Qualified Outside the EU

Applying for registration in one or more divisions of the Register

Nurses and midwives who practise in Ireland must be registered with NMBI.

This section includes important information for nurses and midwives who qualified outside Ireland and who are applying for registration with NMBI. 

To practise nursing or midwifery in Ireland, you will need to complete a two-step process:  

1. Recognition of qualifications – this involves the comparison of your qualifications with the Irish education standards and requirements.
2. Registration. 

Before you start the application process:

• Read the Applicant User Guide below and information in this section of the website
• Understand NMBI’s application process 

Uploading your documents

All applicants are reminded that you must upload your own documentation for registration. This should never be done by a third party on your behalf. 

Since the introduction of NMBI’s online registration portal, MyNMBI you are provided with your own credentials which allows you to upload documents to your own account and to review the progress of your application. 

NMBI has become aware of the fact that some agencies have uploaded personal data on behalf of applicants. This is in contravention of both our policies and General Data Protection Regulation. 

All applicants must not share their credentials with anyone else and are asked to sign a declaration which states: “I confirm that all the information provided by me in connection with this application is complete, accurate and true to the best of my knowledge.” This declaration is an important part of your application and is considered in the context of your application to become a registered nurse or midwife. 

Please note that as part of the legislation which governs the operations of NMBI, only the registered nurse or midwife can pay the fee and not an agent. 

All data breaches will be reported to the Irish Data Protection Commissioner, as per our policy. The Data Protection Commission will investigate and may impose sanctions including a financial penalty.  

Advice for all applicants: 

As the outcome of the application process cannot be predicted, NMBI strongly advises that you:
 
1. do not to move to Ireland, or leave your current employment, based on the expectation that your application for registration will be successful. Please wait until you receive a registration decision before making any travel or employment plans, or

2. do not to apply for nursing or midwifery positions until you have received a registration decision. We cannot fast-track applications based on offers of employment, as this would be unfair to other applicants.

Applying for qualification recognition in a division

To apply for qualifications recognition in a division of the Register you must have completed a qualification that meets the standards and requirements for that division. For example, if you qualified as a general nurse and want to be registered as a general nurse with NMBI, you can apply for qualifications recognition.

However, if you qualified as a general nurse and have gained considerable experience working as a children’s nurse in another country, you would need to have completed an appropriate qualification as a children’s nurse that meets the NMBI’s standards and requirements before NMBI can consider your application for registration in this division.

If you want to apply for qualifications recognition in a specific division of the Register, and your training for that division was completed after your initial training as a nurse or midwife, there are some specific qualifications recognition requirements. For example, NMBI will need to consider your initial registration as a general nurse or midwife first before we consider an application for registration in another division. This will happen when your application is being assessed.

Application Groups 

We classify our applicants into three groups (G1, G2 and G3). Each group is required to submit different documents and is assessed differently. 



Please note that different documentation may be requested from applicants who qualified in the UK, depending on their time of qualification. If you qualified in the UK and have any queries, please contact us at G3reg@nmbi.ie or 0818 200 116. 

For more information on the overseas qualification recognition and registration process, please read our Applicant User Guide.

Applicant User Guide

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