Nursing and other health professions: how to work in Switzerland

Why you need recognition

Nursing is a regulated profession in Switzerland. This means: the law decides who may do this work. With a foreign diploma, recognition is a legal requirement, according to the Swiss Red Cross (SRK). The SRK is the body in charge. It works on behalf of the Swiss Confederation.

With recognition, your diploma has the same effect for work as a Swiss qualification. According to the SRK, it is valid for your whole working life. The SRK can only take it away if it was obtained unlawfully. You also need other papers:

Two procedures: EU procedure or ordinary procedure

The SRK has two procedures for nursing diplomas. Which one applies to you depends on an EU list. Its official name is “Annex V of Directive 2005/36/EC”. Here we simply call it the EU list. The list also gives a date, the reference date. You must have earned your diploma after this date.

Germany, Austria, Italy and France are among the countries on the list. In the EU procedure, the SRK does not classify your diploma as HF (higher vocational college) or FH (university of applied sciences). According to the SRK, this also applies to bachelor's and master's degrees in general nursing from EU/EFTA states.

In the ordinary procedure, the SRK compares your diploma with Swiss training. This is the Swiss nursing training at HF level or the Bachelor of Science in Nursing FH. If your training is very different, the SRK asks for compensation measures. This means: you work in your profession with support for a while, or you take a test. More on this below. Do the level or length of your training not match? Then the SRK can recognise your diploma at a lower, vocational level. But then you do not go into the GesReg.

Did you only train in children's nursing or only in psychiatric nursing, without general nursing? Or do you have a specialisation in nursing? Then the automatic recognition of the EU list does not apply, and the SRK checks your diploma in the ordinary procedure.

Your diploma from Germany, Austria, Italy or France

This is how it looks for nursing diplomas from the four countries:

• GermanyGesundheits- und Krankenpfleger:in (general nurse): EU procedure, reference date 29 June 1979. Pflegefachfrau or Pflegefachmann (since 2020): open, see the note below.
• AustriaDiplomierte Gesundheits- und Krankenpflege (DGKP): EU procedure, reference date 1 January 1994.
• ItalyInfermiere professionale (until 2001): EU procedure, reference date 29 June 1979. Laurea in infermieristica (since 2001/2002): also EU procedure.
• FranceDiplôme d'État d'infirmier(ère): EU procedure, reference date 29 June 1979.

There are two versions of the EU list. The SRK refers to the version of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). It is dated 24 March 2011. The current EU version is dated 29 October 2025. It also lists some newer diplomas. Special cases:

• Bachelor's degrees in general nursing from EU/EFTA states: the SRK handles them in the EU procedure. Examples are the FH bachelor's degree from Austria and the Laurea in infermieristica from Italy.
• Gesundheits- und Kinderkrankenpfleger:in (children's nurse) from Germany: not on the list, so no automatic recognition. The SRK does not say explicitly how it classifies this qualification.

Pflegefachfrau or Pflegefachmann under the German Nursing Professions Act (training since 2020)? The current EU version lists your qualification, with the date 1 January 2020. The SERI version does not. We have not found an official statement on this. We searched at the SRK, at SERI and at the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH). The SRK decides. The first step is the PreCheck, a free preliminary check. If it is positive, the SRK tells you the next steps and the costs.

How recognition works, step by step

Recognition has six steps. Step five only happens if the SRK asks for it.

1. 1

   PreCheck

   Online, free and mandatory. The SRK checks whether your application can go further.

2. 2

   Result

   Within four weeks at most, once all documents for the PreCheck are in. The result comes by e-mail. Positive: the procedure starts, and the SRK tells you the costs. Negative: you get pointers to other options.

3. 3

   Application

   The SRK sends the application documents by post. The documents go back to the SRK with the signed form, and the invoice is paid.

4. 4

   Assessment

   Once the application is complete and the invoice is paid, the procedure starts. The SRK then makes its first decision within four months at most.

5. 5

   Compensation, if needed

   You work in your profession with support for a while (adaptation period), possibly with additional training. Or you take a test (aptitude test).

6. 6

   Recognition and register

   With recognition as a nurse, you go into the GesReg automatically. You also get a GLN (Global Location Number).

With TakeCare, you do not go through these steps alone. We submit the application and handle the entire recognition process with the SRK. For this, you sign a power of attorney. It allows us to act for you. The SRK expressly allows this.

To be honest: the SRK does not handle applications with a representative faster or with priority. If the SRK asks for compensation measures, you do them yourself. In return, we take care of forms, deadlines and invoices, and you do not pay the costs of recognition.

The documents the SRK needs

The SRK sends the full list with the application form. According to the SRK, it includes:

• Certificate of Current Professional Status (CCPS) or Letter of Good Standing (LoGS): the confirmation that you may work in your profession. It comes from the authority of the country where you last worked.
• Never registered, because there is no register or you never worked in the country where you trained? Then you need a Certificate of Non-Registration and a criminal record extract instead, both no more than three months old.
• For the EU procedure: the EU certificate of conformity. In it, the authority of the country where you trained confirms that your diploma meets the EU rules. The authority can send the certificate directly to the SRK by e-mail. Otherwise, the SRK needs the original or a certified copy.
• Proof of language skills at level B2, if the SRK asks for it.
• The signed application form.

As a rule, copies or officially certified copies are enough. The SRK does not accept an apostille as certification. Certifications and translations must be in German, French, Italian or English. Translations must be done by recognised translators.

Tip: the CCPS must be no more than three months old when you submit it. But you do not need it for the PreCheck yet. So only order it after a positive PreCheck. At the start, we clarify with you which documents you need.

What recognition costs and who pays

The SRK lists these fees:

EU procedure, one invoice

CHF 550

ordinary procedure without compensation measures, in two invoices (CHF 600 and CHF 330)

CHF 930

ordinary procedure with compensation measures, in two invoices (CHF 600 and CHF 400)

CHF 1,000

entry in the GesReg, once per person. In the ordinary procedure, depending on the profession.

CHF 130

Watch out: elsewhere, the SRK states CHF 680 for the EU procedure. Its process sheet, an information sheet on the procedure, lists CHF 550 plus CHF 130 for the register. Together, that makes CHF 680. But the SRK never says explicitly whether the CHF 680 includes the register entry.

Compensation measures are not included in the fees. The providers invoice them directly. If you withdraw an application, the SRK does not refund fees you have paid. Later changes in the register are free of charge.

For nurses, midwives and FaGe: TakeCare submits the application to the SRK and handles the entire recognition process, including the costs of recognition. For nursing assistants, TakeCare submits the application for the “Gleichwertigkeit Pflegehelfende SRK” (SRK equivalence for nursing assistants) for you and covers the costs. Is it unclear how the SRK classifies your qualification? Then we clarify with you what TakeCare takes on. For jobseekers, all TakeCare services are free of charge.

How long recognition takes

The SRK gives maximum time limits for single steps. This means: it may take this long at most. The SRK gives no time limit for the whole process. Next to them, you see what we experience at TakeCare. That is experience, not a promise.

The time limits only apply with complete documents. If something is missing or compensation measures are needed, it takes longer. Only the SRK decides on the outcome and its timing.

If the SRK asks for compensation measures

This concerns the ordinary procedure. If your training is very different from Swiss training, the SRK asks for compensation. There are three forms:

• Adaptation period: you work in your profession with support. This may even be possible at your current job in Switzerland.
• Adaptation period with additional training.
• Aptitude test: a test, written and oral.

For the adaptation period, the employer provides a supervising professional. This person works in the same department, is trained in the same field and works at least 60 percent. The SRK must confirm this person. The adaptation period only starts once the SRK has ordered it and you have chosen it. Any cantonal requirements must also be met.

According to the SRK, you must complete the compensation measures within two years. The SRK does not state how long they take or what they cost.

Working while the procedure is under way

There is no rule for all of Switzerland. The canton decides whether, and for how long, you may work without recognition. According to the SRK, the office in charge is the cantonal health department or the cantonal medical officer's service.

One example is the canton of Vaud. Are you in the SRK procedure and have you chosen the adaptation period, not the test? Then you can do it there as a “stagiaire”, that is, as a trainee. The employer must report the job before it starts. The supervising professional needs a licence to practise and may only supervise one person at a time.

After recognition: register, title and licence

With recognition as a nurse, you go into the Register of Health Professions (GesReg) automatically. The entry is mandatory, and you receive a GLN. Publicly visible information includes your name, year of birth, nationality, GLN, profession, qualification and date of recognition. SRK documents sometimes mention NAREG. This is a shared register of the cantons for other health professions. For nurses, the GesReg applies.

Title: you may not use the Swiss titles HF or FH. But you may use the Swiss professional title, such as Pflegefachfrau (nurse). Or your title from your home country, together with the country.

Pay: the SRK recommends that employers offer the same conditions as for professionals with a Swiss diploma, including pay. This is a recommendation, not a legal rule.

Do you also need a licence from the canton? That depends on how you work.

For the licence, you need a recognised diploma. People must be able to trust you, and you must be fit for the profession. And you must master an official language of the canton. This is the language of its authorities, such as German in Zurich or French in Geneva. Zurich, for example, only accepts foreign diplomas with recognition by the SRK.

Language: which level you need

For recognition, the SRK requires a national language at level B2. This is a language of Switzerland, such as German, French or Italian. You must speak and understand it.

Do you need a certificate if you trained in German, French or Italian? The SRK does not say explicitly. The SRK's process sheet for the EU procedure gives a hint. It says you need proof of language skills in two cases:

• You did not train in an official language of Switzerland.
• Or you do not have a language diploma at level B2.

The SRK checks in a separate step whether you need proof. We clarify this with you during the recognition process. What is clear: even with EU recognition, you need the language skills your profession requires.

For a licence to practise, the canton checks language separately. It requires one of its official languages. Some examples:

Not every certificate the SRK accepts is also valid for the canton. The SRK accepts the TCF, for example, but Vaud does not.

And Swiss German? What is required is an official language, not a dialect. We have not found a legal requirement for Swiss German. We searched at federal level and in the cantons of Zurich, Bern, Geneva, Vaud and Ticino.

In everyday life, however, you often hear the dialect. In German-speaking Switzerland, 83 percent of working people usually speak Swiss German at work. This is shown by data from the Federal Statistical Office from 2020. People write in Standard German.

TakeCare places people in jobs in German-speaking Switzerland, French-speaking Switzerland (Romandie) and Ticino. So you can also look for work where people speak the language of your training.

Other health professions: midwife, FaGe and nursing assistant

In total, the SRK recognises 19 health professions, including midwife and Fachfrau or Fachmann Gesundheit (FaGe, healthcare assistant). For nursing assistants, there is a separate procedure. Are you a midwife or FaGe? Then TakeCare submits the application to the SRK and handles the entire recognition process, including the costs of recognition. For nursing assistants, TakeCare submits the application for the “Gleichwertigkeit Pflegehelfende SRK” for you and covers the costs. This is how you find your way:

More on nursing assistants: this is not one of the professions the SRK recognises. The SRK decides within two months at most after the complete online application. With a work placement, there are two invoices of CHF 250. If the decision is negative, there is no invoice. Whether you need equivalence for a nursing assistant job depends on the canton.

You need the B1 certificate in German, French or Italian. Exception: you completed your training in one of these languages. Online tests do not count.

Residence, health insurance and settling in

Are you a citizen of Germany, Austria, Italy or France? Then the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons applies to you. This is a treaty between Switzerland and the EU. It sets out how EU citizens can live and work in Switzerland. You only need a residence permit. It is also your work permit. The canton issues it. If you meet the conditions, you have a right to it. An exception is only possible for reasons of public order.

If you move to Switzerland, three steps are important:

1. 1

   Register with the municipality

   As a rule, you register yourself: within 14 days of arrival and before your first working day. You need your passport or identity card and the written confirmation of employment. There, you usually also apply for the permit.

2. 2

   Work

   For your residence, the rule is: you may work as soon as the canton has received your permit application. You do not have to wait for the permit card. This does not replace recognition by the SRK.

3. 3

   Take out health insurance

   Within three months of moving here. Then you are insured from the day you moved, so also backdated.

The residence permit replaces neither recognition nor a licence to practise. Did you train in one of the four countries but do not have EU/EFTA nationality? Then the SRK also requires two things for the procedure:

• a valid residence permit in Switzerland
• the right to settle here

Too late with health insurance? Then you are only insured from the day you join. If you have no good reason for the delay, you pay more. The health insurer then charges a surcharge of 30 to 50 percent on the premium, that is, on your contribution. The surcharge applies for twice as long as the delay, for five years at most.

As a cross-border commuter, you must be insured from your first working day. You have three months to join a Swiss health insurer. If you live in Germany, France, Italy or Austria, you can also get insured there. For this, you apply for an exemption from compulsory Swiss insurance within three months of starting work. The application goes to the canton where you work.

What TakeCare takes on for you

For nurses, midwives and FaGe, TakeCare submits the application to the SRK and handles the entire recognition process, including the costs of recognition. In practice:

• We submit the application for you, with your power of attorney.
• We take care of forms, deadlines and invoices with the SRK.
• You do not pay the costs of recognition.

For nursing assistants, TakeCare submits the application for the “Gleichwertigkeit Pflegehelfende SRK” for you and covers the costs. This is not recognition but a separate procedure. Is it unclear how the SRK classifies your qualification? Then we clarify with you what TakeCare takes on. And for everyone looking for a job with us:

• Job placement in German-speaking Switzerland, Romandie and Ticino.
• Support with finding a flat, with insurance and with dealings with the authorities.
• Free for you: for jobseekers, all TakeCare services are free of charge.

The SRK itself does not place people in jobs. We cannot promise the decision or its date. Both rest with the SRK. For nurses, the entire recognition process takes around three months, in our experience.