Finland Medical Recognition short roadmap 

Valvira Application / Diploma Equivalency Documents:

  1. Form available on the Valvira page: Fill in the relevant fields as shown on the website. Print the page and put your wet signature on it. Scan the wet signed version. The scanned version will be sent via e-mail. The printed version will go in the application envelope.
  2. A document showing your identity details: There is no detailed information on the official Valvira website about whether the new type of ID cards, the new type of driver's licenses are available. What we do know is that a passport is a must for everyone who embarks on this journey. It is also tried and tested that a photocopy of the passport is accepted. A photocopy is made of the page in your passport that contains your identity details. The photocopy is certified as the original by a notary public. Apostille procedures are carried out at the district governorship / governorship together with the photocopy. Scan your apostilled passport photocopy (including both the photocopy page and the page with the apostille information). The digital copy will be an e-mail attachment. We put the printed version in our envelope.
  3. Good Standing certificate: This document can be obtained in two ways. The first way is to request it with a petition from the General Directorate of European Union and Foreign Relations of the Ministry of Health. The first way is not recommended by those who have experienced it. The reason is that it takes longer to receive the document and the ministry does not send a new document before 3 months. The second way is to request it from the provincial medical chambers. In order to obtain the certificate from the medical chamber, you must first register with the relevant medical chamber and then submit a petition. There is a chamber membership fee and also the cost of the certificate. Whichever way we get the document, it is useful to request the document in English, both the ministry and the medical association issue this document in English. Those who receive the document in Turkish will also have to have it translated. After we receive the document, we apostille the "original document". We scan it and create our mail attachment. We put the printed version in our envelope.
  4. Diploma If your diploma is written in both Turkish and English, we photocopy it. We have it notarized. We get it apostilled. Scan and get the e-mail attachment and put it in the envelope. If your diploma is only in Turkish, you have it translated by an EU-accepted translator and notarized. You get it apostilled. You can scan it and put it in the envelope after you receive the e-mail attachment.

Good-standing certificate, medical school diploma, passport: Warning about apostille application

In order for a document to be apostilled, it must have the status of a DOCUMENT. No apostille can be applied to any document that has not been issued by official authorities. For the apostille process, an institution where the document is issued, an authority issuing the document, the signature of the authorized person of the institution and the seal of the institution are required. Even if it is translated by a sworn translator by a notary public, it is not possible to take that paper directly and apostille it because it has not passed through an official institution or authority. The notary approves the translations to complete this mechanism. Subsequently, what is apostilled at the district governorships is not the translation itself, but the notarial letter that approves the translation. If there was an official institution or a public building with an official translation office/bureau/directorate etc. that we could apply to by saying "Hello, I need a translation of this document" and if the supervisor of that institution signed and sealed that translation, then we could take that document without a notary and have it apostilled.

  • Introducing the Medical School Diploma in Finland

    Which institution in Finland recognizes a medical degree?

    In Finland, the institution that recognizes medical degrees is "Sosiaali- ja terveysalan lupa- ja valvontavirasto" (Social and Health Permission and Monitoring Agency), also known as "Valvira" (the name of the special institution is a combination of the first syllables of the words valvonta and virasto). You must send the necessary documents to Valvira by post. The company you send your mail to must make the customs declaration for your mail. Otherwise, your mail will get stuck in customs. Valvira updates and publishes the required documents and procedures on its website.Click here for the requirements for doctors who have studied medicine outside Europe (outside EU/ETA countries).


    What are the documents required for the presentation of the Turkish medical school diploma in Finland?

    Passport, Medical School Diploma, Good-Standing document (Certificate of Good Standing) are required for the recognition of Turkish medical school diploma in Finland.


    Passport, Medical School Diploma, Good-Standing document (Certificate of Good Standing) are required for the recognition of Turkish medical school diploma in Finland.

    The apostilled copy of the medical school diploma and passport translated into English by an apostille authorized notary and a legally competent translator (whose translation will be apostilled at the Governorship or District Governorate) and the apostilled version of the English Good-Standing document will be sufficient. List of apostille authorizing institutions. Valvira also does not accept Turkish translators. You can email your diploma in pdf to an authorized translator in Finland and ask them to send the translation to Valvira on your behalf. They charge 40€ but your document is 100% verified. You can also print out the Finnish application formfrom Valvira's relevant page (If the application form link is not working, you can also download it from our page), fill it in, write your name and date and attach it to your documents ( Click here for application help). When filling in the form, please write your address and the name of your medical school without translating it. You will be asked for your medical school's e-mail, website and phone number. Keep the contact of someone from your faculty who can answer in English ready for you.
    Transcripts and Diploma Supplement are not included in the required documents at the moment, but if you send them, there will be no problem. If possible, keep the original documents in English. If your diploma is in Turkish, ask the faculty secretariat for the "Diploma in English is like the original" document. Problems arise if the translators are not authorized by the apostille.


    Which postal address do I send the documents to? Will they get stuck in customs?

    PO Box address : Sosiaali- ja terveysalan lupa- ja valvontavirasto Valvira, PL 43, 00521 Helsinki / Finland

    For shipments by hand or registered mail, the postal address is : Sosiaali- ja terveysalan lupa- ja valvontavirasto Valvira, Ratapihantie 9, 00520 Helsinki / Finland

    Send a digital copy of your documents to the e-mail address kirjaamo@valvira.fi in the Finnish application form( click here for application assistance). You can also send digital copies of your documents to https://turvaviesti.valvira.fi, which has a cyber security level.

    You have to make a customs declaration for every letter or mail coming into Finland from outside the EU. Let the postal company you are sending documents to do the customs declaration for you. You must also confirm that Posti Oy in Finland will pay the assessment fee (€2.90). Otherwise your mail will get stuck at customs (common problem with PTT shipments). You can track your mail with your tracking code here.

    In order to make the additional payment for Posti Oy, you must first be able to activate the Finnish Identity Confirmation Servicewith your passport. Unfortunately, it is not possible to make a customs declaration for your post. The only way to make this declaration is to be the recipient or someone living in Finland. Or the company you send your mail to must make this customs declaration on your behalf.

    Always check the page you are tracking with your postal code. Within 20 days from the date of receipt of your mail, you must first make and pay the customs declaration and then pay the postal surcharge. Otherwise your mail will be returned. Posti Oy has collected all the links mentioned in this section on this page. In our experience, if we show the customs value as "1 Euro" and select "Paper ..." in the declaration, we get the job done with 0.24 Euro VAT and 0 Euro customs costs. In order to make this payment you need to use a Finnish bank account or Finnish Identity Confirmation Service. When you search for Posti surcharge by tracking code, a payment button should appear. You have to pay 2,90 Euro. If the payment button for the postal surcharge does not appear, you can ask the Valvira Agency at terhikki@valvira.fi if your mail has arrived.