Ministero della Salute: Recognition, Exams and Fees

• Doctor (medico chirurgo): Modello D1 and Allegato D1 for titles obtained outside the EU.
• Dentist (odontoiatra), pharmacist (farmacista) and veterinarian: the same Allegato D1 document list applies.
• Nurse (infermiere) and paediatric nurse: Modello D2-1 INF and Allegato D2-1, also used by non-EU citizens whose title has already been recognised in an EU country.
• Midwife (ostetrica) and the health professions of rehabilitation, technical and prevention fields, such as physiotherapists, radiographers, biomedical laboratory technicians, dietitians and speech and language therapists, each with its own form on the Ministry's services pages.
• Medical and dental specialists (forms E1): only after the basic medical or dental title has been recognised by the Ministry, or if you hold an Italian qualifying title.
• Psychologists, biologists and chemists also have Ministry procedures for titles obtained outside the EU.
• Temporary clinical authorisation for non-EU doctors on hospital training programmes (article 39-ter of Legislative Decree 286/1998).

• A title obtained outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland that qualifies you to practise the corresponding profession in the country where you obtained it.
• For nurses and midwives, general school education meeting the minimum set by Legislative Decree 206/2007 (article 38 for nurses, article 46 for midwives); the Ministry says an application without it is refused for lack of legal requirements.
• A transcript from your university listing each exam with hours of theory and of practical training, or the hours that one credit represents.
• An original declaration of value (dichiarazione di valore) from the Italian embassy or consulate in the issuing country.
• An original certificate of good standing and a certificate of no criminal impediments from the competent authorities of your country of origin or provenance, each no more than three months old.
• Legalisation of non-EU documents by the Italian consulate or by apostille, and Italian translations certified by the consulate or sworn before an Italian court.
• You may apply whether or not you already live in Italy; DPR 394/1999 allows people not resident in Italy to request recognition.
• Practising in Italy before recognition is a criminal offence, the Ministry warns, so do not start work until you hold the decree and the Ordine registration (or a valid regional authorisation).

Check your route with the route finder

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   1. Choose the right form

   Doctors with a title from outside the EU use Modello D1; EU citizens whose non-EU medical title is already formally recognised in an EU country use Modello D4, which the Ministry says it processes in three months. Nurses use Modello D2-1 INF. The forms and attachment lists are on the Ministry's online services pages for each profession.
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   2. Request the declaration of value

   The Italian embassy or consulate in the issuing country certifies the issuing authority, the school education needed to enter the course, the course length, that the title is qualifying, and the activities it allows. If the declaration does not certify the authenticity of the signature on the diploma, the diploma must be legalised. Start this first, because it is outside the Ministry's control.
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   3. Prepare the identity, diploma and transcript documents

   Include a copy of a valid signed identity document and, if your name differs between documents, proof that they belong to the same person. Send a certified copy of your diploma with a named certificate from the university giving the legal course length and every exam with its hours. The Ministry may later ask for the full study programmes.
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   4. Add licensing, good standing and work records

   Add certified copies of your licence (abilitazione) and registration in the country of training where these exist, the original good standing and criminal record certificates no more than three months old, and certificates describing any work since you qualified, including practical training. Nurses add certified copies of any specialist courses and a signed, dated CV.
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   5. Certify, legalise and translate

   Non-EU citizens get copies certified by the Italian consulate abroad or, in Italy, by a notary, court clerk or any municipal office; colour photocopies are not accepted for nurses. Every foreign-language document needs a certified or sworn Italian translation. You may appoint a person or a services company to submit and follow your application, with a delegation signed before the consulate or an Italian notary.
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   6. Submit and pay €16 stamp duty

   Post the application to DGPROF, Office 2, Viale Giorgio Ribotta 5, 00144 Rome, and pay €16 stamp duty per title, online through the Ministry's payment platform (attaching the receipt) or with a marca da bollo on the paper form. The Ministry does not give preliminary assessments: you learn the result of the document check only during the review. Send any extra documents and address changes the same way you applied.
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   7. Review and the Conferenza dei servizi

   If documents are missing, the office asks you to complete the file. The application is assessed and, where needed, discussed by the Conferenza dei servizi. The stated time limit is four months from a complete file for doctors and nurses.
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   8. Decision: recognition, compensatory measure or refusal

   The Ministry can issue a recognition decree, a decree that makes recognition conditional on a compensatory measure, or a refusal. A conditional decree lists the subjects you must pass. Only candidates who have received it can enrol for an exam session.
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   9. Sit the compensatory measure

   Sessions are announced in the Ministry's news section, with enrolment for doctors now online through a dedicated platform and a fixed deadline. The April 2026 doctors' session was held at Sapienza University in Rome and the December 2025 nurses' session at Tor Vergata University. A failed measure can be retaken in full after at least six months.
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    10. Take the decree to the Ordine within two years

    Register with the Ordine in your province after its Italian language and professional rules check. If two years pass without registration, apply to renew the decree using the Ministry's renewal form. The Ministry publishes issued decrees on its website some months later, but publication has no fixed deadline and does not affect validity.

• Aptitude test for doctors (prova attitudinale, medico)

  A computer-based written test of 30 multiple-choice questions for each subject in your decree, with 40 minutes per subject and at least 18 correct answers needed in each. Candidates who pass sit an oral, again needing at least 18/30 per subject. The Ministry publishes study programmes for internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics and legal medicine, and says pharmacology, hygiene, microbiology and neurology are no longer examined even if an older decree lists them.

• Aptitude test for medical specialists

  A written clinical case in the specialty being recognised, with 90 minutes allowed, followed on the same day by an oral for those admitted. The result is idoneo (pass) or non idoneo (fail).

• Aptitude test for nurses and paediatric nurses

  A computer-based multiple-choice test on the subjects in your decree plus two problems on drug dosage and dilution. You pass with at least 60% of the multiple-choice questions and at least one of the two dosage problems, then sit a practical or oral test on the same day.

• Italian language compensatory measure

  For some professions the Ministry sets an Italian language aptitude test itself; it has published such sessions for speech and language therapists. For doctors and nurses, Italian is checked by the Ordine before registration rather than by the Ministry.

• The Ministry does not ask for an English language test for doctors or nurses trained outside the EU.
• All documents not in Italian must come with an Italian translation certified by the Italian consulate in the issuing country or sworn before an Italian court.
• Italian is checked before registration: DPR 394/1999 says the Ordini (or the Ministry, for professions without an Ordine) check your knowledge of Italian and of the rules on practice in Italy, at your expense.
• Exam sessions are run in Italian, so prepare for the compensatory measure in Italian from the start.

Estimate your total cost

• Declaration of value, legalisations and translations: set by consulates and translators, often the slowest part; the Ministry gives no estimate.
• Ministry decision: four months from a complete file for doctors (D1) and nurses (D2-1), according to the Ministry's service pages.
• D4 route (EU citizens with a non-EU title already recognised in the EU): three months from a complete file.
• Compensatory measure: sessions are announced a few months ahead (the April 2026 doctors' session had online enrolment from 6 February to 5 March 2026); a failed test can be retaken after at least six months.
• Ordine registration: must happen within two years of the decree, or the decree loses effect.