Latvian Medical Association (LMA): Recognition and Exams

• Doctor (ārsts): recognition of foreign professional qualifications
• Doctors' basic specialties, sub-specialties and additional specialties: recognition and certification
• Dentist (zobārsts) and dental basic specialties and sub-specialties: recognition
• Certificates of current professional status and good standing for doctors and dentists registered in Latvia
• The Register of Medical Practitioners itself is kept by the Health Inspectorate, not the LMA.

• A completed medical or dental qualification that entitles you to practise fully and independently in the country where you trained.
• Documents from your home country on your right to practise, such as a licence or registration, and evidence of professional experience if you have it.
• A certificate of good standing (absence of disciplinary action) from your home country, which the AIC requires for doctors and dentists.
• Diplomas, diploma supplements and transcripts, translated into Latvian; the AIC says a notarised translation is not required.
• Legalisation in Latvia of documents issued outside the EU and EFTA.
• For specialty recognition: documents proving both your basic medical or dental qualification and your specialty training, because the AIC examines the basic qualification first.
• Latvian at C1, which you need before the Health Inspectorate will register you and which the certification exam assumes.

Check your route with the route finder

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   1. Contact the AIC, not the LMA

   The LMA directs foreign-trained doctors to the AIC, the information institution for doctors and dentists. You can also email the AIC at [email protected] with questions about the procedure. Sending documents straight to the LMA only delays you, because the LMA will not issue a statement until the AIC has evaluated your education.
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   2. Submit the application and pay €240

   Use the application form in Annex 1 of Cabinet Regulation No. 827 and attach your ID copy, diplomas and transcripts, right-to-practise documents, experience records and good standing certificate. The €240 fee is paid to the AIC. If you are applying for a specialty as well, include the specialty training documents.
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   3. AIC evaluation and transfer to the LMA

   The AIC checks the file, may ask for more documents and prepares a statement comparing your education and practical training with Latvian requirements. Cabinet Regulation No. 827 says it forwards the application and statement to the LMA within one and a half months of registering your application.
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   4. The LMA's decision

   The LMA can recognise your qualification, recognise it subject to additional requirements, refuse it, or recognise it for part of the profession's activities. For non-EU qualifications the deadline is 6 to 12 months from the submission of all documents to the AIC. You can appeal under the Administrative Procedure Law.
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   5. What a decision with conditions contains

   Under Cabinet Regulation No. 71 a decision setting an aptitude test lists the subjects or content that will be assessed and where and when you can sit it. A decision setting an adaptation period describes the knowledge and skills you must gain and names qualified doctors who can supervise you. Cabinet Regulation No. 827 adds that it states the cost and the bank account for payment.
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   6. Complete the aptitude test or adaptation period

   An adaptation period is supervised work in Latvia that lasts no longer than three years and ends with an assessment of your work. Its length is set at the minimum needed to close the gaps, and the LMA takes into account knowledge from your professional experience and further training. Plan for work permission and Latvian before you start.
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   7. Final recognition

   Once you have met the requirement and submitted all the documents, Cabinet Regulation No. 827 gives the LMA one month to decide on recognition. You receive a recognition certificate, which you then take to the Health Inspectorate.
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   8. Register, then certify

   Register with the Health Inspectorate using your recognition certificate and Latvian certificate. To practise independently in a specialty, apply to the LMA's certification commission for your specialty. The LMA publishes the 2026 schedule of certification commission meetings on its website.

• Aptitude test (kvalifikācijas atbilstības pārbaude)

  Set by the LMA where your training differs substantially from Latvian requirements. The decision lists the subjects to be tested and the place and time. The LMA does not publish a standard format or fee; both are stated in your decision.

• Adaptation period (adaptācijas periods)

  The alternative compensation measure: supervised practice under a qualified doctor for up to three years, ending with an evaluation of your work. The LMA approves the supervisor and sets the assessment criteria.

• Certification exam

  Under Cabinet Regulation No. 391 the exam is held in Latvian in two parts: a theory test based on the exam programme, which you pass by answering at least 75% of questions correctly, and a practical skills test. The commission evaluates the results within five working days and the certificate is valid for five years.

• State language test

  Not an LMA exam, but you need it. Latvian at C1 is tested by the State Education Development Agency, and the state fee for non-EU nationals is €52.

• The LMA's procedures for foreign-trained doctors do not use English tests. The requirement is Latvian.
• Cabinet Regulation No. 157 sets Latvian at C1 for doctors and for dentists, who fall within the group of other senior health professionals.
• The certification exam is conducted in Latvian, and Cabinet Regulation No. 391 bars certification of a practitioner reported not to have the required command of the state language until they provide proof.
• Documents for recognition must be translated into Latvian. For certification, documents not in Latvian need a certified translation.

Estimate your total cost

• AIC to LMA: the AIC forwards your file within one and a half months of registering the application.
• LMA decision: 6 to 12 months from submission of all documents for a non-EU qualification, according to the AIC.
• Aptitude test or adaptation period: an adaptation period lasts up to three years.
• Final recognition: within one month of proving you have met the requirement.
• Certification: the certifying body decides within three months of the application, extendable to four for objective reasons.