Work as a midwife in Ireland: NMBI registration (2026)

• A midwifery qualification that NMBI can compare with its standards. NMBI says a programme shorter than three years, without an extra course, is unlikely to meet the threshold even for a compensation measure.
• A qualification form completed by your school's Head of Midwifery Education, with your official transcript and programme syllabus.
• A Certificate of Current Professional Status (good standing), issued in the last six months, from every jurisdiction where you registered or practised.
• Employment forms from your current and previous employers, so NMBI can consider your post-qualification midwifery experience.
• IELTS Academic overall 7.0 (7.0 in any three components and 6.5 in one) or OET with B in three components and C+ in one, from a single sitting less than two years old, unless you are exempt.
• Successful completion of a period of adaptation if NMBI requires a compensation measure; the aptitude test is not offered for the Midwives Division.
• A valid, certified passport copy and certified translations of any documents not in English.
• For the permit: a job offer of at least two years from an Irish employer for a Critical Skills Employment Permit.

Check your route with the route finder

• NMBINursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland

  Nurses and midwives

  How to register with the NMBI

1. 1

   Check your midwifery training

   NMBI looks at the length, theory and clinical content of your midwifery programme and the clinical placements you completed. Have your transcript and syllabus to hand and read NMBI's Applicant User Guide first. If you qualified as a midwife after a nursing degree, include the details of both programmes and any extra courses.
2. 2

   Get your English test

   Book IELTS Academic in a test centre or OET in person (not OET at home). You need overall 7.0 with 6.5 allowed in any one skill, or OET B in three skills and C+ in one, all from one sitting. Results must be less than two years old, so plan for the time adaptation may take.
3. 3

   Collect your documents

   Ask your midwifery school to complete NMBI's qualification form and provide your transcript and syllabus, ask each employer to complete the employment form, and request a Certificate of Current Professional Status from every regulator you have been registered with. Certificates must be issued in the last six months. Prepare certified copies and translations.
4. 4

   Apply for recognition and pay the €350 fee

   Create your MyNMBI account, upload your documents yourself and pay the €350 overseas qualification recognition fee for the Midwives Division. Agents must not log in or pay for you. Missing documents must be supplied within six months or the application closes.
5. 5

   Receive your decision letter

   NMBI gives about 3 months for a G3 recognition decision once all documents are in. You are told your qualification is recognised, that a compensation measure is needed, or that it is provisionally refused. The decision letter is valid for 12 months.
6. 6

   Secure and complete your adaptation placement

   You or your prospective employer must contact NMBI-approved maternity services, such as the National Maternity Hospital, the Rotunda Hospital or Cork University Maternity Hospital, and secure a place within 12 months. Upload the confirmation letter in MyNMBI and pay €20 to join the Candidate Register. Adaptation is at least six weeks and may be extended to 12 weeks or more, assessed against NMBI's Competence Assessment Tool for Midwives.
7. 7

   Get a job offer and your employment permit

   Apply to HSE maternity services, voluntary maternity hospitals or private employers. You or your employer apply for a Critical Skills Employment Permit at least 12 weeks before the start date, with a €1,000 fee. If you need a visa, apply after the permit is granted.
8. 8

   Apply for registration

   After recognition, make your registration application in MyNMBI with your English evidence and pay the €145 overseas registration fee. NMBI aims to decide within 20 working days of having everything. You then appear on the public register as a Registered Midwife.
9. 9

   Start as a staff midwife and stay registered

   Once registered you move onto the staff midwife scale, starting at €38,166 in 2026. Register your immigration permission if staying more than 90 days, pay the €100 annual retention fee and keep up your professional competence.

• Period of adaptation (the compensation measure for midwives)

  NMBI says the aptitude test is not available for divisions other than General Nurses and Psychiatric Nurses, so midwives complete a period of adaptation. It is supervised, assessed practice in an NMBI-approved Irish maternity service, at least six weeks and extendable to 12 weeks or more.

  Read the guide

• Competence Assessment Tool for Midwives

  NMBI publishes a Competence Assessment Tool for Midwives that guides the registered midwives supervising your adaptation and explains to you what you will be assessed on. Read it before your placement starts so you know the competencies and documentation expected.

• English language test

  IELTS Academic overall 7.0 with 7.0 in any three components and 6.5 in one, or OET B in three components and C+ in one. One sitting only, less than two years old, taken in person.

• IELTS Academic: overall 7.0, with at least 7.0 in any three components and 6.5 in any one component.
• OET: B (350 to 450) in three components and C+ (300 to 340) in one component.
• Results must be less than two years old and from a single sitting; NMBI does not accept combined results.
• Not accepted: IELTS One Skill Retake, IELTS online and OET at home.
• Exempt if your midwifery programme was taught and assessed in English in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States or the United Kingdom.
• Exempt if you have 3 years of post-registration practice in the last five years in one of those countries, practising primarily through English, confirmed in writing by your employer or regulator.

Estimate your total cost

• Documents and English: often several months, because transcripts, employment forms and good standing certificates no more than six months old come from different bodies.
• Recognition decision: NMBI gives about 3 months for G3 applicants once it has every document.
• Adaptation: you have 12 months from your decision letter to secure a placement; it lasts at least six weeks and may be extended to 12 weeks or more.
• Employment permit: apply at least 12 weeks before the start date.
• Registration decision: about 20 working days. NMBI says applicants who need a compensation measure take on average 13 months from submission to registration.

HSE and voluntary maternity hospital midwives are paid on the HSE consolidated salary scales. These are annual basic rates effective from 1 June 2026. Staff midwives share the staff nurse scale and move up one point a year; the top points include long service increments. The location allowance (€2,798) has applied to maternity departments since 1 March 2019. Private employers set their own pay.

• Staff midwife, awaiting registration or adaptation placement

  €33,370

• Staff midwife (registered midwife)

  €38,166 to €56,592

  13-point scale; €40,158 at point 2 and €44,213 at point 5.

• Senior staff midwife

  €59,278

• Clinical midwife manager 1

  €57,780 to €70,087

• Clinical midwife specialist, clinical midwife manager 2

  €62,699 to €79,227

• Clinical midwife manager 3

  €72,146 to €81,478

• Location allowance, maternity departments

  €2,798 a year

  Added to basic pay where it applies.

• HSE maternity services across the six health regions: HSE Dublin and North East, HSE Dublin and Midlands, HSE Dublin and South East, HSE Mid West, HSE South West and HSE West and North West.
• Voluntary (Section 38) maternity hospitals, including the large Dublin maternity hospitals, are funded by the HSE and pay on the same consolidated scales.
• NMBI's list of approved adaptation facilities for midwifery includes the National Maternity Hospital, the Rotunda Hospital and Cork University Maternity Hospital; check the current list, because some sites may be full.
• Private hospitals and clinics also employ midwives, with pay and conditions set by each employer.
• NMBI does not arrange adaptation placements, so ask a prospective employer whether it will host or arrange yours and what grade you will be paid on during it.
• Read your contract for the length (two years or more for a Critical Skills permit), relocation support and any repayment terms, which vary by employer.

• Registered midwives (SOC 2232) are on the Critical Skills Occupations List, so most international midwives get a Critical Skills Employment Permit with no labour market needs test.
• The qualification must be one NMBI accepts for registration. In public sector roles covered by a pay agreement, including HSE and Section 38 hospitals, the salary is the agreement rate rather than the general €40,904 threshold.
• The job offer must be for at least two years, and you are expected to stay with the first employer for at least nine months. The fee is €1,000, with 90% refunded if refused.
• If you are a visa-required national, apply for a long stay employment visa after the permit is granted, up to 3 months before travel. If you stay more than 90 days, register your immigration permission.
• Your spouse or de facto partner can be given Stamp 1G and work without an employment permit.
• After 21 months of employment on the Critical Skills permit you can apply for Stamp 4; after 60 months you can apply for long-term residence.

1. 1

   Your DHA, DOH, MOHAP, SCFHS, QCHP or other Gulf licence does not transfer. NMBI assesses the midwifery programme you trained on, so most Gulf-based midwives follow the G3 route.

2. 2

   Request a Certificate of Current Professional Status from each Gulf regulator you have been licensed with and from your home council, timed so none is older than six months when you submit.

3. 3

   Gulf labour ward and maternity experience can help close gaps in your training, but only if each employer completes NMBI's employment form with your roles and duties. Ask HR early, because forms from former employers take the longest.

4. 4

   Gulf practice does not exempt you from English testing: NMBI's practice exemption only covers Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom.

5. 5

   Adaptation is in Ireland and there is no aptitude test for midwives, so line up an employer or approved maternity unit before you resign. NMBI advises not to leave your job or move on the expectation of registration.

• 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