Veterinarian - recognition of qualifications

Are you a citizen of a member state of the European Union, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland? Do you have qualifications to practise the profession of veterinarian and would you like to pursue this profession in Poland? Read the description below and apply for recognition of your professional qualifications.

How to proceed

What you should know and who can use this service

A veterinarian applying for the recognition of professional qualifications acquired in the EU and the simultaneous granting of a licence to practise the profession in the territory of the Republic of Poland, and for an entry in the register of members of the regional veterinary chamber, submits an application to the regional veterinary council relevant for the territory in which he/she intends to practise the profession. In addition, he/she should submit relevant documents (attachments) which confirm that the requirements laid down in the Act of 21 December 1990 on the profession of a veterinarian and veterinary chambers and the Act of 22 December 2015 on the principles of recognising professional qualifications acquired in the Member States of the European Union have been observed.

It should be noted that the profession of veterinarian is considered a sectoral profession - recognition of qualifications for such professions may be carried out:

1) automatically, if the applicants is in possession of documents confirming his/her qualifications, such as:

• diplomas, certificates mentioned in the list of diplomas and other documents confirming the qualifications to practise as a veterinarian held by citizens of the Member States of the European Union, published in: the Notice of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of 24 June 2013 on the list of diplomas and other documents confirming the qualifications to practise the profession of veterinarian held by citizens of the Member States of the European Union at the same time meeting the minimum requirements for the training specified in the regulations of the European Union, the Act on the principles of recognising professional qualifications acquired in the Member States of the European Union (...)
• and other documents required by the Polish legislation during the procedure of granting the licence to practise the profession of veterinarian in the territory of the Republic of Poland, in accordance with the Act on the profession of veterinarian and veterinary chambers (see Article 2(1)(2)(b) of the Act),     

2) automatically, but on the basis of acquired rights, that is, as a general rule by submitting documents certifying the qualifications (not meeting the minimum requirements as regards the training set out in the European Union regulations on the recognition of professional qualifications), together with a certificate stating that the veterinarian effectively and in accordance with the law practised as a veterinarian for at least three consecutive years during the last five years, or for at least five consecutive years during the last seven years preceding the issue of the certificate, and other documents necessary to grant the licence to practise the profession of veterinarian in the territory of the Republic of Poland (see Article 2a(1)-(3) of the Act on the profession of veterinarian and veterinary chambers),   

3) automatically, by presenting documents certifying the acquired qualifications to practise the profession of veterinarian held by a citizen of a Member State other than the Republic of Poland, different than diplomas or documents published in the list of diplomas and other documents confirming the qualifications to practise as a veterinarian held by citizens of the Member States of the European Union (...), published in: the Notice of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of 24 June 2013 on the list of diplomas (...) but confirmed by a certificate issued by appropriate authorities of the Member State, confirming that the diploma or the document confirming the qualifications to practise the profession of veterinarian has been granted upon completing a training programme which meets the minimum requirements in this field set out in the EU regulations on the recognition of professional qualifications and is considered as equivalent to the diplomas or documents published in the mentioned list (see Article 2b(1) of the Act on the profession of veterinarian and veterinary chambers),   

4) under the general system, where an automatic method cannot be used, for example when the applicant's diploma is not included in the list of diplomas meeting the formal qualifications of EU Member State citizens for the profession of veterinarian, and the applicant holds a document confirming his/her qualifications to practise as a veterinarian meeting the minimum requirements for training specified in the EU regulations on the recognition of professional qualifications, but the he/she cannot provide a certificate issued by the competent authorities of a Member State certifying the actual and lawful practice of the profession of veterinarian for at least three consecutive years during the last five years or for a period of at least five consecutive years during the seven years immediately preceding the issue of the certificate, (see article 2c(1) of the Act on the profession of veterinarian and veterinary chambers),   

5) under the general system, where an automatic method cannot be used, but the applicant holds a document certifying his/her qualifications to practise the profession of veterinarian, issued by appropriate authorities of a country other than a Member State and submits a certificate confirming at least a three-year experience as a veterinarian, acquired in the territory of an EU Member State, which recognised this document in accordance with its internal regulations and confirmed the acquired professional experience (see article 2c(2) of the Act on the profession of veterinarian and veterinary chambers),

When you should complete this procedure

At any time

Where you can complete this procedure

You can complete this procedure at:

• District Medical and Veterinary Chamber

What to do step by step

1. Submit an application for the recognition of professional qualifications

A veterinarian applying for the recognition of professional qualifications acquired in the EU Member States submits documents, an application and attachments specified in the legal regulations to the regional veterinary council relevant for the territory where he/she intends to practise the profession. The application must be accompanied by attachments certifying complete qualifications to practise the profession of veterinarian (education, professional experience, etc.), in the Polish language or together with a copy of a certified translation into Polish made by a sworn translator. The fee should be paid no later than on the date of submitting the application.

If the applicant has no place of residence, of permanent stay or a registered office in the Republic of Poland or in another EU Member State, and if he/she has not appointed a representative residing in Poland to handle this matter and is not represented by the consul of the Republic of Poland, he/she has to appoint an attorney for service residing in Poland. Appointment of a attorney is not required when the service letters are delivered by means of electronic communication.

Documents

2. Confirmation of receipt and formal verification of the application

The regional veterinary council confirms the receipt of the application within 30 days of its receipt. The complete application and the attachments are forwarded for consideration. The regional veterinary council verifies the correctness and completeness of the application and its attachments required for the proper conduct of the the procedure.

In case of any formal defects, the regional veterinary council summons the applicant to supplement the application within a given term, informing that otherwise the application will be left without consideration. The applicant has 7 days to remedy any such defects, counting from the day of receiving the letter. If the applicant does not remedy the defects in the documents within 7 days, the application is left without consideration. The applicant may apply for a suspension of the procedure if the 7-day term is insufficient to remedy the defects.

Also, if the applicant has not paid the fee due for the recognition of professional qualifications and the entry in the register, the authority conducting the procedure sets a deadline for such payment, no shorter than 7 days and no longer than 14 days. If the fee is not paid by such deadline, the authority issues a decision on returning the application or the procedure dependant on the fee is discontinued. The applicant may appeal against such decision.

Documents

Time limit

30 days

3. Substantive verification

1. The regional veterinary council, depending on the method of recognising the qualifications (automatic or general), on the basis of an analysis of the submitted documents, qualifications held, education programme, trainings and professional experience, etc., evaluates to what extent the veterinarian meets the requirements for the recognition of professional qualifications acquired in the EU Member States, being granted a licence to practise the profession in the territory of the Republic of Poland and for an entry in the register of members of the regional veterinary chamber.

2. Verification of the authenticity of the submitted documents (conditionally)

3. If there are reasonable doubts as to the authenticity of any diplomas or documents issued by the relevant authorities of the Member States, the regional veterinary council requests these authorities to confirm the authenticity of the diplomas or other documents confirming qualifications to practise the profession of veterinarian, as well as to confirm that the veterinarian intending to practise the profession of veterinarian in the territory of the Republic of Poland has acquired qualifications to practise this profession, meeting the minimum requirements for the training specified in the regulations of the European Union on the recognition of professional qualifications. The regional veterinary council, in case of reasonable doubts as to the authenticity of the documents submitted by the applicant, requests the competent authority of another Member State to confirm the authenticity of these documents by means of the electronic Internal Market Information System (IMI). The IMI allows to prepare a query and respond to a query from other Member States in the Polish language, and to find the appropriate authority in another State with ease and precision.

4. Evaluation of the level of training and professional experience resulting from the submitted documents. The regional veterinary council verifies:

• whether the submitted diploma has been specified in the list of recognisable diplomas confirming formal qualifications of EU citizens for the profession of veterinarian, thus allowing for automatic recognition of qualifications,
• whether the knowledge and skills acquired by the applicant as a result of education and professional experience meet the requirements for the profession of veterinarian in force in the Republic of Poland,
• whether the provided documents have been issued by the competent authorities of a Member State, designated in accordance with the statutory, executive and administrative regulations of that Member State,
• whether the applicant holds a degree which is recognised as equivalent,
• whether the documents sufficiently confirm the applicant's complete qualifications to practise the profession of veterinarian:
  • knowledge of veterinary science and relevant practical skills required to practise the profession of veterinarian in accordance with the requirements of Polish and EU legislation,
  • full legal capacity and power to fully exercise public rights,
  • a health condition enabling the applicant to practise the profession of  veterinarian.

4. The recognition of professional qualifications acquired in the EU Member States to practise the profession of veterinarian

If a veterinarian has submitted proper and complete documents (application and attachments) certifying he/she meets the requirements indicated in the Act on the profession of veterinarian and the Act on principles of recognition of professional qualifications acquired in the Member States of the European Union, the regional veterinary council recognises his/her professional qualifications acquired in the EU Member States to practise the profession of veterinarian, at the same time granting a licence to practise this profession in Poland and making an entry in the register of members of the relevant regional veterinary chamber. Otherwise, the regional veterinary council refuses to recognise the professional qualifications.

The recognition of qualifications and the simultaneous granting of the licence to practise the profession in the territory of the Republic of Poland, and an entry in the register or a refusal to recognise the qualifications is done by means of a resolution of the relevant regional veterinary council. The Central Register of Veterinarians is kept separately for each veterinarian, in electronic form (in the national Wet Systems IT system). Alternatively, the regional veterinary chambers keep such registers of veterinarian in paper or electronic form (in the form of a local book or an electronic file).

Documents

5. Issuing the certificate on the recognition of professional qualifications and the licence to practise the profession and an entry in the register of members of the relevant regional veterinary chamber

The regional veterinary council issues ex officio a certificate on the recognition of professional qualifications acquired in the EU to practise the profession of veterinarian and on the licence to practise the profession in the territory of the Republic of Poland, and on the entry in the register of members of the regional veterinary chamber. The certificate is delivered along with the resolution of the regional veterinary council on the recognition of qualifications. A refusal to recognise the professional qualifications to practise the profession of veterinarian results in delivering to the applicant the relevant resolution having the power of an administrative decision (which may be appealed against to the National Veterinary Council).

Documents

6. Forwarding the notification about the decisions relating to the recognition of professional qualifications

The regional veterinary council sends the information on its decisions relating to the recognition of qualifications to the National Veterinary Council. The National Veterinary Council submits an annual list of all such decisions issued by all regional veterinary councils to the person appointed as a coordinator for the system of recognition of professional qualifications.

How much you will have to pay

a) automatic recognition: depending on the resolution of a given district medical and veterinary council - free of charge or on average from PLN 50 to PLN 200

b) recognition in the general system - 35 per cent of the minimum wage established on the basis of the provisions of the Act of 10 October 2002 on the minimum wage, in force in the year of issuance of the card. In 2024, the minimum wage is PLN 4242 until 30 June and PLN 4300 from 1 July.

How long you will have to wait

How can you appeal

1. The resolutions of the regional veterinary councils on the recognition of qualifications, granting the licence to practise the profession and making an entry in the register of members, or on a refusal to recognise the qualifications, revocation or suspension of the licence to practise the profession due to the inability to practise it or declaring the loss of this licence, are governed by the regulations of the Code of Administrative Procedure related to administrative decisions; see Article 7 of the Act on the profession of veterinarian and Article 3 of the Act on principles of recognition of professional qualifications acquired in the Member States of the European Union.

2. Refusal to recognise formal qualifications results in providing the applicant with the resolution having the power of an administrative decision, which may be appealed against to the National Veterinary Council.

3. The appeal should be submitted within 14 days from the date of delivery or announcement of the decision, to the appropriate appeal body, through the authority which issued the decision.