Socialstyrelsen Sweden: Legitimation, Exams and Fees

• Doctor of medicine (läkare)
• Nurse responsible for general care (sjuksköterska)
• Midwife (barnmorska)
• Pharmacist (apotekare) and prescriptionist (receptarie)
• Psychologist and psychotherapist
• Radiographer, biomedical scientist and medical physicist
• Optician, orthopaedic engineer, chiropractor and naprapath

• Dental practitioner (tandläkare) and dental hygienist (tandhygienist)
• Physiotherapist (fysioterapeut) and occupational therapist (arbetsterapeut)
• Audiologist, dietitian, speech and language pathologist and healthcare counsellor
• Protected professional title of assistant nurse (undersköterska)
• Specialist qualifications for doctors and dentists, and the right to the title of specialist nurse, once you hold a Swedish licence

• A completed post-secondary education in one of the licensed professions, from a country outside the EU and EEA (Switzerland is not treated as a third country).
• Education that substantially matches the Swedish programme for that profession in length, level and content, as Socialstyrelsen decides at the assessment.
• A pass in the proficiency test (kunskapsprov) if Socialstyrelsen decides you must take one, within the permitted attempts and time limit.
• A pass in the course in Swedish laws and regulations that Socialstyrelsen decides for you.
• Completed clinical training in Swedish healthcare for the time and in the way Socialstyrelsen decides.
• Proof of the necessary knowledge of Swedish, Danish or Norwegian, for licensed professions for example C1 on the Common European Framework or Swedish 3.
• A Swedish personal identity number or coordination number by the time the licence is issued; Socialstyrelsen can request one for you.
• No serious criminal convictions; Socialstyrelsen checks the police records before issuing the licence.

Check your route with the route finder

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   1. Pick the profession and the right application path

   On the legitimation.socialstyrelsen.se portal, choose your profession and where you were educated. With a diploma from outside the EU and EEA you follow the outside-EU path; if you also worked at least three years under a licence in an EU or EEA country, a separate Article 3.3 path may apply. UK diplomas issued on or after 1 January 2021 count as outside the EU and EEA.
2. 2

   2. Apply for an assessment of your education

   Print and complete the application form for assessment of education received outside the EU and EEA, pay SEK 990 to bank giro 790-3750 (or by IBAN from abroad) and send the form with copies of your passport, diploma, a certificate listing your courses and programme length, and any name-change document. Send copies, not originals. Socialstyrelsen says the assessment takes about 3 months and the decision comes by email.
3. 3

   3. Translate correctly

   Documents in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish or English need no translation. Anything else must be translated into Swedish or English by a certified translator, which can be done in any country; Socialstyrelsen points to the Kammarkollegiet register and also accepts translations from the Public Employment Service. If you cannot get your diploma, the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) can issue a background paper to send instead.
4. 4

   4. Register for and pass the proficiency test

   After a positive decision, apply to the university that runs your profession's test. Doctors first apply for an account on Umeå University's course website, which Socialstyrelsen checks (normally two working weeks), and then book a test date. Places are allocated by Socialstyrelsen's priority order: first-time candidates come first for the theory test, and for the practical test those who passed some components before, then by waiting time.
5. 5

   5. Take the course in Swedish laws and regulations

   When Socialstyrelsen confirms you have passed the whole proficiency test, apply to Lund University's free web course on healthcare law. Lund tells you the first available start date; you can study full-time or part-time, and alongside clinical training as long as it is outside working hours.
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   6. Arrange clinical training

   Find a placement yourself and complete it at one workplace: 6 months for doctors, dentists and pharmacists, 6 months over two workplaces for midwives, and 3 months for nurses and physiotherapists. Your manager and supervisor complete Socialstyrelsen's certificate of clinical training at the end. Socialstyrelsen gives no financial support, so plan how you will live during this period.
7. 7

   7. Special authorisation for doctors, dentists, pharmacists and midwives

   For 6-month training periods you work under a special authorisation of up to 7 months. Public healthcare providers can issue it to doctors who have passed both parts of the test; private providers apply to Socialstyrelsen. Doctors who have passed the test can also work for a limited period on a special authorisation before their training starts.
8. 8

   8. Apply for the licence

   Send the licence application form (in Swedish) by post or email in PDF, with your passport copy, Swedish language certificate and the original clinical training certificate, plus your law course certificate if you have no personal identity or coordination number. No further fee is due if you paid SEK 990 at the assessment. Socialstyrelsen says a complete application currently takes about 2 to 4 weeks.
9. 9

   9. Coordination number and police check

   If you have no Swedish personal identity or coordination number, Socialstyrelsen asks the Swedish Tax Agency to assign one, and you are normally called to an identity check, at a Tax Agency office or at a Swedish passport authority abroad. Socialstyrelsen also checks the police records; a record means an individual review and a longer wait.
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    10. Licensed, registered in HOSP and able to appeal

    Once licensed, you are entered in HOSP, notified by post and may start practising at once. If you disagree with a decision, you appeal in writing to the Administrative Court in Stockholm, sent to Socialstyrelsen within three weeks of receiving the decision. Specialist recognition is a separate application after your licence.

• Proficiency test for doctors (Umeå University)

  The theoretical part is held digitally in an exam hall over one day, with parts totalling 7.5 hours of multiple-choice questions, including clinical cases, a 140-question MCQ part and a part based on a scientific article in English. The practical part is an OSCE over two days: 14 six-minute stations on day 1 and 4 fourteen-minute stations on day 2. More than two clear fails mean a fail even with enough points. Umeå lists theory dates of 22 September and 26 November 2026.

• Proficiency test for nurses (University of Gothenburg)

  The written part, a modified essay question (MEQ) exam, has two patient cases (maximum 50 points, 33 to pass) and a drug calculation section where every answer must be correct. It is sat in Gothenburg or Kalmar. The practical part is a half-day OSCE with six stations, such as blood sampling, urinary catheterisation and peripheral venous cannulation, held in Gothenburg, Umeå and Kalmar. The university says you pay nothing for the test.

• Proficiency tests for dentists, pharmacists and physiotherapists

  Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm runs the tests for dentists and physiotherapists, and Uppsala University runs the test for pharmacists. Each has a theoretical and a practical part with the same attempt limits; check the university's page for format and dates.

• Rules on attempts and time limits

  You have five attempts at the theoretical part and three at the practical part, and you must pass the theory first. If you fail your first attempt, you have five years from then to pass the whole test. Extra attempts cannot be requested, and missing a booked test without cancelling counts as a used attempt at the University of Gothenburg.

• Course in Swedish laws and regulations (Lund University)

  A free web course on the laws and regulations governing Swedish healthcare, open once you have passed the whole proficiency test. You must pass it to be licensed.

• Socialstyrelsen does not require an English test. It requires the necessary knowledge of Swedish, Danish or Norwegian, and this applies even to Swedish and other Nordic citizens.
• For licensed professions it accepts a pass in Swedish 3 or Swedish as a Second Language 3 (for example at Komvux), a test in Swedish, Danish or Norwegian at C1, or a course or test that gives eligibility for higher education in Sweden, Denmark or Norway.
• A healthcare provider can certify C1-level skills on Socialstyrelsen's form. The assessment must be made by an operational manager and describe your listening, reading, speaking and writing, how it was assessed and what tasks you did over what period.
• For the assistant nurse title the level is Swedish 1 or Swedish as a Second Language 1, or B2.
• No Swedish is needed for the assessment of your education, but the proficiency test, law course and clinical training are all in Swedish. Send your certificate at the latest with your licence application.
• Documents in English are accepted without translation, and the doctors' theoretical test includes a scientific article in English.

Estimate your total cost

• Assessment of education: about 3 months, Socialstyrelsen says.
• Account on Umeå University's test website for doctors: normally two working weeks after you apply.
• Proficiency test: depends on test dates and places; you have five years from a first failed attempt to pass both parts.
• Clinical training: 3 months (nurses, physiotherapists) or 6 months (doctors, dentists, pharmacists, midwives).
• Licence decision: about 2 to 4 weeks for a complete application, longer if the police check finds a record.
• Overall: Socialstyrelsen says usually 2 to 4 years on its route and 1 to 3 years through a complementary programme, with learning Swedish the main variable.