FPS Public Health Belgium: Visa to Practise and Requirements

• Doctors, dentists and pharmacists (the professions trained at master's level, with C1 language).
• Nurses responsible for general care and midwives (bachelor's level, B2 language).
• Nurses trained below bachelor level and certain paramedical professions (B1 language).
• Physiotherapists, clinical psychologists and clinical orthopedagogues (master's level, C1 language).
• Paramedical professions such as dietitians, occupational therapists, speech therapists, podologists, medical imaging technologists and medical laboratory technologists.
• Nursing assistants and ambulance staff for non-urgent patient transport (A2 language).
• Temporary training authorisations for doctors with non-European diplomas (article 146), for up to two years.

• An equivalence of your diploma from NARIC-Vlaanderen, the Service des équivalences of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles or the German-speaking Community, if your diploma was issued outside the EEA and Switzerland.
• Where your profession requires it, recognition of the professional title by the Community first; this applies in particular to physiotherapists, nursing assistants and paramedical professions.
• Proof of Dutch, French or German at the level the FPS sets for your profession, from a diploma taught in that language or an official certificate less than four years old.
• A certificate of good professional conduct from the competent authority of each country, except Belgium, where you have practised, confirming that you may practise and have never been suspended or disciplined.
• A certificate of good conduct from the countries you have lived in (this is listed for the European route; expect similar checks).
• A completed FPS application form for authorisation to practise a healthcare profession in Belgium, with its required attachments.
• For the article 146 training route: a host hospital, usually with the linked university coordinating your application.

Check your route with the route finder

1. 1

   1. Obtain the equivalence of your diploma

   Apply to the Community body that matches the language you will work in. Apply for the diploma that qualifies you for the profession, not a later specialisation, which you can add as a supplementary diploma. The FPS cannot start until this decision exists.
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   2. Get Community recognition of the profession if needed

   For physiotherapists, nursing assistants and paramedical professions the Community recognises the professional title before the visa. In Flanders, doctors, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, midwives, clinical psychologists and clinical orthopedagogues skip this and go straight to the FPS with their NARIC certificate.
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   3. Prepare your language proof

   Choose a test that is a real examination, covers reading, listening, writing and speaking, and is passed at the required level in every part. Unsupervised online tests are rejected. Check the date: official certificates must be less than four years old.
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   4. Request good standing certificates

   Ask the professional order or ministry of health in each country where you have worked for a certificate of good professional conduct. It must state that you are authorised to practise and that you have never been suspended or disciplined. The FPS gives a professional order or a ministry of health as examples of competent authorities; for Gulf experience this is the authority that licensed you.
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   5. Complete the application form

   Download the FPS application form for authorisation to practise a healthcare profession in Belgium and collect the attachments it lists. Make sure your name is written the same way on every document, and keep copies of everything you send.
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   6. Email the file to the FPS

   Send the completed form and attachments, including your language proof and certificate of good professional conduct, to [email protected]. There is no fee for the visa procedure.
7. 7

   7. Receive your visa

   The FPS issues the visa only after it has received every required document. With the visa you can practise the basic profession; for specialist titles you then apply to the Community, for example the Departement Zorg in Flanders.

• No federal licensing exam

  The FPS page lists no licensing exam or knowledge test for the visa. Your training is assessed on paper by the Community equivalence body.

• Language examination

  The language check is the main assessment at the FPS stage. Examples of accepted certificates include Travaillerpour.be and Werkenvoor.be (FPS BOSA), DELF, DALF, TCF and TEF for French, ITNA from the Flemish universities and CNaVT for Dutch, CVO and CBE adult education centres, and the Goethe-Institut for German.

• English is not accepted. The FPS requires sufficient knowledge of Dutch, French or German to issue a visa.
• Master's-level professions (doctor, dentist, pharmacist, physiotherapist, clinical psychologist, clinical orthopedagogue): C1, with B2 accepted for written expression.
• Bachelor's-level professions (nurse responsible for general care, midwife, most paramedical professions): B2.
• Below bachelor's level (nurses trained below bachelor level, certain paramedical professions): B1. Nursing assistants and ambulance staff for non-urgent patient transport: A2.
• Certificates must be less than four years old, unless you hold a secondary, higher or university diploma from a Dutch, French or German-speaking institution.
• The FPS notes that its example tests are indicative only and that there is no official list of accepted examinations.

Estimate your total cost

• Equivalence: NARIC-Vlaanderen shows a target date for each stage in your online file and says high volumes, more than 600 new files a month in 2026, can delay the start of the assessment.
• Missing documents: NARIC-Vlaanderen gives you 6 months to upload them before your file is closed.
• FPS visa: the FPS does not publish a processing time; it issues the visa once every document has been received.
• Training authorisation (article 146): valid for a maximum of two years.

1. 1FPS Public Health: Visa for a foreign diploma
2. 2FPS Public Health: Demande d'autorisation d'exercer une profession des soins de santé en Belgique (form)
3. 3FPS Public Health: Formulaire dispenses spéciales (article 146)
4. 4Departement Zorg: Erkenning op basis van een diploma van buiten de EER
5. 5NARIC-Vlaanderen: Kostprijs van een erkenningsaanvraag
6. 6NARIC-Vlaanderen: Afhandeltermijn en dossierstatus
7. 7Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles: Introduire une demande d'équivalence