Educated within EU or EEA – before you apply for a licence
If you were educated in the EU, EEA or Switzerland and apply for a licence in Sweden, your application will primarily be handled in accordance with the Act on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications. This means that the National Board of Health and Welfare checks that you are qualified to practise the profession and assesses your education.
Please note that a recognition of your qualifications is not equal to a license to practice and does not give you the right to use a protected title.
The assessment has two steps:
- The National Board of Health and Welfare investigates whether your professional qualifications can be recognised
In order to be entitled to an assessment, you need to prove that you are qualified to practise the profession in question in another EU or EEA country or Switzerland. If you are not qualified in another EU or EEA country or Switzerland, the National Board of Health and Welfare may reject your application.
Only after the National Board of Health and Welfare has established that you are qualified to practise the profession can we proceed to assess your professional qualifications.
Within the EU, EEA and Switzerland, the education programmes for the following professions have been harmonised:
physician, dentist, pharmacist, nurse, and midwife.
This means that the EU has set a minimum level for the educational content and that these professional qualifications can generally be recognised automatically.
The remaining licenced professions and professions with protected professional title in Sweden have not been harmonised within the EU: occupational therapist, audiologist, biomedical scientist, dietician, physiotherapist, healthcare counsellor, chiropractor, speech and language pathologist, naprapath, optician, orthopaedic engineer, psychologist, psychotherapist, prescriptionist, radiographer, medical physicist, dental hygienist, assistant nurse.
This means that the National Board of Health and Welfare will compare the education and professional experience in the country where you studied with the profession in Sweden. If it is determined that no substantial differences exist, we can recognise your professional qualifications.Such a decision means that you need to complete practical training or a test in order to have your professional qualifications recognised. Only after you have submitted a certificate showing that you have successfully completed the compensatory measure(s) set out in the decision can the National Board of Health and Welfare recognise your professional qualifications. You do not have to pay the application fee again.
- The National Board of Health and Welfare investigates whether you meet the requirements for a licence
In cases where the National Board of Health and Welfare can recognise your professional qualifications, we will proceed to investigate whether you meet the requirements for a licence. We will then investigate whether you have adequate language skills in Swedish, Danish or Norwegian. To obtain a Swedish licence, you need to show that you are sufficiently proficient in Swedish, Danish or Norwegian. This applies even if you are a citizen of Sweden, Denmark, Finland or Norway.
To be able to obtain a licence, you must also have a Swedish coordination number or personal identity number. We also conduct a criminal records check issuing a licence.
Application for recognition of professional qualifications
If you have an education from another EU/EEA country and do not yet have the language proficiency required for a licence, you have the opportunity to request for a recognition of professional qualifications.
Please note that a recognition of your qualifications is not equal to a license to practice and does not give you the right to use a protected title.
If you wish to apply for recognition of your professional qualifications, please submit the following documents to socialstyrelsen@socialstyrelsen.se. In the subject line of your e-mail, write "Application for recognition of professional qualifications – EU”.
Please submit:
- a completed application form (Swedish form)
- a copy of a valid ID document (valid passport/civic registration certificate issued within the past three months/copy of a valid national ID card)
- degree certificate
- any appendices to your degree certificate
- Certificate of Good Standing
- certificate that your education complies with EU directives (Certificate of Conformity)
- Certificate proving a name change (if you have changed your name since you graduated).
If your professional qualifications are recognised, you can apply for a licence at a later date. In this case, all you need to do is submit a certificate of language proficiency and a receipt for payment of the application fee. You also need to have a coordination number or personal identity number – if you do not have one, the National Board of Health and Welfare will request a coordination number for you via the Swedish Tax Agency.