Application and Assesment of Qualifications

To have your foreign medical education assessed, you must submit an application to the Danish Patient Safety Authority and include the necessary documentation

Please note

Stop for applications

We are currently not accepting applications for Danish authorization and permission to work independently from medical doctors who are citizens of and/or educated in countries outside the EU/EEA. This is due to the introduction of a quota for applications

See more in the FAQ

However, you may still apply for Danish authorization and permission to work independently if you:

  • Have a specific offer of employment for adaptation and training purposes as a specially requested healthcare professional. The offer must cover the entire four-year evaluation period and meet the requirements described on this page
  • Have valid legal residence in Denmark at the time of application for Danish authorization.
  • Have completed your education in a country outside the EU/EEA but are a citizen of Denmark, including the Faroe Islands or Greenland, or of another EU/EEA country.
  • Are educated in Greenland or the Faroe Islands.

These individuals can still apply and have their case processed.

The 6-year rule

If you completed your basic medical education more than 6 years prior receipt of your application for Danish authorization, we in generally assess that you do not have updated skills in your field as a medical doctor, unless you can submit a document proving professional experience as a medical doctor corresponding to at least 12 months of fulltime employment within the last 6 years preceding your application. If, after an individual assessment, we believe that you have kept your professional qualifications up-to-date in your field and maintained your skills by working in the health or care sector within the last 6 years, we can grant you an exemption from the 6-year rule.

How to apply

The first step you must take is to fill out our online application form. This step is crucial and should be completed before submitting the EPIC reports mentioned below.

To have your foreign education assessed, you need to submit an application to the Danish Patient Safety Authority.

  • Submit your application and the necessary documentation via the application form and pay the fee.
  • Fulfill all documentation requirements. We will only process your application once we have received all the documents from you.

Application fee

A fee of DKK 3.508,- must be paid when applying for Danish authorization and permission to work independently. You will be asked to pay the fee when filling out the application form.

From 1 January 2026, the application fee will be DKK 3.689,-.

In order to be able to work in Denmark as a medical doctor, you must have obtained Danish authorization. The title is protected and you may only use the designation medical doctor, if Danish authorization has been issued to you.

Special information about clinical hours

If your foreign education is equivalent to the corresponding Danish basic education in content, levels and duration - except for lack of clinical teaching hours - we can take this into account in the duration of the employment for adaptation and training purposes which you must complete in the authorization process. This means that you will have to compensate for the missing hours in connection with the mentioned employment.

Please note

Not everyone succeeds in finding an employment for adaptation and training purposes, which is the last requirement in the process for obtaining Danish authorization. The number of advertised positions depends, among other things, on the capacity and needs of the regions and municipalities. Your opportunity to obtain an employment for adaptation and training purposes also dependents on your language skills, as your employer must ensure that you have sufficient level of Danish language and communication skills to be able to carry out the specific work function that is in the position.

If you already have residence and work permit in Denmark, it may therefore be a good idea to increase your knowledge of the Danish language and labor market by taking a job in the health sector that does not require an authorization, e.g. as an caregiver in a nursing home. You can find information about vacant positions at workindenmark.dk

Required Documentation

In order for us to process your application for Danish authorization, you must meet all documentary requirements. Here you can see what attachments you must upload when you apply.

Note: If you applied before 1 July 2024 and therefore did not upload the necessary documentation with your application, you now must send all the necessary documentation to us by post or as attachments in an email.

In order for us to process your application, you have to upload the following documents, when you fill out the application form:

A: Documentation showing that you are exempt from the application stop:

You must first attach documentation showing that you are exempt from the application stop. This means uploading either documentation of legal residence or a specific offer of employment as a specially requested healthcare professional.

Documentation of legal residence:

  1. A copy of your most recent residence permit letter from either the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) or the Danish Immigration Service
  2. A color copy of your valid residence card (front and back). If you do not yet have a residence card, but you are a citizen outside the EU/EEA with the right to reside in Denmark under the EU rules on free movement, you may instead upload a copy of your EU/EEA residence document
  3. If your residence permit has expired, you must also upload documentation showing that you have applied for an extension of your residence permit or for a new residence basis. If there is any doubt, we will contact the relevant authority (SIRI or the Danish Immigration Service) to verify your legal residence status.

Documentation for the special authorization process:

  1. If you are applying as a specially requested healthcare professional, you must upload documentation in the form of a specific offer of employment for adaptation and training purposes that covers the full four-year evaluation period.

B: Then you have to upload the following documents to the application form:

  1. Proof of your identity which must be relevant pages from your passport showing your passport number/ID-number, name, date of birth, citizenship, your photo and your signature. Your information must match the information you have entered in your application. Please note this is not relevant if you have Danish MitID.

  2. Name change certificate, if applicable. Documentation of your name if you have changed your name after you have completed your education (e.g. name change certificate or marriage certificate). Please note this is not relevant if you have Danish MitID.

  3. Curriculum vitae (CV) that lists your qualifications and work experience in chronological order.

  4. If you have completed your basis education more than 6 years prior your application for Danish authorization, we need documentation of work experience corresponding to at least 12 months of fulltime employment within your profession and within the last 6 years preceding your application. The documentation must also confirm detailed information of your daily professional tasks including tasks with patient contact.

  5. Supplementary documentation/formalized postgraduate education equivalent to a Danish Diploma program (one year/60 ECTS-points) or Master’s degree (two years/120 ECTS-points), if any.

  6. Supplementary documentation or additional information, if any, that is pertinent to the assessing of your formal qualifications.

  7. You must submit a power of attorney, if another person is handling your application. Use power of attorney

Your documentation must be uploaded in colour and good quality, and the documents have to be fully visible and readable.

You must upload all documentation in the original language. If your documents are not in English, Norwegian or Swedish, you must also upload a translation into Danish, English, Norwegian or Swedish in same file.
Translations must be completed by one of the following:

  • The university or authority that issued the document
  • A certified translator.

The translator's name and stamp must be clearly visible on the translation. If the logo/stamp(s) is not in Danish or English, it should be translated by the translator. 

Please note that the translated version of your documentation must be uploaded in the same file as the original document.

You must submit a power of attorney, if another person is handling your application.

Use power of attorney

You must further with your application ensure that we receive the required 3 EPIC reports.

The Danish Patient Safety Authority has partnered with the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG®), a member of Intealth in the USA, to verify the medical education credentials of medical doctors seeking registration or licensure in Denmark. If you graduated from a medical school located outside of the European Economic Community (EEC) or you are a citizen of a country outside the EEC, you must have certain medical education credentials verified through ECFMG's Electronic Portfolio of International Credentials (EPIC) service. Please note that you are responsible for covering the costs of the primary-source verification process.

For additional information and frequently asked questions (FAQs) about using EPIC to support your application to the DPSA, please visit the EPIC website's special instructions and FAQs section for applying to the Danish Patient Safety Authority.

If you have any questions regarding EPIC and the verification process, please contact EPIC directly.

The EPIC website

To have your credentials primary-source verified through ECFMG in support of your DPSA application, please follow these steps:

Step 1 - Establish an EPIC Account

For complete instructions, visit the EPIC website's "Getting Started" section. Once your request has been processed and your EPIC Account has been established, you will receive login information via email to access your account.

Getting Started

Step 2 - Confirm your identity with EPIC

Detailed information on confirming your identity with EPIC can be found in the "Confirming Your Identity with EPIC" section on the EPIC website. This step requires you to submit an EPIC Identification Form (EIF). After ECFMG accepts your form, you will be able to upload the credentials required by the Danish Patient Safety Authority for primary-source verification.

Confirming Your Identity

Step 3 - Upload the Required Medical Education Credentials for Primary-source Verification through EPIC

Log in to your EPIC Account and upload the following credentials to EPIC for primary-source verification:

  • Final Medical Diploma (completed primary medical qualifications)
  • Final Medical School Transcript (of primary medical qualifications which must give information of all relevant medical subjects, including such subjects as neurology, neurosurgery and dermatology etc.)
  • License to Practice Medicine issued by the competent health authorities in the most recent country of work as a medical doctor.

No further EPIC reports are required. 

Once uploaded, you can check on the status of your credentials at any time by logging in to your EPIC Account. See Using EPIC on the EPIC website for more information.

Using EPIC

Certificate of Non-registration 

If you are not yet registered with a license to work as a medical doctor in any country and for that reason is unable to upload your license to practice medicine to EPIC for primary-source verification, please read this information before you upload the other two documents to EPIC for primary-source verification.

Certificate of Non-registration

Step 4 - Send Reports on your Verified Credentials to us

Did you beforehand fill in our online application form? If not, then please fill out the form now and pay the fee. Please note that there is no contact information of you in the reports.

ECFMG will notify you by email as each credential is verified. Once your three credentials have been verified, go to the "My Reports" tab in your EPIC Account and request that the EPIC Reports for each verified credential be provided to the DPSA. For more information on EPIC Reports, see the EPIC Reports section of the Using EPIC page on the EPIC website.

Reports on EPIC website

Upon receipt of the three mentioned EPIC reports, we will send you a receipt by email as soon as possible (please, however, expect at least 7-14 days) to the email address stated in the online application form that you have sent electronically to us.

What should you pay attention to?

When we have received your application with all the necessary documentation, the report issuing date on the EPIC report regarding primary-source verification of your license to practice medicine or the like most not be more than 3 months old. If the report issuing date in the mentioned EPIC report is more than 3 months old we might find it necessary to ask you to submit a new and updated verification of your license through EPIC.

Please note: The pause has been lifted for Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. This means that as of 10 October 2025, we will resumed processing applications where the education was completed in Pakistan, Nepal or Bangladesh.

As of 30 September 2025, the processing of all applications concerning the assessment of qualifications from Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria has been temporarily suspended. Following a review on 31 October, it has been decided that the suspension will remain in place. 

This suspension is based on concerns regarding the authenticity of submitted documents and the credibility of the information received from applicants and various other parties

While application processing is on hold:

  • We are not processing new applications where the education was completed in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Guinea or Nigeria.
  • We have paused the processing of ongoing applications where a decision on the recognition of your qualification has not yet been issued.

We are working with the National ID Centre to investigate the identified risks in order to resume application processing as soon as possible. We will provide regular updates on this page – the next one is expected during February 2026.

Assessment Process 

Upon receiving your application and documentation, we will send you an email to acknowledge receipt. Please remember to check your junk mail folder, as our emails may sometimes end up there. However, no confirmation email will be sent to you for any additional documentation you provide.

We will also send you an email to confirm receipt of your 3 EPIC reports.

We will either use the World Directory of Medical Schools and GMC or conduct an individual assessment of your primary medical qualifications to determine whether your education in content, levels and duration is equivalent to the corresponding Danish primary medical education. In some cases, we may request additional documentation regarding your study program - including formalized postgraduate education, if any.

The World Directory of Medical Schools

In the case of an individual assessment, we may request additional documentation regarding the study program, including information on theoretical and clinical teaching hours for each relevant medical subject.

We assess whether you have achieved an overall level of education abroad which is equivalent to the Danish primary medical doctor education or whether you only lack clinical teaching hours in order for your education to be assessed equal to the Danish education. In case that your medical doctor education lacks clinical teaching hours this must be compensated for in the authorization process that you must complete to obtain Danish authorization and permission to work independently as a medical doctor.

In our assessment we can also include formalized postgraduate education equivalent to a Danish Diploma program (one year/60 ECTS-points) or Master’s degree (two years/120 ECTS-points).

Once we have completed the assessment of your application, we will notify you by email or digital post (e.g., e-Boks, the Danish online digital mailbox, if you have a Danish CPR number) if we require additional documentation. Alternatively, we will send you a letter containing your documentation. If your formal qualifications are approved, the letter will provide information on the requirements for obtaining Danish authorization and permission to work independently as a medical doctor. Please note, that this letter does not serve as your authorization.

The letter, along with your documentation, will be sent to the address you have specified in the application form via regular or registered post.

Please inform us immediately if there is any change in your address. If you reside abroad, please ensure that you have provided your full address in the application form and that you are able to receive letters by post, as we do not utilize courier services such as GLS.

Five-Year Deadline

Once we have finished our assessment of your foreign medical education and found it equivalent to the corresponding Danish basic education, you must within five years have completed the first employment of adaptation and training purposes and either have started or obtained a letter of commitment for your final employment. 

We may extend the deadline in cases of prolonged absence during the authorization process due to serious illness, maternity leave, or similar circumstances.

Please note - if we have assessed your education as equivalent to the Danish basic education as a medical doctor before 1 September 2024, the deadline will be calculated from that date.

Application processing time

We process applications in the order in which they are received.

Currently, we are processing applications received in June 2025.

Please note that for cases that were previously put on hold, we are currently processing applications received in March 2025.

We expect your application to be processed within approx. 7 months from receipt of your application. The subsequent processing time depends on whether we have received all the documents needed to process your application. You should also expect the relevant educational institution that helps us assess your education to have a processing time of approx. 4 weeks.

We prioritize those applicants who are closest to being able to contribute to the Danish healthcare system. This applies to all applications from healthcare professionals from countries outside the EU/EEA or Switzerland where we are aware that the applicant has a Danish CPR number and active residence in Denmark. The same applies if you are covered by the special process for specifically requested healthcare professionals.

If the applicant meets these conditions, we expect to process the application within a few working days after the applicant has submitted an application including the necessary documentation.

If you already are registered in our system with a CPR number and live in Denmark, you do not have to contact us. We will automatically prioritize your application when you have submitted an application including the necessary documentation.

If you have a CPR number, but have not yet informed us of this, please contact us by phone +45 72 28 66 00 or send it by secure email.

Please note that we are unable to answer questions regarding the Danish CPR number. For more information, go to LifeinDenmark.dk