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Animal health staff: Authorization and licence

Any person going to practice as a veterinary surgeon, as an aqua medicine biologist or as a veterinary nurse in Norway must be authorized by, or hold a licence issued by, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority.

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Contents on this page

  1. Application for authorization
  2. Application for licence
  3. Continued licence after the age of 75
  4. Address

All applications for authorization/licence must be sent to Mattilsynet (Norwegian Food Safety Authority).

Download: Application for authorization or licence (PDF)

Application for authorization

Veterinarian

If you have obtained your professional qualification as veterinarian at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, you will be given an authorization. This is regulated through The Animal Health Staff Act.

If you have obtained your professional qualification in an EEA country, you will in most cases be given an authorization. One of the conditions for receiving an authorization is that you are an EEA citizen. This is regulated in Animal health staff regulation. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA) might send a request to IMI (European Commission Internal Market) for confirmation.

If you have obtained your professional qualification in a country outside the EEA, you may be given an authorization if your education is considered to be of the same academic standard as the education from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences – Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.

In most cases it is required that applicants from outside the EEA area is complemented with education and practical training at the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science – Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.

Aqua medicine biologist

If you have obtained your professional qualification at the University of Bergen or University of Tromsø (The Arctic University of Norway), you will be given an authorization. This is regulated through  as veterinarian at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, you will be given an authorization. This is regulated through The Animal Health Staff Act.

If you have obtained your professional qualification in an EEA country, in most cases you will be given an authorization. One of the conditions for receiving an authorization is that you are an EEA citizen. This is regulated in Animal health staff regulation.

Veterinary nurse

App If you have obtained your professional qualification at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences – Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, you will be given an authorization. This is regulated through Veterinary nurse regulation.

If you have obtained your professional qualification in an EEA country, you may be given an authorization. One of the conditions for receiving an authorization is that you are an EEA citizen. This is regulated in Animal health staff regulation.

If your certificate does not meet the requirements in the regulation, the NFSA may decide that you need to perform a competency test in order to be able to obtain authorization lication for a licence

Following documents must be enclosed along with the application form:

  • Certificates or other documentation from your educational institution(s), which show clearly that you have completed adequate training.
  • Documentation showing your date of birth and national identity number, documentation of any change of name and citizenship.
  • In case it is more than one year since you completed your education, you must enclose the «Certificate of Current Professional Status» from the competent authority of the country you are currently. This confirmation must not be older than 3 months.

If you have obtained your qualification in countries outside the EEA you must enclose the following information:

The correct documentation must be enclosed in order for your application to be processed. 

Regulations

Application for licence

Application for a licence is regulated through regulation Regulations for assistant service for veterinary students.

Students at Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU)

If you are a student at NMBU, you must have passed all your exams before you can apply for a licence. This does not include clinical exams. You have to document that you have fulfilled internal and external clinical practice approved by the NMBU.

It is not necessary that you at the time of application of a licence have fulfilled the following elements of the education:

  • the elective part of the education
  • 1-2 week courses in management, infection control and assignment writing
  • exam in public veterinary medicine

NFSA always contact NMBU and ask for a confirmation that you as an applicant at the time of application have fulfilled the relevant elements of the education program in order for us to issue a licence.

Students studying abroad

You must be able to document that you have sufficient academic knowledge of the theoretical part of the following subjects: Food safety, animal welfare, pathology, internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics, reproduction and preventive animal health work.

If you intend to work within the field of aqua medicine, you need to have passed a test in this subject as well.

NFSA requires that you have clinical experience from your study, which corresponds to the requirements described in the study plan for NMBU. This means that you must have passed all clinical practice, internal and external, which is compulsory during your study.

This means that you must have had a "veterinary role" during your clinical practice, under the guidance of a veterinarian. This requirement applies to clinical practice on production animals, horses and small animals internally at the veterinary study clinics, outpatient activities under the guidance of the school's veterinarians, and external compulsory practice at the study. You must have completed such practices for all animal species to ensure comparative learning. The practice must be as continuous as possible.

You must also have passed your exam in meat hygiene to be able to work with production animals and equine medicine.

The following documents must be enclosed along with the application form:

Additional documents that are needed if you are studying abroad should be sent from the University to the NFSA:

  • Transcript of grades must document that you have passed the course, if the course is to be included in the assessment.
  • Confirmation describing clinical practice including number of hours practice with different animal species.
  • Confirmation of which compulsory courses you still haven`t passed and which courses and exams that remains before you will receive your diploma, including estimated plan for when you will complete your education.
  • Curriculum describing the different courses that match the transcript of grades.

The correct documentation must be enclosed in order for your application to be processed. 

NFSA do not usually grant licenses with a duration extending beyond 6 months.

Regulations

Continued licence after the age of 75

Animal health personnel lose their authorization at the age of 75. If you wish to continue working as animal health personnel after the age of 75, you have to apply for a licence.

The licence may be limited to certain fields of work, and may be grant for two or three years at a time. This is regulated through The Animal Health Staff Act.

Following document must be enclosed along with the application form:

A medical certificate which confirms that your health is adequate for justifiable activity. This certificate must not be older than 3 months.

Apply early

Remember to apply well in advance. NFSA has reduced staffing during holidays.

Regulations

Address

You may send your application through Mattilsynets skjematjenester (please attach a completed application form and attachments as described above)

On the other hand, you may send your application by mail to:

Mattilsynet
Avdeling nasjonale oppgaver
Felles postmottak, Postboks 383
N-2381 Brumunddal
Norway