Healthcare regulators explained

The BIG register says the certificate of competence takes 6 months to 1.5 years once your application is complete. Including language learning and extra training, its roadmap puts the whole route at six months to three years.

The CNG runs the procedure and the commission, but the authorisation is a ministerial decision published in the Journal officiel. After it you register with the professional order, which is what lets you practise.

No. Licensing is done by the authority of each federal state, under federal law. The Bundesärztekammer is the national umbrella of the state medical chambers, but it does not grant the Approbation.

Not always. PLAB is the usual route for international medical graduates, but you can instead use a postgraduate qualification on the GMC's accepted list (awarded within three years of approval), a Sponsorship Registration Certificate from an approved sponsor, or a recognised specialist qualification. Each route still needs English, EPIC verification and certificates of good standing.

No. NCSBN develops the NCLEX and supports the state boards, but each state's board of nursing issues the license. You apply to one board, which makes you eligible to take the NCLEX.

You apply to NMBI through MyNMBI in two steps: recognition of your qualification, then registration. Most nurses trained outside the EU are G3 applicants, whose training is assessed in detail and who may need an aptitude test or a period of adaptation before registering.

The NMC says the CBT and OSCE can be taken in any order within the two-year window. In practice, most UK employers and the visa process expect you to pass the CBT in your home country first, then sit the OSCE in the UK. Check what your employer requires.

It is Sweden's National Board of Health and Welfare. For health professionals it assesses foreign education, decides which steps you need, issues licences, protected titles and specialist qualifications, and keeps the HOSP register.