Your degree

If you studied in another country, you can have your education assessed in Sweden. That makes it easier for an employer or a school to understand what you've studied. For some jobs, for example in healthcare and schools, you also need a licence before you can work. Choose your type of education. The authority always decides.

• Many professions in Sweden aren't regulated. Then the employer decides whether your education is enough, and you can apply for jobs without a statement.
• UHR (Universitets- och högskolerådet, the Swedish Council for Higher Education) is the agency that assesses foreign education. For healthcare it's Socialstyrelsen (the National Board of Health and Welfare), and for teachers Skolverket (the Swedish National Agency for Education).

1. See what your education corresponds to

   Start with UHR's Qualifications Assessment Tool (bedömningstjänsten). Choose the country and your education. You'll see which Swedish education it compares to, and whether it gives basic eligibility (grundläggande behörighet) for university studies. The tool has over 1,000 qualifications from 93 countries.

   Save the result as a pdf and send it when you apply for jobs, together with your diplomas and transcripts.

   The tool doesn't give you a personal statement. If your education isn't in it, you can apply for a statement.

   UHR: Qualifications Assessment Tool
2. Check that you can get a statement

   A statement (utlåtande) is a digital document from UHR showing what your education corresponds to in Sweden. It's free. It isn't a Swedish degree, only a comparison.

   UHR only assesses completed education: upper secondary school, post-secondary vocational education of at least one year, and higher education. You can apply if you have one of these:

   • a Swedish personnummer
   • citizenship of an EU/EEA country
   • a residence permit or work permit
   • confirmation that Migrationsverket (the Swedish Migration Agency) has received your application, if you're in Sweden waiting for a decision
   • a residence card or certificate of right of residence as a family member of an EU citizen, or long-term resident status in another EU country

   If you live outside the EU/EEA and none of these apply, you can't apply.

   Have you applied for asylum? UHR's page mentions LMA cards, but LMA cards have not been valid since 1 October 2026. Asylum seekers now have an application card (ansökningskort) instead. Ask UHR what to send.

   UHR: how to apply Migrationsverket: LMA cards replaced (in Swedish)
3. Gather your documents

   You usually need:

   • your degree certificate, front and back, in the original language
   • a transcript of your courses (ämnesförteckning), and your Diploma Supplement if you have one
   • a population registration certificate (personbevis) from Skatteverket (the Swedish Tax Agency), or a copy of your passport's personal details page, plus a copy of your permit if you need one
   • proof of a name change, if you had a different name when you studied

   Scan the originals and save them as pdf. Documents in languages other than English, French, Spanish, German or a Nordic language must be translated by an authorised translator. You can find one in Kammarkollegiet's register. If you're registered with Arbetsförmedlingen (the Swedish Public Employment Service), UHR says you can have documents translated at their expense when needed.

   For some countries, for example Nigeria, Ethiopia, Canada and the USA, your school must send documents directly to UHR. Check what applies to your country.

   Missing your documents?

   If you completed post-secondary education but can't get your documents, for example because you fled, you can apply for a description of your educational background. You fill in UHR's form and send what you have, such as certificates, photos or your thesis. A description isn't a statement, but you can use it when applying for jobs or studies.

   UHR: documents to upload Kammarkollegiet: find a translator
4. Apply to UHR

   You apply in UHR's online application. With an e-ID such as BankID you can save your application and continue later. You can also apply without an e-ID and without a personnummer, but then you must finish the application in one go.

   If you have several educations, for example upper secondary school and university, fill in the details and upload documents for each one.

   You'll get a confirmation email with your case number. If UHR needs more documents, they'll email you, and you upload them on My Pages (Mina sidor).

   UHR says it takes about 2–4 months. The time counts from when all your documents have arrived, not from the day you apply.

   UHR: online application UHR: FAQ How to get BankID
5. Save your statement and use it

   The statement arrives as a pdf by email, and it's always in Swedish. A blue band shows that it's genuine, but the band only shows in Adobe Reader on a computer. Keep the file somewhere safe: a printout is only a copy.

   Send the statement digitally when you apply for jobs, together with your education documents and CV. An employer can contact UHR with questions about your education.

   Looking for work? Arbetsförmedlingen has the academic fast track (Akademikertjänst korta vägen) for jobseekers who have studied at least two years at academic level and have completed sfi D or have equivalent Swedish. Ask your employment officer.

   UHR: digital statement Arbetsförmedlingen: academic fast track
6. Study further in Sweden If you want to study

   You don't need a statement to apply to a university. You apply directly on Antagning.se or Universityadmissions.se, and your foreign education is assessed then. The university decides on eligibility and admission.

   An assessment of, say, a bachelor's degree doesn't mean you're eligible for a master's programme. The university decides that.

   To get credit for courses you've already taken (tillgodoräknande), ask the university where you want to study. It's often only possible once you've been admitted. Ask for a written answer.

   With a degree from another country you can sometimes take a supplementary programme (kompletterande utbildning). For some regulated professions it's required. Search for “kompletterande” on Studera.nu.

   UHR: if you plan to study in Sweden Studera.nu: supplementary programmes (in Swedish)
7. If you disagree If needed

   If UHR can't recognise your education, you'll get a letter explaining why. If you think a decision is wrong, email UHR at utbildningsbedomning@uhr.se and ask them to change it. Include your name and case number.

   You can also appeal to the administrative court. Write “Till förvaltningsrätten” (to the administrative court), your contact details, which decision it is and what change you want. Send it to UHR.

   Your appeal must reach UHR within three weeks of the day you received the decision.

   UHR: the recognition process

1. Check whether your job needs a permit

   Many professions aren't regulated. Then the employer decides whether your education is enough. Some jobs need a permit from an authority, for example electrician (Elsäkerhetsverket), taxi driver (Transportstyrelsen) and assistant nurse (Socialstyrelsen, see Healthcare).

   In some trades the industry has its own requirements. Trade organisations and unions can tell you what applies to your job.

   UHR: regulated professions
2. See what your education corresponds to

   UHR's Qualifications Assessment Tool also covers post-secondary vocational education. Choose the country and your education, and save the result as a pdf. You can send it when you apply for jobs.

   The tool doesn't give you a personal statement. If your education isn't in it, you can apply for a statement.

   UHR: Qualifications Assessment Tool
3. Apply to UHR for a statement

   UHR is the agency that assesses foreign vocational education. Myndigheten för yrkeshögskolan (MYH, the agency for higher vocational education) refers people there. The statement is free.

   Post-secondary vocational education must be at least one year full time, be part of the country's formal education system and lead to a recognised qualification. UHR compares it with the two Swedish higher vocational degrees: yrkeshögskoleexamen and kvalificerad yrkeshögskoleexamen. The statement also shows which occupation the education prepares you for.

   UHR also assesses vocational upper secondary education. Then the statement shows your vocational focus.

   The rules on who can apply are the same as for university education (choose University above), and the online application shows which documents you need. It takes about 2–4 months from when all your documents have arrived.

   UHR doesn't assess vocational education that is shorter than a year or doesn't lead to a recognised qualification. Validation may suit you better then.

   UHR: the recognition process UHR: how to apply
4. Apply for jobs with your statement

   Send the statement, or the pdf from the assessment tool, with your grades and CV. It makes it easier for the employer to understand what you've studied. The employer can contact UHR with questions.

   The statement arrives as a pdf by email, in Swedish. Keep the file: a printout is only a copy.

   UHR: if you want to work in Sweden The Work tool
5. Get your skills validated If you have no papers

   Validation (validering) means someone assesses what you can do, with practical and theoretical tests. Afterwards you get a certificate or grade. It takes from a few days to a few weeks.

   Arbetsförmedlingen can offer validation if you're registered as a jobseeker and, for example, have grades or certificates from abroad that aren't recognised on the Swedish labour market. Ask your employment officer.

   If you have a job, you and your employer can also ask about industry validation (branschvalidering). Myndigheten för yrkeshögskolan has a map of which trades can be validated, and where.

   Arbetsförmedlingen: validation Industry validation map (in Swedish)
6. Learn job Swedish or study more If you want

   If you're registered with Arbetsförmedlingen, you can get occupational Swedish (yrkessvenska): Swedish for your particular job. Arbetsförmedlingen decides whether you can start.

   To study more, you can apply to a higher vocational school (yrkeshögskola). You apply directly to the school. If you don't have upper secondary grades, the school can assess your knowledge in other ways, and sometimes you can shorten the programme.

   Arbetsförmedlingen: occupational Swedish Yrkeshögskolan: find a programme (in Swedish)

1. Check whether your job needs a licence

   In Swedish healthcare, 22 professions need a licence (legitimation), for example doctor, nurse, midwife, dentist, physiotherapist and psychologist. Socialstyrelsen issues the licences. Only people with a licence may call themselves, for example, a nurse (sjuksköterska).

   Assistant nurse (undersköterska) has been a protected title since 1 July 2023 (see the last step).

   While you wait, you can work in a healthcare job that doesn't need a licence. The employer then decides whether you have the right skills.

   The route differs between professions and depends on where you studied. Always read Socialstyrelsen's page for your profession.

   Socialstyrelsen: choose your profession
2. Start learning Swedish

   For a licence you must show that you know Swedish, Danish or Norwegian. This applies even if you studied in the EU/EEA, and even if you're a citizen of Sweden, Denmark, Finland or Norway.

   You can show it with, for example, a pass in Swedish 3 or Swedish as a second language 3 at Komvux (adult education), or Swedish at level C1. A healthcare provider can also assess your Swedish on Socialstyrelsen's form.

   Start early. You need Swedish for the knowledge test and for the supplementary programmes.

   Socialstyrelsen: language requirements
3. Apply for recognition If you studied in the EU/EEA

   If you studied in the EU/EEA or Switzerland, Socialstyrelsen assesses your professional qualifications under EU rules. You must be authorised to practise in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland, and send a certificate of this (Certificate of Good Standing) that is at most three months old.

   For doctors, dentists, pharmacists, nurses and midwives, the education can generally be recognised automatically. For other professions, Socialstyrelsen compares it with the Swedish education, and you may first need to do clinical training (praktisk tjänstgöring) or a test.

   The application fee is usually SEK 990. With BankID you apply in the e-service, otherwise with a web form or a paper form. If you have a degree certificate from the UK issued on or before 31 December 2020, you can apply as EU-educated.

   Recognition isn't a licence. For a licence you also need to show language skills and have a personnummer or a coordination number (samordningsnummer).

   Socialstyrelsen: educated in the EU/EEA
4. Have your education reviewed If you studied outside the EU/EEA

   First, Socialstyrelsen reviews whether your education is comparable to the Swedish one. For this step you don't need to know Swedish, and you don't need a personnummer or a residence permit.

   Send the application form, a copy of your passport, the payment receipt and copies of your degree certificate and course documents. Don't send originals. Documents in languages other than Swedish, Norwegian, Danish or English must be translated into Swedish or English by an authorised translator.

   The application fee is SEK 990, to bank giro 790-3750. You pay it only once, not again when you apply for the licence.

   If the situation in the country where you studied stops you getting all your certificates, send what you have with an explanation. You can also ask UHR for a description of your educational background and attach it.

   The review takes about 3 months. The whole route to a licence usually takes 2–4 years.

   Socialstyrelsen: choose your profession Example: nurse
5. Take the knowledge test If you studied outside the EU/EEA

   For many professions you then take a knowledge test (kunskapsprov) in Swedish, with a theory part and a practical part. A university runs the test, for example the University of Gothenburg for nurses and Umeå University for doctors. Psychologists no longer have a knowledge test.

   You get five attempts at the theory part and three at the practical part. The whole test must be passed within five years of your first attempt. Otherwise you have to choose another route.

   Looking for work? Arbetsförmedlingen has contract education programmes for, among others, doctors and nurses with a degree from outside the EU/EEA. You need good Swedish. Ask your employment officer.

   The other route: a supplementary programme

   Instead, you can take a supplementary programme at a university and then apply for a licence. Places are limited and you need to know Swedish. Many universities require a decision from Socialstyrelsen that your education is comparable. It usually takes 1–3 years from when you're admitted. You may be entitled to student finance from CSN.

   Socialstyrelsen: the knowledge test (in Swedish) Arbetsförmedlingen: contract education
6. Take the law course and do clinical training If you studied outside the EU/EEA

   Once you've passed the knowledge test, you take an online course in Swedish healthcare laws and regulations (svenska författningar). Lund University runs the course, and it's free.

   You also do clinical training (praktisk tjänstgöring) at a workplace, for example 3 months for nurses and 6 months for doctors. You must find the place yourself and support yourself meanwhile. Socialstyrelsen suggests contacting Arbetsförmedlingen.

   If you're inactive on the course for 3 months, you have to start again. Clinical training is required even if you've already worked in the profession.

   Socialstyrelsen: the law course (in Swedish) Socialstyrelsen: clinical training (in Swedish)
7. Apply for your licence

   Finally, you apply to Socialstyrelsen for your licence. Send, among other things, a copy of your passport, proof of your Swedish and, if you did clinical training, the original certificate for it. If you already paid SEK 990 for the review, you don't pay again.

   You need a personnummer or a coordination number. If you don't have one, Socialstyrelsen asks Skatteverket for a coordination number, and you're normally called to a service office for an identity check.

   Socialstyrelsen also checks the criminal records register. Once you have your licence, you're in the HOSP register and can start working.

   If you want to appeal a decision, your appeal must reach Socialstyrelsen within three weeks.

   Socialstyrelsen: apply for a licence (in Swedish) The Personnummer tool
8. Apply for the protected title If you're an assistant nurse

   To call yourself an assistant nurse (undersköterska), you need proof from Socialstyrelsen. Send grades or certificates from your care education, in the original language and translated into Swedish or English, and proof of your Swedish, for example Swedish 1, Swedish as a second language 1 or level B2.

   The fee is SEK 360. With BankID you apply and pay in the e-service. Otherwise you pay first and apply with a web form.

   If you studied outside the EU/EEA, Socialstyrelsen can decide that you must do 6 months of clinical training, or sometimes 3 months if you've worked as an assistant nurse in Sweden for at least 3 months. If you've worked as one here for at least a year, none is needed.

   Socialstyrelsen: assistant nurse

1. Check what's required

   To teach in a Swedish school you generally need a teacher or preschool teacher certification (legitimation) from Skolverket. As a main rule it's also needed for a permanent job, and only certified teachers may set grades on their own.

   You need a teacher, preschool teacher or recreation instructor (fritidspedagog) education. It must, perhaps together with other experience, correspond well enough to a Swedish one. You also need enough pedagogy and didactics, and enough subject knowledge.

   If no certified teacher is available, you can sometimes teach anyway, one year at a time. Mother-tongue teachers can in some cases get a permanent job without certification. The employer decides.

   Skolverket: requirements for certification Skolverket: rules on employment (in Swedish)
2. Show that you know Swedish

   You need good Swedish, at the level required for university studies. You can show it with, for example:

   • a pass in Swedish 3 or Swedish as a second language 3 at upper secondary level
   • a passed course in Swedish for non-Nordic students at a Swedish university
   • a pass in TISUS, a test in Swedish for university studies
   • Swedish at level C1

   If your native language is Swedish, Danish, Faroese, Icelandic or Norwegian, you don't need to show a certificate.

   Skolverket: proof of Swedish
3. Gather your documents
   • the application form
   • attachment 1 (bilaga 1), if you agree that Skolverket may contact the country where you studied. You sign it by hand.
   • copies of your degree certificate and transcript, in the original language and translated into Swedish or English
   • proof of your Swedish
   • proof of a name change, if you've changed your name

   Use an authorised translator. Documents in English or a Nordic language don't need translating. Some countries need extra certificates, for example the Staatsprüfung from Germany or QTS from the UK.

   If you've worked as a teacher, a head teacher can write a certificate about it. That can make up for differences between your education and a Swedish one.

   Skolverket: apply for certification
4. Apply and pay

   With BankID or Freja eID+ you apply in Skolverket's e-service and pay there. Without an e-ID, you fill in the form, print it and send it by post. Skolverket then tells you how to pay. If you don't have a personnummer, write your date of birth.

   The application costs SEK 1,890. The fee went up on 1 September 2025.

   Pay on time: if the fee isn't paid, Skolverket rejects the application and you have to apply again. Messages and decisions go first to your digital mailbox, for example Kivra or Min myndighetspost.

   Skolverket: the fee (in Swedish) How to get BankID
5. Wait for the decision

   Skolverket checks your application and sends it to UHR. UHR assesses your foreign education and writes an opinion (yttrande). Skolverket then makes an overall assessment. You get to read it and add documents before the decision.

   If Skolverket asks for more documents, you have two weeks. If more than 6 months have passed, you can request a decision.

   Processing times change. See Skolverket's current processing time.

   Skolverket: from application to decision (in Swedish) Skolverket: current processing time (in Swedish)
6. Supplement if needed If you're not certified straight away

   If you studied outside the EU/EEA and don't meet all the requirements, your application is rejected. The decision says what you need to add, for example studies or experience as a teacher. Then you apply again. You don't need to resend the documents from last time.

   If you studied in the EU/EEA or Switzerland, you may get a decision with conditions. Then you may need to take courses, work as a teacher for a period or take an aptitude test.

   ULV: Further education for foreign-trained teachers (Utlandsutbildade lärares vidareutbildning) is a supplementary programme of at most 120 credits at six universities. You need a pass in Swedish as a second language 3 or equivalent. You apply on Antagning.se, usually 15 March–15 April and 15 September–15 October. Arbetsförmedlingen also has a contract programme for teachers with a degree from outside the EU/EEA.

   If you want to appeal, your appeal must reach Skolverket within three weeks of receiving the decision.

   Studera.nu: ULV (in Swedish) Skolverket: after the decision (in Swedish)