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

If you have an education from outside the EU/EEA you will be subject to additional requirements 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.

Extension of the deadline to undergo complete the additional requirements

Have you received a decision letter with information that you must complete additional requirements within three years before you can be granted a Norwegian authorisation?

You must attach these documents when you apply

Diploma
Transcript/Diploma Supplement
A detailed overview of the curriculum showing the specific subject content (not only the name of the subject) and the duration of the education.

a) The theoretical content must be stated in the learning objectives for each individual subject, and the scope of each subject must be expressed in either ECTS or the number of hours for each subject. The number of work placements or clinical practice studies with each period's length, objective, venue and evaluation results must be stated.

b) Practice must be expressed with number of weeks or hours or ECTS within each field of practice/department which include areas / institutions where your practical training experience is conducted. It must also be described what form the practice was conducted in (skill training, observation, patient-oriented practice or patient simulation).

c) The curriculum must be valid for the years the applicant studied, e.g. if you studied from 2010–2015 the curriculum has to cover those years. The curriculum also needs to provide detailed contact information to the educational institution.
List of required texts and syllabi
An overview of required texts and syllabi, and if applicable, digital education resources with a list of references. The overview must be valid for the years you studied and issued by your educational institution.

Possible additional documentation:

Confirmation on completed licensing exam/state exam if this is required in your country of education
You should attach the authorisation (approval showing that you have the right to practice) from the country of education and/or another country.
Certificate showing relevant work experience after graduating. The certificate must contain information about the type of position and work. Furthermore, the certificate must:
- Be issued with the workplace's letterhead and/or stamp.
- Be signed by the relevant manager or leader at the workplace. The manager's or leaders name and position must be typed in addition to the signature.
- Contain the workplace's contact information.

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 and in the correct order.
All pages must be rotated correctly.
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

Application form: Authorisation and licence (altinn.no)

NB! Applicants without a Norwegian national ID or D number must use alternative login in Altinn.

You must attach a scanned copy of 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.

User manual Altinn - Application for authorisation and license (PDF)

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 11 months

The case processing time will be extended if the application lacks necessary documentation.

The processing time is based on the country you obtained your degree in.
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.

The educational institution must provide contact information (name, e-mail address and telephone number) to at least one person from the institution.