Work as a midwife in the Netherlands: BIG registration

• A midwifery diploma from outside the EEA and Switzerland that lets you practise as a midwife where it was awarded; nurse-midwife programmes are assessed on their midwifery content.
• Dutch at B2 from the Staatsexamen NT2, in all four skills.
• English reading at B1: IELTS 4.0 to 5.0, TOEFL 42 to 71, Cambridge 140 to 159 or EnglishScore.
• Records of your midwifery training: theory hours, clinical placements and births conducted, including any community or home birth experience.
• Experience letters showing independent caseload, antenatal and postnatal care, and the setting you worked in.
• Willingness to complete a placement or extra training if the CBGV advises it, and the placement in Dutch practice that KNOV recommends.
• Midwives with a listed EEA or Swiss diploma use automatic recognition instead, which the BIG register says takes up to three months once complete.

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

   Pass Staatsexamen NT2 at B2

   Midwifery is in the hbo band of the BIG register's language table, so you need B2, not B2+. The Staatsexamen NT2 is the only accepted B2 certificate. Counselling women on screening, risk and birth plans is all in Dutch, so aim for confident speaking, not just a pass.
2. 2

   Get an English reading certificate at B1

   IELTS 4.0 to 5.0, TOEFL 42 to 71, Cambridge 140 to 159 or EnglishScore all meet B1. Keep both certificates under two years old at the date you apply.
3. 3

   Document your caseload, not just your diploma

   Because there is no BI-test, your file is the evidence. Add a summary of births attended and conducted, antenatal and postnatal contacts, and any community or home birth work, signed by supervisors. The country guide explains how to certify and translate documents.
4. 4

   Apply on mijn.bigregister.nl

   Fill in the application for a certificate of competence as verloskundige and upload your diploma, syllabus, passport, declaration of competence and language certificates. The file is checked within about 4 weeks before it goes to the commission.
5. 5

   Discuss your training with the CBGV

   The CBGV advises within about 6 weeks of receiving your file and usually invites you to talk it through. Be ready to explain which care you gave independently and which you gave under an obstetrician, because the Dutch role is an independent one.
6. 6

   Complete any advised training or internship

   If the commission finds gaps, it advises extra courses or an internship, which the BIG register says take 3 months to 2 years. You arrange this yourself, often with a midwifery practice or academy. Keep records, because the BIG register needs proof of completion.
7. 7

   Register as a verloskundige

   With your certificate of competence, register in the BIG register for €85. You work 3 months under the supervision of a BIG-registered midwife before your registration becomes definitive.
8. 8

   Do a placement in a Dutch practice, then join the quality register

   KNOV advises midwives trained abroad to work some months in a placement in Dutch practice before starting in primary care. Once BIG-registered you can register in the Kwaliteitsregister Verloskundigen and become a KNOV member, which many practices and partners expect.

• No BI-test for midwives

  BI-tests exist only for doctors, dentists and nurses. Midwives are assessed by the CBGV from documents and an advisory meeting, so your caseload evidence does the work an exam would.

  Read the guide

• Staatsexamen NT2 at B2

  The State Examination Dutch as a Second Language at B2, covering reading, writing, speaking and listening.

• Placement in Dutch practice

  Not a formal exam, but KNOV recommends some months of placement in a Dutch practice before working in primary care, and the CBGV may set an internship as a condition.

• Midwives need Dutch at B2, the level the BIG register sets for higher professional (hbo) professions such as midwife and physiotherapist.
• B2 must be shown with a Staatsexamen NT2 certificate; institute certificates are used only for B2+.
• English reading at B1 is shown by IELTS 4.0 to 5.0, TOEFL 42 to 71, Cambridge 140 to 159, or EnglishScore.
• In community midwifery you work alone with clients at home and in the practice, without a Dutch-speaking team around you, so practical fluency matters more than in many hospital roles.

Estimate your total cost

• Dutch to B2: the BIG register gives an average of one and a half to two years for language learning.
• File check within about 4 weeks; CBGV advice within about 6 weeks after that, with no test to wait for.
• Advised training or internship: 3 months to 2 years, according to the BIG register.
• Registration, then 3 months under a midwife's supervision before definitive registration.
• KNOV's recommended placement in Dutch practice: some months before you work independently in primary care.

Many Dutch midwives work in community practices, where income is not set by a national salary scale. Hospital midwives in general hospitals are paid under the Cao Ziekenhuizen; the hospital places the post in a function group, so the rows below are reference ranges from the table effective 1 August 2026, gross monthly for 36 hours, not a statement of where midwives are graded.

Monthly amounts

• Hospital midwife, functiegroep 55 (reference)

  €3,903 to €5,503

  Ask the hospital which group the post is in.

• Hospital midwife, functiegroep 60 (reference)

  €4,246 to €6,220

• Community midwifery practice: Set by the practiceNo official national scale.

• Community midwifery practices (verloskundigenpraktijken), the core of Dutch maternity care.
• General hospitals and university medical centres, which employ clinical midwives on obstetric units.
• Birth centres and maternity care organisations.
• KNOV, the midwives' professional body, is the place to ask about practices that host placements for midwives trained abroad.

• Community practices are often small partnerships that may not be IND-recognised sponsors, which the highly skilled migrant permit requires. Ask early, or look at hospital posts.
• The midwives' route has no BI-test, so registration can come faster than for doctors, but the permit still follows registration. The Netherlands country guide explains the IND options and salary thresholds.

1. 1

   Describe exactly which decisions and births you managed yourself in Gulf hospitals, since the CBGV compares you with an independently practising Dutch midwife.

2. 2

   If you trained as a nurse and worked as a midwife in the Gulf, gather proof of any midwifery-specific diploma and a log of births conducted; the commission assesses content, not your job title.

3. 3

   If all your experience is hospital-based, plan for the Dutch primary care placement KNOV recommends, and possibly for CBGV training advice.

4. 4

   Request certificates of current professional status from DHA, DOH, MOHAP, SCFHS, QCHP or other Gulf regulators close to your registration date.

5. 5

   Have Arabic-language documents translated by a sworn translator; the BIG register does not accept attestation alone.

• 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