Helsedirektoratet Norway: Authorisation, Exams and Fees

• Medical practitioner (lege)
• General nurse (sykepleier)
• Midwife (jordmor)
• Dentist (tannlege)
• Psychologist (psykolog)

• Pharmacist (farmasøyt) and pharmacy technician (apotektekniker)
• Physiotherapist (fysioterapeut) and musculoskeletal physiotherapist (manuellterapeut)
• Occupational therapist (ergoterapeut), radiographer (radiograf), medical laboratory technician (bioingeniør) and clinical nutritionist (klinisk ernæringsfysiolog)
• Paramedic (paramedisiner) and emergency medical technician (ambulansearbeider)
• Health care worker (helsefagarbeider), including auxiliary nurse and care worker
• Other authorised groups listed in the Directorate's guide, including audiologist, chiropractor, dental hygienist, dental technician, naprapath, optometrist, orthoptist, osteopath, perfusionist, podiatrist, prosthetist, social educator, dental health secretary and medical secretary
• Specialist approval for doctors and dentists, and specialist approval in clinical general nursing, granted only to people who already hold Norwegian authorisation

• A completed education in one of the authorised professions that is equivalent to the Norwegian education, or proof that you otherwise have the necessary competence (section 48a of the Health Personnel Act).
• For nurses: an education at bachelor level. The Directorate advises applicants whose nursing education is below bachelor level to apply as a health care worker instead.
• For doctors: an official document from your institution showing teaching hours in theory and practice, clinical hours and total workload, plus proof of any compulsory practical training after the degree that your country requires for licensure.
• Where required, verification through DataFlow Group: doctors' diploma and transcript with hours, and all documents issued in Pakistan. ECFMG reports are accepted until 1 January 2027.
• Translations by an authorised translator of any document not in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English, scanned in colour in the same file as the original.
• Norwegian at CEFR B2, or documented equivalent skills in Norwegian, Swedish or Danish. There is no exemption from the language requirement.
• A pass in the course in national subjects (all professions), the course in safe handling of medicines (doctors, nurses, dentists and pharmacists) and the fagprøve (doctors, nurses and dentists), all within three years of the step 1 decision.
• A valid passport or European ID card, with names in the application exactly as in the passport.

Check your route with the route finder

1. 1

   1. Use the online guide for your profession

   On the Directorate's English page, choose your profession and where you studied. The guide shows the documents, fee and processing time for your case. Read the additional requirements page before you apply, so you know what language level, courses and costs lie ahead.
2. 2

   2. Prepare your documents

   All applicants need their diploma and transcript. Depending on profession and case you may also need the curriculum for the years you studied, the reading list, proof of passing a national licensing exam, your licence to practise and employment certificates with the employer's letterhead, stamp and a named manager's signature. Do not send employment contracts, and do not send photographs of documents.
3. 3

   3. Complete verification

   Doctors create an account with DataFlow Group and verify their diploma and transcript with hours, then attach the unprotected report in Altinn. Applicants with documents from Pakistan must verify the diploma and transcript, and any internship, licence and work certificates, through DataFlow. Nurses from countries such as Nigeria, Ethiopia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the United States must have their institution post the transcript directly to the Directorate.
4. 4

   4. Apply in Altinn and pay NOK 1,665

   Submit the authorisation and licence form in Altinn with a colour scan of your passport, and pay the fee during the application. You receive a confirmation of receipt in Altinn. If you have three consecutive years with full rights in an EEA country, tick this in the form and attach a certificate of good standing or current professional status and proof of the work from that country's licensing authority.
5. 5

   5. Step 1: the equivalence decision

   The Directorate compares your education with the Norwegian one. Its stated processing time for applicants educated outside the EU/EEA is 23 months, extended if documents are missing. A positive outcome is a decision confirming that you can go on to step 2 and must complete the additional requirements within three years.
6. 6

   6. Reach Norwegian B2

   The language requirement must be met before you can be admitted to the other requirements. Pass the HK-dir Norwegian test with B2 on all four parts, or document B2 another approved way, such as completed Norwegian upper secondary school. The test cannot be taken outside Norway.
7. 7

   7. Complete the national course and medicines course

   Folkeuniversitetet is the only approved provider of the course in Norwegian health services, health legislation and society, and of the course in safe handling of medicines, which runs alongside it. Courses run every spring and autumn. A course from another provider needs an individual exemption, and none is approved in advance.
8. 8

   8. Pass the fagprøve if your profession has one

   Doctors apply to the University of Oslo, nurses to USN and dentists to the University of Oslo, uploading the Directorate's step 1 decision and proof of B2. Each test is held once in spring and once in autumn, with limited places. Your three-year deadline must still be valid on the exam dates.
9. 9

   9. Send proof and receive authorisation

   Do not reapply. Email the language certificate, course certificates and fagprøve result to [email protected] with your case number in the subject line. The Directorate processes this within 3 months and prioritises applicants who complete within the deadline. Authorisation is recorded in the HPR, not on paper.
10. 10

    10. Appeal if you are refused

    You have three weeks from receiving a decision to appeal through Altinn, giving the reference number, what you are appealing, why, and any new documents. The Directorate reconsiders first; its stated appeal processing time for applicants educated outside the EU/EEA is 12 months. If it upholds its decision, the case goes to the National Office for Health Service Appeals.

• Fagprøve for doctors (University of Oslo)

  A three-part test in Norwegian, with no aids allowed: a four-hour written digital exam covering fields such as surgery, emergency medicine, general practice, internal medicine, oncology, neurology, radiology, pharmacology, microbiology, biochemistry and psychiatry; a 30-minute clinical oral station focused on general practice, communication and Norwegian practice; and a 10-station OSCE of seven minutes each. All three parts must be passed. For spring 2026 UiO charged NOK 22,500 for all three parts or NOK 7,500 per part, with application deadlines of 9 January (spring) and 5 August (autumn).

• Fagprøve for nurses (USN)

  Held over two days at the simulation centre at USN Campus Vestfold. Day one has guided practice of procedures and a two-hour multiple-choice theory test; day two is a four-station OSCE with 25 minutes per station. It is graded pass or fail and you must pass every part in the same attempt. USN states capacity for 20 candidates and priority by the date of your Helsedirektoratet decision; the autumn 2026 test is on 3 and 4 November, and the 2027 deadlines are 20 February and 20 August.

• Fagprøve for dentists (University of Oslo)

  A practical, oral and written test arranged by the University of Oslo dental faculty, held once in spring and once in autumn. Helsedirektoratet describes it as a two-day test; check the faculty's page for format, dates and fees.

• Course in national subjects and safe handling of medicines

  The national course covers the structure of Norwegian health and care services, health, social security and social law, cultural understanding and national priorities. The medicines course covers rules on medicines and prescribing rights, medicines handling and drug calculation, and is required for doctors, nurses, dentists and pharmacists. Both are run by Folkeuniversitetet and require B2 Norwegian to join.

• Attempts and exemptions

  You may retake each course and test up to two more times, three attempts in total, and attempts in an earlier application count. The Directorate can exempt you from courses or the fagprøve if you have completed qualification measures with matching content; work experience alone is not enough. Doctors, dentists and nurses with the right to independent practice in another Nordic country can ask to be exempted from the fagprøve.

• Helsedirektoratet requires Norwegian, not English. You must pass an approved Norwegian test at CEFR B2 or document equivalent skills in Norwegian, Swedish or Danish, and the language requirement must be met before you can be admitted to the other additional requirements.
• Approved proof includes the HK-dir Norwegian test with B2 on all subtests, a pass in the Bergen test (Test i norsk, høyere nivå) taken before it was discontinued, completed Norwegian schooling, and specified university Norwegian courses and IB Norwegian results. Combinations of partial tests are not accepted.
• The HK-dir test is held up to four times a year at most centres, costs from about NOK 400 per part to about NOK 2,500 for the full test depending on the municipality, and cannot be taken outside Norway.
• There is no exemption from the language requirement, even with work experience.
• No English test is required. You may submit documents in English; anything not in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English needs an authorised translation.
• UK-qualified applicants covered by the Brexit transitional arrangement are assessed under the EEA rules and, the Directorate says, are exempt from the language requirement. Other UK applicants must pass Norwegian at B2.

Estimate your total cost

• Step 1 decision: Helsedirektoratet states 23 months for applicants educated outside the EU/EEA, and 3 months if you have worked with full rights in an EEA country for at least three years.
• Additional requirements: up to three years from the step 1 decision, extendable by up to one year only for long-term illness or parental leave if you apply before the deadline.
• Norwegian to B2: no fixed time; the Directorate warns that three years can be short if you have no Norwegian when you apply.
• Fagprøve: twice a year for each profession, with limited places, so a failed or missed sitting can cost six months.
• Final documentation: processed within 3 months; an exemption application within 6 months; a deadline extension within 3 months.
• Appeals: 12 months for applicants educated outside the EU/EEA, from a three-week deadline to appeal.