Professional qualifications and diplomas

You do not need a separate diploma or a permit to work in the Netherlands or to establish a business in the Netherlands. However, for certain professions you need to meet specific professional requirements. These are regulated professions. If you do not have a regulated profession, you do not need to meet these requirements.

Regulated professions in the Netherlands

Practicing a regulated profession is restricted to those who meet the professional qualifications required by law. You must prove that you have the right education and professional experience to practise this profession. You must:

• have a diploma or certificate;
• take certain exams and/or;
• register with a professional association.

Find out if you have a regulated profession

In the European Union's Regulated Professions Database you can find the list of the regulated professions for all European Union (EU) member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. In this database you choose the country where you qualified for your profession, the country you want to start working in (the Netherlands) and then type the name of your profession. If your profession is in this database, you have a regulated profession. If your profession is not in the database, you do not have a regulated profession.

You do not have a regulated profession

If your profession is not in the database for regulated professions, you can practice your profession in the Netherlands. You do not need to ask permission or have your professional qualifications recognised. You can have your foreign diploma or certificate evaluated by the Information centre for credential evaluation (IDW), but this is not required.

You have a regulated profession

You have a certificate from an EU country and you want to settle permanently in the Netherlands

Is your profession listed in this database? And do you want to establish permanent residence in the Netherlands? Then you must have your qualifications recognised to practise your profession in the Netherlands.

You have a certificate from an EU country and you want to work temporarily or occasionally in the Netherlands

Is your profession listed in the database for regulated professions and do you want to work in the Netherlands temporarily or occasionally? You do not have to apply for recognition of your qualifications. But you must inform the relevant competent authority. You can find the contact details of the competent authority for your profession in the database if you click on the tab 'competent authorities' on the page for your profession.

Please note: Do you want to work temporarily or occasionally in the Netherlands and is your profession mentioned in this list of 51 regulated professions (in Dutch)? Then you do need to have your qualifications recognised. These 51 regulated professions impact public health or public order.

You have a certificate from a non-EU country

If you have a diploma or certificate from another country than one of the 27 EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, you need to have it recognised. You must also apply for a certificate of professional competence. You can apply for one with the competent authority for your profession. You can find the competent authority in the EU’s database. Click on your profession and consult the tab 'competent authorities' to find the contact details.

Recognition of foreign diplomas and professions

You apply for recognition of your professional qualifications with the competent authority for your profession. You can find the contact details of the authority for your profession in the database if you click on the tab 'competent authorities' on the page for your profession. This competent authority for your profession will tell you which requirements you have to fulfil, how the procedure works, and which documents you need. If the information is not clear, Nuffic can help you. Nuffic is the Dutch organisation for internationalisation in education. Nuffic's National Contact Point can inform you about the status of your national diploma in the Netherlands and possible access to a Dutch regulated profession.

You qualify for automatic recognition if you have one of these professions:

• physician
• general care nurse
• obstetrician
• dental practitioner
• pharmacist
• veterinary surgeon (in Dutch)
• architect

For automatic recognition the competent authority must complete the procedure within a short time. You have to submit proof of your professional qualifications to the competent authorities. Once you have permission from the competent authorities, you can start work. In some cases you may have to submit other documents as well.

Apply for recognition in another EU country

If you are an EU citizen, you can apply for a European Professional Card (EPC) from the EU. This provides recognition for the following regulated professions:

• pharmacist
• nurse, responsible for general care
• physiotherapist
• real estate agent
• mountain guide

You can apply for the European Professional Card online. This card simplifies the procedure for getting your professional qualifications recognised in another EU country. Costs related to the application for an EPC depend on, among others, home country, host country and profession.

You do not agree with the decision

If the competent authority does not grant you recognition of your professional qualifications, you can object within 6 weeks. You object by writing a letter (notice of objection) to the competent authority stating why you do not agree with their decision. This notice of objection must also state your name, address and signature. The competent authority will then reassess your application. If you do not agree with this decision you can appeal to the court.

Regulated education and training in the Netherlands

Since a lot of professions demand special skills and knowledge, in the Netherlands senior secondary vocational education (mbo) offers vocational (occupation oriented) qualifications. These qualifications can make up a qualification file (dossier) which describes the requirements a student needs to meet to get a diploma. The contents of these qualification files are determined by professionals from the field of education and the industry.

A qualification file consists of 1 or more qualifications, including a basic part and a specific ‘profile’ part. The basic part of a qualification is made up of general professional knowledge of an occupation, language skills, calculus and citizenship education. The profile part consists of subjects specific to a profession. In addition to the qualifications students can choose optional subjects. These enrich the education and are mandatory to complete senior secondary vocational studies (mbo-opleidingen) to get an mbo diploma. All qualification dossiers combined, supplemented with the optional parts and mbo certificates, form the qualification structure. To find out which qualification files and other components you need for a specific profession you can search the Qualification structure register. You can find more information on credential evaluation and educational comparison of vocational qualifications on Foundation for Cooperation on Vocational Education, Training and Labour Market’s (SBB) website (in Dutch).

You can find more information on regulated study programmes with the Central Register Vocational Education CREBO (Centraal Register Beroepsopleidingen, in Dutch) and the Central Register Professional Education CROHO (Centraal Register Opleidingen Hoger Onderwijs, in Dutch). Did you finish your regulated education in the Netherlands, and do you want to work in a regulated profession in another EU member state? You should get recognition by the recognition body in the country you (want to) work in. This applies even if the profession is not regulated in the Netherlands. The competent authority may require you to take an aptitude test or complete an adaptation period.

AC declaration

If you are unsure about the status of your education or training, you can apply to SBB (in Dutch) for an AC declaration (AC-verklaring). The declaration states if the profession or the education/training is regulated and in which professions you are allowed to work in the Netherlands.

Certificate supplements

The Europass certificate supplement (CS) states whether or not your profession or education is regulated. You can download a certificate supplement on the SBB website. You can use the CS to show your skills in the Netherlands and abroad. The information comes directly from the qualification files approved by the Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science. The CS is available in Dutch, English and German.

The Europass Certificate Supplement is part of Europass. This is a set of documents that will help you even more, to show your knowledge and skills abroad. For more information, please visit the EU Europass website.

Europass also includes other tools to help you clearly communicate your skills and experiences across the EU:

• The Diploma Supplement gives helpful information on your higher education diploma (e.g. grades, achievements, institution) to help you communicate your skills to employers.
• The Europass Certificate Supplement gives helpful information on your vocational qualifications (e.g. grades, achievements, institution) to help you communicate your skills to employers.
• Europass Mobility helps to describe your international experiences and skills developed while studying, working or volunteering abroad.