Apply for authorisation as a General Nurse (sykepleier) – educated outside the EU/EEA
The Norwegian education as a General Nurse is a bachelor's degree. If your education is on a lower educational level than a bachelor's degree in your country of education, we recommend you rather to apply for authorisation as a Health Care Worker.
Before you apply
For those educated outside the EU/EEA, additional requirements must be met before authorisation can be granted. It is important that you are familiar with the requirements, and the fees that comes with it, before you apply for authorisation.
Have you previously received a decision to complete additional requirements but haven't managed to do so within the deadline?
Extension of Deadline for Additional Requirements
Have you received a decision with information to complete additional requirements within three years?
Read more about the requirements for an extension and how to apply here: Extension of the deadline to complete the additional requirements.
Documents you must submit with your application
- Diploma
- Transcript of records / Diploma Supplement
- Required reading lists and syllabi
Submit an overview of required textbooks, reading materials, and, where applicable, digital learning resources, including a reference list. The documentation must be valid for the years you studied and must be issued by your educational institution. - Detailed curriculum overview:
The curriculum must include detailed information about the content and duration of the education, not just the names of the subjects.
a) Theoretical studies:
- Learning outcomes or course descriptions for each subject.
- The scope of each subject, specified in ECTS credits or hours.
- Information about clinical placements or practical studies, including: duration of each placement, learning objectives, place of training, and assessment or evaluation results.
b) Practical training:
- The extent of practical training in weeks, hours, or ECTS credits for each field of practice or department.
- Information about where the training took place (institutions, departments, or practice areas).
- Information about clinical placements or practical studies, including: duration of each placement, learning objectives, place of training, and assessment or evaluation results.
c) Curriculum validity:
- The curriculum must be valid for the period during which you completed your education.
- For example, if you studied from 2010 to 2015, the curriculum must cover those years.
- The curriculum must also include complete contact information for the educational institution.
Possible additional documentation:
-
Documentation confirming successful completion of a licensing examination or state examination, if such an examination is required in your country of education.
-
Authorisation or registration documents showing your right to practise in the country where you completed your education and/or in any other country where you are authorised to practise.
-
Certificates of relevant professional experience obtained after graduation.
Certificates must:
a) be issued by the employer,
b) state your job title,
c) include a brief description of your duties,
d) specify the employment percentage (full-time equivalent), and
d) indicate the period of employment
Please do not send employment agreements or contracts, only a certificate from your place of work.
Important: In some countries, the educational institution must send the transcript directly to the Norwegian Directorate of Health, or the documents must be certified by the relevant authorities before they are submitted to the Directorate. Information about which countries this applies to can be found at the bottom of this page.
Please note the following regarding your documents
- All documents must be scanned as PDF-copies of the original documents. If the original documents are in colour, the scanned copies attached to the application must also be in colour. Photographs of documents will not be accepted.
- If an original document has multiple pages, all scanned pages must be assemled into one document, in the correct order and correctly oriented
- All original documents that are not in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English must be translated into one of these languages by a authorised translator. The translation must be scanned/submitted in the same file as the original document
Any attempt to obtain recognition with fraudulent documents will be reported to the police.
NB! In some countries, the educational institution must send transcript directly to the Directorate of Health or the authorities must certify the documents before sending them to the Directorate of Health. You can find information about which countries this applies to at the bottom of the page.
Please note the following regarding your documents
- All documents must be scanned as PDF-copies of the original documents. If the original documents are in colour, the scanned copies attached to the application must also be in colour. Photographs of documents will not be accepted.
- If an original document has multiple pages, all scanned pages must be assemled into one document, in the correct order and correctly oriented
- All original documents that are not in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English must be translated into one of these languages by a authorised translator. The translation must be scanned/submitted in the same file as the original document
Any attempt to obtain recognition with fraudulent documents will be reported to the police.
You apply in Altinn
You must attach a scanned copy of valid passport or European ID card in your application.
First name and surname in the application form must be the same as in the passport/ID card, and be written in the same order.
You pay the processing fee when you apply
You must pay a processing fee of NOK 1.665,-
You pay the fee in Altinn when you register your application.
Processing time is 23 months
- If your application is incomplete, the processing time will be extended
- If you have obtained your education in multiple countries, the processing time will be based on the country where you completed your foundational (primary) education.
If you have worked in another EEA country with the full right to the profession continuously for at least 3 years, you can inform us about this by sending an e-mail to: godkjenning@helsedir.no
Unique documentation requirements for some countries
Applicants who have completed their education in one of the countries listed below must ask their educational institution to send the transcript directly to The Norwegian Directorate of Health:
1. Afghanistan
2. The Democratic Republic of Congo
3. Eritrea
4. Ethiopia
5. Hong Kong
6. Yemen
7. Cameroon
8. Liberia
9. Libya
10. Nigeria
11. Sierra Leone
12. Somalia
13. Taiwan
14. United States
The Norwegian Directorate of Health cannot receive and accept letters and packages where fees, customs duties etc. are required. Transcript must be sent by post to:
The Norwegian Directorate of Health,
Department of Authorisation,
PB 220 Skøyen,
0213 Oslo,
Norway
Mail delivered by courier should be sent to:
The Norwegian Directorate of Health,
Department of Authorisation,
Vitaminveien 4
0483 Oslo
Norway
The educational institution must provide contact information (name, e-mail address and telephone number) to at least one person from the institution.
Other countries of education with special documentation requirements
Pakistan
The Norwegian Directorate of Health uses the verification service Dataflow Group for verifying documents from Pakistan. Consequently, you must have your documents verified by Dataflow for The Norwegian Directorate of Health to consider them in your application: DataFlow Group
Read more about this here:Verification of documentation issued in Pakistan
If you have a previous report issued to another authority, you can choose the "Reissue Existing Report" option in the DataFlow portal. You must also verify all documents required by the Norwegian Directorate of Health that have not been verified previously.
The previous requirement for HEC attestation has now been replaced with DataFlow verification. Only applicants with a valid decision who manage to complete the additional requirements within the three year deadline are exempt from having their documents verified through DataFlow. If you are unable to complete the additional requirements within the three year deadline and need to reapply, the requirement for DataFlow verification will apply to you.
Ukraine
Due to the current situation in Ukraine, it is difficult to get Apostille of educational documents. In such cases, the Norwegian Directorate of Health will accept Ukrainian documentation without an Apostille until further notice.
Information and Image Center of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine: http://apostille.in.ua/en/
China
Applicants with a degree from China must have their educational documents, Graduation Certificate, Degree Certificate and Transcript of Records, verified by the Center for Student Services and Development (CSSD). The verification reports are sent directly to you from CSSD so that you can forward them to the Norwegian Directorate of Health.
You can order the verification reports on the CSSD website.