EU/EEA applications started before 1 January 2021

The UK left the European Union (EU) on 31 January 2020. It then entered into a transition period, which came to an end on 31 December 2020.

Your application will progress as usual under the previous EU/EEA registration process if:

• you were eligible to apply through our trained in the EU route, and
• you started your application and paid your assessment fee by 31 December 2020.

The following guidance will help you to complete your application.

If you trained in an EU, EEA or EFTA country, but you did not start an application or pay the assessment fee before the transition period ended, you can still apply for registration.

The UK Government has introduced legislation that aims to reduce any disruption that the end of the transition period may have, making sure that applicants who hold non-UK qualifications are treated equally and fairly. See the UK Government guidance on what this means for healthcare professionals.

Under the terms of the Government’s approach, if you hold a qualification gained in an EU, EEA or EFTA country and you want to join our register from 1 January 2021, you’ll need to follow the same application process as those trained outside the EU.

You may have to pay different fees and some applicants with certain qualifications may have their skills and knowledge assessed by a Test of Competence. If you’re a nurse responsible for general care (known as an adult nurse in the UK) or midwife who has a qualification that meets the EU requirements for automatic recognition, you’ll be able to have your qualification recognised by us and won’t need to take a Test of Competence.

Continuing your application

We understand that deciding to apply for registration in a new country is a big commitment. We're here to support you to deliver the highest standard of care throughout your career.

Eligibility

In order for your existing application to be considered through the EU/EEA route you must be either:

• an EU national and trained in an EU/EEA member state, or
• an EU national and trained in a country outside the EU/EEA, but have had your qualification recognised in an EU member state and have also been lawfully practising in that member state for at least three consecutive years, or
• the spouse, civil partner, child or dependant under the age of 21 of an EU national and are using your 'enforceable EU rights' to locate to the UK with your spouse, parent or civil partner (this is also known as Treaty Rights).

Enforceable community rights example:

If you're an Indian national married to an Italian national and are residing in Italy and decide to move to the UK, then you may be eligible for enforceable community rights.

If you're not relocating from one EEA member state to another as a family unit, you will not be eligible for enforceable community rights.

Qualification evaluation and recognition

We'll assess your qualification so we can determine whether it meets the requirements for automatic recognition or acquired rights based on the information you've given us.

If your training or experience does not meet our requirements for practising in UK, you may have the option of undertaking an aptitude test to make up any shortfall.

Registration requirements

During this stage of your application, we'll check that you meet our other registration requirements. You'll need to provide the following evidence that demonstrates you're capable of safe and effective practice in the UK.

Identity

We'll ask you to send us a certified copy of your passport or identity card. If any of your supporting documents are in a previous name, you'll need to provide certified evidence of your name change such as a marriage or divorce certificate or a deed poll certificate.

Character

We'll ask you to provide a self-declaration to confirm you're of sufficiently good character to practise safely and effectively. We'll also need to consider any supporting information related to your character and professional conduct.

You need to tell us about:

• certain police charges, cautions, convictions, conditional discharges
• any determinations made by any regulatory body you have been subject to

You don't need to tell us about:

• protected police charges, cautions, convictions or conditional discharges that would not be shown on a police clearance or Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) check completed in the UK
• police charges where the police took no further action or motoring offences (unless they resulted in disqualification)

We'll also ask you to provide a supporting good character reference.

This will need to be provided by your regulator if your profession is regulated in your home country.

If your profession is not regulated in your home country, we'll accept a self-declaration of good character as long as you sign it under oath in front of a competent administrative or judicial authority, notary or qualified professional body and you also provide a supporting reference from an employer.

You can download and print the supporting good character form from NMC Online to send to your competent authority for them to complete and send back to us.

If you need to complete your self-declaration under oath, you should send this to us as well.

As well as your supporting good character declaration you'll need to send us:

• a certified copy of a police clearance certificate from every country you've lived in for longer than three months since the age of 18
• a standard level Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check if you've lived in the UK for more than three months.

You'll need to make sure we receive these documents within three months of the issue dates.

Health

We need to know that people applying to join our register meet our health requirements to ensure they can practise safely and effectively.

When completing your application you'll need to think about how any health conditions and/or disabilities you may have could affect your practice or place the safety of the people in your care at risk.

We'll ask you to:

• provide a self-declaration about your health and let us know about any health condition and/or disability you have which may affect your practice if you're not managing the condition appropriately
• provide a supporting declaration about your health from a medical practitioner of a member of your employer's occupational health department.

You can download and print the supporting health declaration form from NMC Online to send to the appropriate person for them to complete and send back to us.

English language requirements

You'll need to provide evidence that you have the necessary knowledge of English.

Certified documents and translations

Please ensure that all of the copies you send are correctly certified photocopies.

We must also receive an English translation of these documents, unless they are accompanied by a multilingual standard form which has been signed and stamped or sealed by the authority which issued the original document.

Assessing your application

Once we've recognised your qualification or received confirmation you've successfully completed an aptitude test, we'll review your registration application and use the information we've received to make a decision on your suitability to be registered.

We'll assess your supporting health, character and language evidence to ensure you meet our registration requirements.

We'll aim to complete our assessment within 30 calendar days of receiving all the information we need and we'll contact you by email with the outcome.

When we might need more information

If we need to ask for more information at any point we'll contact you by email.

We may need to ask you for more information if any of the details you provide are unclear, incomplete, have not been translated or not certified correctly.

We may also ask you for further information if you:

• indicate you have a health condition and/or disability that you're not managing
• declare you have received any criminal cautions, convictions or determinations relating to a fitness to practice impairment we may need more information

You can read our guidance on health and character to find out more.

Admission to the register

Once we've recognised your qualification and are satisfied that you have meet our registration requirements, we'll invite you to complete your registration.

You'll need to log into your application and make a declaration that:

• you will abide by the Code
• you hold, or will hold when you begin practising, an appropriate professional indemnity arrangement
• nothing has changed in respect of your character or health since first applying.

You'll also need to pay your registration fee of £120. This fee will be refunded if:

• you withdraw your application before we can complete your registration,
• we close your application because you haven't provided all the necessary information within six months
• your application is unsuccessful because we determine that you don't meet our registration requirements.

Once you have completed these steps, we'll issue your PIN.