Ordem dos Enfermeiros: Registration, Requirements and Fees

• Nurses (enfermeiro), responsible for general care.
• Specialist nurses (enfermeiro especialista), including specialists in maternal health and obstetric nursing (the route for midwifery in Portugal).
• Additional competences (competências acrescidas) awarded by the Ordem.
• Professional companies of nurses and permanent representations of foreign nursing organisations, under articles 14 and 15 of the Ordem's statute.
• A public search of registered nurses is available on the Ordem's website.

• A higher education nursing course (curso superior de enfermagem) or a general nursing course or its legal equivalent.
• For third-country nationals trained outside the EU: a certificate of specific recognition of the nursing degree from a competent Portuguese public higher education institution.
• Portuguese at C1, shown by a certificate from a competent body or by passing the Ordem's language communication test.
• A Portuguese criminal record certificate under 3 months old, stating its purpose as registration with a professional order and citing Law 113/2009.
• A criminal record certificate from your country of origin or provenance, under 3 months old.
• A certificate of good conduct from the nursing regulator where you trained or worked, confirming you can practise without restriction, under 3 months old; if you were never registered, a certificate or sworn declaration confirming that.
• Identification, a Portuguese tax card where you have no citizen card, and a recent passport photograph.
• Foreign documents legalised by a Portuguese consulate or with a Hague apostille, with certified translations of documents in other languages.

Check your route with the route finder

1. 1

   1. Get specific recognition of your nursing degree

   Apply through the DGES online form to a Portuguese public higher education institution in nursing. DGES says the decision is due within 90 days of a complete file, and the institution sets the fee. The institution may ask for your course units, programme content, hours and final grade, so request a detailed transcript from your college early.
2. 2

   2. Reach C1 Portuguese

   Prepare for the DAPLE (C1) or DUPLE (C2) from CAPLE, or for the Ordem's language communication test. The Ordem's guidance says acquiring the Portuguese needed to express yourself properly, in writing and orally, is entirely your responsibility. Nurses who trained in a Portuguese-speaking country, or studied in Portugal, may be exempt.
3. 3

   3. Collect, legalise and translate your documents

   Gather your recognition certificate, both criminal record certificates, your good conduct certificate, identification, tax card and photograph. Have foreign documents apostilled or legalised and translated where needed. The certificates must be under 3 months old when you apply, so time them carefully.
4. 4

   4. Apply on the Balcão Único

   Create your application on the Ordem's online platform and upload scanned documents. You can use computers at a regional section if you need to, but the application is still made through the platform. If you do not yet live in Portugal, give your current address and update it when you move.
5. 5

   5. Pay and present originals

   After you submit, the Ordem notifies you to pay and gives you 30 working days to present the originals or certified copies at the regional section handling your file. If something is missing, an alert on the platform lists it and you have 10 working days to fix it, or the procedure lapses.
6. 6

   6. Language check, if required

   If you have not proved C1 or the Ordem has well-founded doubts about your Portuguese, you sit a written and oral language check in person, run by its Nursing Council or experts it appoints. A charge applies under the Ordem's table of fees. The decision deadline is suspended while this is pending.
7. 7

   7. Decision by the title committee

   The committee for the award of titles decides within 30 working days of receiving all required documents. The deadline is suspended if it asks for clarification or you need to correct your file. If it intends to refuse, you have 10 working days to respond.
8. 8

   8. Receive your professional card and update your workplace

   Once accepted you receive your professional card (cédula profissional). After you start work, you must tell the Ordem your professional address through the Balcão Único within 30 working days. The card is revalidated automatically when your dues are up to date.

• No clinical licensing exam at the Ordem

  The Ordem does not run a nursing knowledge exam like the NCLEX or a CBT. Your clinical training is assessed by the Portuguese public institution that grants specific recognition, which sets its own requirements.

• Language communication test (prova de comunicação linguística)

  Article 19 of Regulation 371/2025 says the test follows the test designed, applied and marked under CAPLE's system for Portuguese as a foreign language, under the Ordem's regulation on the language communication test and language control procedure. It assesses comprehension and communication in Portuguese in nursing practice.

• DAPLE and DUPLE certificates

  The Ordem's guidance names the Diploma Avançado de Português Língua Estrangeira (DAPLE, C1) and the Diploma Universitário de Português Língua Estrangeira (DUPLE, C2), both from CAPLE, as accepted proof of Portuguese. Check exam centres and dates with CAPLE.

• Language control procedure

  Where proof is missing or doubts remain, the Ordem may require an in-person written and oral test by its Nursing Council or appointed experts, for a fee set in its table of fees.

• English is not assessed and IELTS or OET results are not accepted as language proof. The Ordem requires Portuguese.
• The level is C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference, under Regulation 371/2025.
• Accepted proof named in the Ordem's guidance: DAPLE (C1) or DUPLE (C2) from CAPLE, or a pass in the Ordem's language communication test.
• Exempt with supporting evidence, where there is no well-founded doubt about your Portuguese: secondary or higher education completed in Portugal, nursing training in a higher education institution of a country whose official language is Portuguese, or training at a recognised body that attests adequate Portuguese.
• Nurses who cannot prove C1, or about whom doubts remain, go through the language control procedure.

Estimate your total cost

• Specific recognition: up to 90 days from a complete file, according to DGES.
• Portuguese to C1: depends on your starting point; for most nurses from outside the Portuguese-speaking world this is the longest stage.
• Originals: within 30 working days of the Ordem's payment notice; missing items must be fixed within 10 working days.
• Ordem decision: within 30 working days of a complete file, with the clock stopped for clarifications or a language check.
• After starting work: report your professional address within 30 working days.

1. 1Ordem dos Enfermeiros: Inscreva-se (registration)
2. 2Ordem dos Enfermeiros: General guidance for registration
3. 3Ordem dos Enfermeiros: Regulation 371/2025 on registration, titles and additional competences (PDF)
4. 4Ordem dos Enfermeiros: Guidance for third-country nationals and qualifications (PDF)
5. 5Web archive copy of the Ordem dos Enfermeiros registration page, 5 November 2025
6. 6DGES: Recognition of foreign degrees and diplomas
7. 7ACSS: Nursing career