Riconoscimento qualifiche professioni sanitarie

Right of establishment – EU citizens

If you are a citizen from the European Union, the EEA (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) or the Swiss Confederation, you have obtained your health professional qualification in an EU Member State or in a country of the EEA (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) or in the Swiss Confederation and you wish to pursue your profession in Italy on a permanent basis, you can apply for the recognition of your qualification under the provision called “right of establishment”.

A different procedure will be adopted according to the profession you wish to pursue:

• for the following professions: surgeon, specialised doctor, doctor in basic medicine and general medical practice, veterinary surgeon, pharmacist, dental practitioner, specialised dental practitioner, nurse and midwife, the EU law has set harmonisation rules for Member States, countries of the EEA (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and of the Swiss Confederation. On the basis of these provisions, the recognition procedure consists of a documents’ examination aimed at assessing the existence of minimum standard requirements in terms of education and training. Current law sets these provisions as prior condition for the recognition.
• for all the other professions, for which minimum education and training standards have not been set, it is necessary to carry out a specific assessment of the qualification achieved abroad (learning career and professional practice if present)

<bannerino “Locator”>

Substitute declaration in lieu of Affidavit (link)

Right to free provision of services – EU citizens

Right to free provision of services – EU citizens

It is possible to provide occasional professional services without permanently settling in Italy and without enrolling in the relevant Italian professional association (Order, Register or College), but still remaining subject to the same obligations and disciplinary sanctions provided for Italian health professionals.

A person is legally settled in a State when he or she meets all the requirements provided for the pursuit of the profession in the State concerned, and no ban – not even temporary – prevents him or her to practice that profession. For non-regulated professions in the country of origin, the person needs to give evidence of a one-year professional experience acquired during the previous ten years.

In order to deliver professional services in Italy for the first time, a preventive declaration must be sent, attaching all the documentation required by Directive 2005/36/EC. Information concerning procedure, application forms and the list of the required documents can be found at the following link: Recognition of health professional qualifications obtained in EU Member States or equivalent

For the professions with "automatic" recognition:

• surgeon
• specialised doctor
• pharmacist
• veterinary surgeon
• dental practitioner
• specialised dental practitioner
• nurse
• midwife

and for the following professions, no preliminary assessment will be carried out:

• dental assistant
• health care assistant
• Junior biologist
• chemist
• Junior chemist
• dietitian
• professional educator
• dental hygienist
• speech and language therapist
• dental technician
• orthoptist- assistant in ophthalmology
• optician
• audiometric technician
• audioprosthet technician
• cardiovascular physiopathology and cardiovascular perfusion technician
• neurophysiology technician
• technician for prevention of environment and in the workplace
• orthotist
• psychomotor therapist
• biomedical laboratory technician
• occupational therapist

As for other qualifications which are not quoted in the above list, this Administration is entitled to carry out a preliminary check on the professional qualification before enabling the temporary and occasional pursuit of the profession.

No later than one month after the receipt of the declaration and the required documents, the applicants will be notified whether their professional qualifications would be verified.

Should the qualifications undergo an assessment procedure, a test may be required if there are substantial differences between the training obtained in the country of origin and that required by Italian regulations.

Before arranging the test, the assessment procedure will also verify any professional experience and/or continuing professional development or any additional training that may compensate for the identified differences.

This Administration will notify the outcome of the preliminary investigation within a period that may vary from one month to four months, the deadline runs from the time of receipt of the full application, complete with all the required documentation; the period varies depending on whether or not the assessment of qualifications is carried out.