Recognition of Foreign Nursing Qualifications in Vietnam

“Will my home-country nursing degree be accepted in Vietnam?” This is a very common concern for international healthcare professionals. Because nursing training programs vary widely around the globe, Vietnam’s Ministry of Health has established clear baselines to evaluate and recognize foreign degrees. Let’s explore how the government checks and validates your international nursing qualifications.

The recognition of foreign medical qualifications is governed by the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023 and Decree 96/2023/NĐ-CP. The state aims to ensure that any foreign nurse entering a local clinical ward has completed training equivalent to local educational standards. This prevents the licensing of under-qualified individuals and ensures that patient care remains consistently high across all hospitals.

Vietnamese authorities look at three primary metrics when evaluating your foreign nursing degree:

• Institutional Accreditation: Your nursing school must be officially accredited and recognized by the government or national nursing board of your home country. Degrees from unverified online programs are not accepted.

• Curriculum Scope: The program must align with Vietnam’s multi-year training standard, combining theoretical classes with extensive clinical rotation hours.

• Verified Clinical Experience: You must show official letters or certificates from previous hospital employers confirming that you have actively practiced as a registered nurse for the required minimum duration.

Sponsoring clinics must perform diligent pre-screen checks of all international applicants’ educational backgrounds before submitting applications to the government. Relying on candidates’ self-reported qualifications without checking their school’s accreditation status can lead to sudden application rejections by the Ministry of Health. Sponsoring facilities must verify all degree credentials during the initial recruitment phase.