Valvira (LVV): Licence, Exams and Fees

• Medical doctor (lääkäri) and specialist doctor
• Dentist (hammaslääkäri) and specialised dental practitioner
• Registered nurse (sairaanhoitaja)
• Public health nurse (terveydenhoitaja)
• Midwife (kätilö)
• Pharmacist and pharmaceutical dispenser
• Psychologist (psykologi)

• Physiotherapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist and radiographer
• Medical laboratory technologist, dental hygienist, dental technician, dietitian and optician
• Protected occupational titles such as practical nurse (lähihoitaja), psychotherapist, podiatrist, osteopath, chiropractor, naprapath and trained masseur
• Student registrations for medical, dental and pharmacy students who work as temporarily legalised professionals
• All entries in the central register of health care professionals (Terhikki), searchable in JulkiTerhikki

• A completed qualification in the profession you are applying for. LVV will not grant a different title on the basis of it: a registered nurse's training cannot give the practical nurse title.
• A degree certificate legalised in the issuing country by Apostille or Grand Legalisation. LVV does not accept Apostille certificates from Pakistan at all.
• Officially certified copies of documents issued outside the EU or EEA, sent by post with the original notary or Finnish mission stamp and signature.
• A certificate of good standing, no more than three months old when LVV receives it, from every country where you have been licensed, or an affidavit if your profession is not registered there.
• Official translations of documents not in Finnish, Swedish or English, by an authorised translator in Finland or the EU or EEA, or confirmed by Apostille or Grand Legalisation.
• A passport, alien's passport or refugee travel document as proof of identity; a residence permit card or driving licence is not accepted.
• Proof of sufficient Finnish or Swedish, for example YKI intermediate level with at least level 3 in all skills, by the stage your profession's instructions set.
• For nurses not in a planned qualification programme: your transcript, a detailed training description, employment certificates, continuing education certificates and written consent to a paid expert opinion.

Check your route with the route finder

1. 1

   1. Find the right instructions for your profession

   LVV publishes separate instructions for doctors, specialist doctors, dentists, registered nurses, practical nurses and other health professionals trained outside the EU or EEA. Use the one for your profession, because the forms, steps and fees differ. If you have no Finnish personal identity code, follow LVV's separate guidance on that.
2. 2

   2. Legalise and certify your documents

   Ask the foreign ministry or the relevant body in your country of training how to legalise your degree certificate. Request the Apostille or Grand Legalisation for the right person: the signatory of the original degree, or the notary who certified a copy. If legalisation fails, LVV may check the degree directly with your institution if you give its official email and postal address, but this can delay the decision.
3. 3

   3. Send the application by post

   Doctors and dentists send the degree recognition form; nurses complete the electronic form and post the certified copies. Send everything at once, because processing time counts only from when LVV has every document, and do not email documents in advance. Do not include originals you need later: LVV keeps the documents.
4. 4

   4. LVV reviews your file

   LVV may ask for further information, ask a Finnish educational institution for an expert opinion, or hold a hearing. It says processing takes at least 4 months from a complete file and significantly longer if it has to request information or verify your qualification. If you register for Suomi.fi messages, requests, decisions and invoices can reach you electronically.
5. 5

   5. Nurses: receive the decision on additional studies

   The decision lists the studies you need for legalisation. Contact a Finnish educational institution that offers the training; it may ask you to apply for a study place or show a language certificate. If you are already on a qualification or SAILA legalisation path at a university of applied sciences planned with LVV, the institution assesses your competence and LVV does not request an expert opinion.
6. 6

   6. Nurses: apply for legalisation after the studies

   Use the electronic form and attach the certificate of completed studies, plus your language certificate and good standing certificate if you have not sent them before. The good standing certificate must again be no more than three months old. The decision is issued in Finnish or Swedish and invoiced by post.
7. 7

   7. Doctors and dentists: complete the internship

   After the recognition decision, find your own internship in a public health care unit and complete it in Finnish or Swedish. Doctors need at least 6 months full time (30 hours a week or more), with at least one month at any one place and no more than 14 days' absence. Dentists need 3 months as a dental intern or 6 months as a dental assistant. Get a statement from your employer for each place.
8. 8

   8. Doctors and dentists: register for the examinations

   Doctors register with LVV for the first clinical examination at least one week before Tampere University's registration deadline, sending ID, the language certificate, the supervisor's evaluation and a service certificate. Later examinations are booked directly with the university. Dentists register with LVV for their first competence examination at the University of Helsinki on the same one-week rule.
9. 9

   9. Doctors and dentists: work on limited licences

   A limited licence lets you work as a doctor or dentist under the direction and supervision of the employer, for a named workplace and up to 6 months at a time, generally for 2 years (730 days) in total. Apply at least 3 weeks before the job starts with the previous employer's statement. Doctors can apply after the first examination for public hospitals and after the second for health centres; dentists after passing all competence examinations.
10. 10

    10. Final legalisation and JulkiTerhikki

    Doctors apply after passing all three examinations and two years on limited licences; dentists after at least one year, if the employer supports it. Once LVV decides, your right to practise appears in JulkiTerhikki, which is updated once a day. If a dentist's employer does not support legalisation, LVV can require more time on a limited licence or a new internship.

• Clinical examination (doctors)

  A written examination of basic knowledge in clinical medicine and health care, made up of patient cases in the main medical specialities, at the level of the final examinations of the Finnish Licentiate of Medicine degree. It is organised with Tampere University's Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology and held in February, May, September and November. Tampere University lists the fee as €500 per attempt.

• Examination on the Finnish health care system (doctors)

  A written examination on social welfare and health care, legislation, health care systems, forensic medicine and pharmaceutical supply. You sign up for it directly with the faculty. Tampere University lists €500, or €250 to re-sit one part. You may sit each written examination no more than 10 times, with a one-year wait after a third failure.

• Practical patient care examination (doctors)

  Held at a health centre, it tests whether you can work with patients, use the main procedures of general practice, work with specialised care and promote health. You need YKI level 4 (B2) in Finnish or Swedish to sign up, and you may sit it no more than 3 times, with waits of 6 months and then one year (including 6 months' work in a public unit) after failures. Tampere University lists the fee as €1,400.

• Competence examinations (dentists)

  Theoretical and practical tests at the University of Helsinki's Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases, in Finnish or Swedish, checking that your knowledge and skills match the level needed for clinical work in Finland and testing your knowledge of Finnish health care legislation. The format changed from the examinations of 18 April 2023. Check dates and fees with the University of Helsinki.

• No examination for nurses

  Registered nurses and the other licensed professions do not sit a national examination. LVV compares training on paper, sometimes with an expert opinion from an educational institution, and educational institutions may assess competence in practice, particularly for professions such as practical nurse.

• LVV does not test or accept English as the language of practice. You need sufficient oral and written Finnish or Swedish.
• YKI National Certificate of Language Proficiency: the intermediate-level test with at least level 3 in all skill areas in the same test. The intermediate test costs €190 and grading takes around two months.
• Civil Service Language Certificate: at least 'Satisfactory skills' in all skill areas.
• Finnish education also counts: a comprehensive or upper secondary school leaving certificate, the matriculation examination, a vocational qualification in Finnish or Swedish, civil-servant language studies at a university, or a maturity test for a Finnish degree.
• An employer statement assessing your written and spoken language, reading and listening can be accepted case by case.
• Doctors must show their language skills at the latest when registering for the first clinical examination, and need YKI level 4 (B2) for the practical patient care examination. Nurses can send the certificate with the final legalisation application.

Estimate your total cost

• Language: plan for Finnish or Swedish to at least YKI level 3 in every skill, and level 4 for doctors, before the later stages; YKI results take around two months.
• Recognition or comparison: LVV says at least 4 months from a complete application, and significantly longer if it requests information, verifies your degree or asks for an expert opinion.
• Doctors' internship: at least 6 months full time or one year part time, starting only after the recognition decision.
• Doctors' examinations: written examinations four times a year; the practical patient care examination is arranged with the faculty.
• Limited licences: doctors usually work 2 years under limited licences before legalisation; dentists at least one year.
• Nurses: the length of the mandated additional studies decides the timeline, followed by a further LVV decision on legalisation.