2026. Doctors not in training, and doctors in university medical centres, GP practices, mental health and elderly care, are paid under other agreements or by the employer, so check your offer.

Monthly amounts

• Doctor in specialist training (aios), year 0

  €4,629

  Cao Ziekenhuizen aios scale, 1 August 2026.

• Aios, year 4

  €5,402

• Aios, year 8

  €6,047

  Top of the aios scale.

• Employed medical specialist (AMS), step 0

  €8,868

  AMS salary table 2025-2027, from 1 August 2026.

• Employed medical specialist (AMS), step 6

  €15,392

• General hospitals, which pay aios under the Cao Ziekenhuizen and employed specialists under the AMS agreement.
• University medical centres (UMCs), which host most specialist training and much of the internship capacity.
• Mental health, elderly care and rehabilitation organisations, which recruit doctors not in training under their own agreements.
• VBGA publishes a quarterly labour market monitor showing vacancies per specialty, which the roadmap recommends before you choose a direction.
• Support for the route itself comes from VBGA, OBUA, Stichting Op Weg Naar Werk and Edu4you, and from UAF if you are a refugee.

• A doctor in specialist training on a highly skilled migrant permit must, according to the IND, be BIG-registered, train at a place recognised by the RGS, SGRC or HVRC, and earn at least the minimum wage.
• Employed specialists on the AMS table start at €8,868 a month, well above the 2026 highly skilled migrant threshold of €5,942 for applicants aged 30 or over, but your employer still has to be an IND-recognised sponsor.
• The IND requires BIG registration for anyone practising an Article 3 profession, so the permit follows your arts registration. The Netherlands country guide explains the highly skilled migrant, EU Blue Card and MVV rules in full.

1. 1

   A DHA, DOH, MOHAP, SCFHS, QCHP, NHRA or OMSB licence does not exempt you from the BI-test. You enter the same queue as every non-EEA doctor.

2. 2

   Saudi, Arab or Emirati board certificates are a matter for the RGS, not the BIG register. Ask the RGS early whether your training programme can be compared and whether an adaptation internship is likely.

3. 3

   Gulf hospital practice is often highly specialised. The iVTG tests general medicine across all fields, so revise paediatrics, obstetrics and general practice even if you have not worked in them for years.

4. 4

   Request a certificate of current professional status from each Gulf authority that has licensed you, timed so it is under three months old when you register.

5. 5

   Ask Gulf hospitals for logbooks and experience letters listing rotations and procedures; the CBGV can use them to narrow the hospital internship it advises.

• Application plan with every step, fee and deadline

• Document checklist tailored to you, and a review of each document before upload

• Timeline built around the regulator's closure windows and document validity periods

• Help completing the application forms accurately and consistently

• Support with profession-specific evidence, such as the HCPC standards of proficiency mapping

• Guidance on certificates of good standing, references and certified translations

• Preparation for identity checks and declarations on health and character

• Tracking your application and help responding to regulator requests

• Next steps after the decision: exams, adaptation, PIN or licence and your first job

Regulators make all registration decisions and set all fees. Our fee is separate from the regulator's fees, exam fees and translation costs.

What our registration and licensing support includesPackages and fees