Overseas Nurse Registration Ireland

Nurses and midwives who wish to practice in Ireland must be registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI). This is the governing authority for the regulation of nursing education and practices in Ireland.

If you have trained outside the EU or the EEA you are a Group 3 applicant. Prerequisites for registration to the NMBI include the following:

• You must have a current registration, or licence without restriction, with the competent authority in the country in which you qualified or have been practising
• If you have completed your nurse/midwifery Registration education programme more than five years prior to the date of application, you should have practiced for at least 12 months during that five year period.
• Meet the English language competence requirements which include an overall IELTS score of 7.0 with a minimum of 7.0 in any three components and 6.5 in any one component. If you are submitting OET scores, you should have received at least OET (Nursing) with Grade B in three components and C+ in one component.
• You should have completed extra courses leading to registration as a first level nurse, if you hold the following qualifications:
  • State enrolled nurse
  • State certified nurse
  • Licensed practical nurse
  • Vocational nurse
  • Nurse’s aide, and o An associate degree (United States)

NMBI will carry out a full education assessment on your application for registration.

The board may take a few weeks for the board to determine your eligibility, once your documents have been submitted. Begin the process of your registration application, and the gathering of supporting documents, as soon as possible.

Once your application has been received and reviewed and found to be suitable, you may be granted a temporary permit to work as a nurse. During this qualifying period, your performance and ability will be monitored for a period of up to 6 weeks. Nurses from U.S., U.K., Australia, New Zealand, and Canada may be exempt from this qualifying period. Nurses from outside these countries may be required to complete a compensation measure, you have a choice to undertake one of the following:

• Period of adaptation, or
• Aptitude test.

On successful completion of any of the afore said process and review by the Board, you may be granted full registration, may be declined registration, or may be asked to continue with a further period of supervised practice. Once you have granted full registration rights, you can apply for a full working visa to the immigration department. The Nursing Board’s decision is final.

Check this link for current updates on the requirements for Nursing registration in Ireland.