Interim or Permanent License for Internationally Educated Nurses
Interim license, permanent license: how to get them and what the requirements are
Have you graduated nursing studies outside of Israel and wish to practice nursing in Israel? After passing the Israeli examination, you will have to get a license to be allowed to practice nursing.
License to practice nursing for internationally educated nurses
Licensure is made of two stages:*
- Interim license for a 18 months for citizens
- Permanent license (permanent certificate) after meeting all requirements
*Certified or practical nurse
After passing the State Nursing Board Licensure Examination and proving you know Hebrew well-enough, you will be required to pay a fee for an interim license, and then you can start your practice as a nurse. The interim license is valid for 18 months (for citizens only); during this time, you should work as a nurse full-time under supervision in the Israeli Healthcare System for at least 12 months.
One your one-year full-time work is over, you will be asked to submit to the Nursing Division, via the portal, a reference letter to be signed by the head nurse in charge of the department or clinic, and another one from the director of nursing of the medical center where you have been working. The Nursing Division shall consider these references and will accordingly decide whether to grant you a permanent license.
Interim license
Requirements for issuing an interim license to practice nursing
- No criminal record.
- Normal health status.
- Passing the State Nursing Board Licensure Examination.
- Proof of knowledge of the Hebrew language (For foreign language examinees, knowledge of Hebrew can be proven within 3 years from the date of the State Nursing Board Licensure Examination. After 3 years, if knowledge of Hebrew is not proven, you will have to retake the State Nursing Board Licensure Examination).
- Submitting proof of payment of the interim license fee.
Getting an interim license
- Pass the examination. After passing the State Nursing Board Licensure Examination, the Nursing Division Certification (Qualification) Department will send you a letter specifying how to get an interim license, including payment instructions.
- Proof of knowledge of the Hebrew language. Before receiving the interim license, graduates who sat for the examination in a foreign language must present proof of knowledge of Hebrew language (within three years from the date of the State Nursing Board Licensure Examination), in order to get an interim license. You will be required to scan the proof and upload it to the the Healthcare Professionals Portal (Hebrew).
- Payment. After receiving a letter from the Certification (Qualification) Department, you will have to pay the interim license fee via the Postal Bank.
Account details: Postal Bank, branch number: 001 Jerusalem, account number 0-025961.
Scan and upload the proof of fee payment to the Healthcare Professionals Portal. - Receiving the license. After receiving the proof of payment, the Certification (Qualification) Department will send you by email and post:
- Interim license.
- Reference forms that the head nurse of the clinic or department and the nursing director of the medical center where you work must fill out once you complete 12 months of full-time work as a nurse.
Permanent license
The requirements for receiving a permanent license for registered nurses educated and licensed outside of Israel
- No criminal record.
- Normal health status.
- Israeli citizenship.
- Working for 12 months as a registered nurse with direct patient care, in one of the medical centers of the healthcare system in Israel, given an interim license.
- Submitting reference letters filled out and signed by the head nurse of the clinic or department and the nursing director of the medical center where you work.
- Submitting proof of payment of the permanent license fee.
Getting a permanent certificate
- Reference letter. Once your one year of work is completed, the head nurse of the clinic or department and the nursing director of the medical center where you work as a nurse should fill out a reference letter that should be submitted to the Nursing Division via the Portal. The reference letters will help the Nursing Division decide whether to issue a permanent license.
- Payment. If the Nursing Division decides to issue a permanent license, the Nursing Division will ask you to pay the permanent license fee.
You have to pay the fee via the postal bank.
Account details: Postal Bank, branch number: 001 Jerusalem, account number 0-025961.
The receipt should be scanned and uploaded to the Healthcare Professionals Portal. - Receiving the license. Once the proof of payment of fee is submitted to the Nursing Division, a permanent license will be issued and sent over registered post to the address of record in the Nursing Division.
The requirements for receiving a permanent license for nurse practitioners or obstetricians educated and licensed outside of Israel
- Confirmation of eligibility to take the nurse practitioner licensure exam
- Passing the State Nursing Board Licensure Examination
- Proof of knowledge of the Hebrew language
- No criminal record
- Normal health status
- Israeli citizenship
- Professional experience of at least one year in the country of origin
- Valid license
Temporary residents
Temporary residents can receive a permanent license only after confirming they are citizens of the State of Israel.
They can work, if they have an interim license (which will be extended from time to time) as long as their residence permit is valid.
Before the residence permit expires, e-mail the Nursing Division Certification (Qualification) Department a request to extend the interim license.
Attach a copy of your I.D. card as well as a valid residence permit.
Note that the license must be extended every 12 months. You must pay a fee to extend the interim license.
Once you get an Israeli citizenship, you can submit a request for a permanent license to the Certification (Qualification) Department.
What you need to attach to the request:
- Photocopy of your I.D. card.
- A letter of reference from the employer filled out once one year of full-time work as a nurse under the supervision and observation is completed, with direct patient care, for the interim license period.
The period of work under interim license, before becoming a citizen, can be part of the year of work.
Email the request to the Nursing Division:
hasmacha.hull@moh.gov.il
NOTE
If at any stage during reviewing the documents and after it, there is any indication that the documents are inaccurate or provide false information, your request will be refused.