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BIG Registration in the Netherlands for Foreign-Trained Nurses: What the Register Requires and the Steps for Filipinos

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By iStart Editorial Team·Published November 7, 2026

BIG Registration in the Netherlands for Foreign-Trained Nurses: What the Register Requires and the Steps for Filipinos

Your nursing degree is framed, your PRC licence is in your wallet, and the posts keep saying the Netherlands needs nurses. Can a nurse trained in the Philippines actually work as one there?

There is a route, through one gate, the BIG register, once your training is recognised, and it takes Dutch, a professional test and time. See the countries hiring Filipino nurses. This guide follows the CIBG's pages as published in October 2026.

What BIG Registration Is

BIG registration is your entry in the public register of healthcare professionals that the CIBG keeps for the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport under the BIG Act. Nurses must be on it to work in their profession in the Netherlands.

It lets you use the protected title and carry out your profession's reserved actions independently, and anyone can search it by name or BIG number.

The Route for a Diploma From Outside Europe

A Philippine nursing degree comes from outside Europe, so it takes the CIBG's Certificate of Professional Competence procedure: recognition first, registration second.

The route to BIG registration for a nurse with a diploma from outside Europe, by the CIBG's pages of October 2026. First, recognition: Dutch at B1, English reading at A2, the BI test and the CBGV commission; the outcome: recognition, a condition or a refusal. Second, registration, starting conditionally with three months supervised by a BIG-registered nurse. Third, definitively, for five years, then re-registration on work and training. Registration is not a right to work.

  1. Gather every document first, including the B1 and A2 proof you provide; only a complete application is processed.
  2. Apply online at mijn.bigregister.nl, with a BIG login if you have no citizen service number for DigiD.
  3. Nuffic or SBB assess your diploma if necessary; the CIBG arranges it, not you.
  4. Sit the BI test for nurses; the CBGV commission then assesses your file.
  5. The decision and, if positive, your certificate of competence.

A complete application takes 6 to 18 months on average, and the whole process, Dutch included, six months to three years, by the CIBG's figures. Once your application is complete, the CIBG tells you the next step within 4 weeks.

The Dutch Language Requirement for Nurses

For the language rule, the CIBG classes the nursing profession at the MBO (secondary vocational) level, which means Dutch at B1. Most patients in healthcare speak Dutch, so healthcare providers must be able to speak, understand, write and read it. A B1 certificate must come from the State Examination of Dutch as a Second Language (NT2), passed and under two years old; proof of attendance does not count.

Living abroad, the CIBG also accepts the Dutch Language Union's CNaVT test, "taken once a year in May". The roadmap says reaching the right level takes one and a half to two years on average, so start there.

A Filipino nurse in scrubs studies Dutch at a small table at home in the evening, writing in a notebook and saying a phrase aloud under a desk lamp, focused and determined.

English reading at A2 is required too, such as a Cambridge result of 120 to 139 or a British Council EnglishScore.

The BI Test and the Commission

The "BIG exam" is the BI test, the professional test for nurses: a written knowledge test, a skills test and a clinical reasoning interview. The CIBG then invites you to register and pay; results take 3 to 6 weeks, and the roadmap says there is no retake, so prepare.

The independent Commission for Foreign Healthcare Graduates (CBGV) then checks whether your training meets the Dutch standard: a broad course covering every patient group and care sector, and independent practice. It regularly finds training abroad short of that breadth in care for older people, young people and mental healthcare, the roadmap notes, so list all your courses and work in those areas. A difference in breadth is not a verdict on your school.

The outcome can be recognition; a condition, such as an adaptation internship, a skills test or extra training of three months to two years (up to three years, in the roadmap); or a refusal you can object to. Extra internships or training apply to about 50 to 75% of applicants across all professions, in the CIBG's roadmap.

What It Costs

  • Application and commission assessment: no charge "at this moment"
  • The BI test for nurses: €400 for this year's exams
  • BIG registration: €85 for five years

Courses, certified copies and documents from abroad cost extra. Nobody needs paying to "get your BIG", and an agency wanting money before a verified contract is a warning sign: start by checking that the agency is licensed before you pay anyone.

Your Documents, and the Apostille Trap

The core set: your diploma and course overview, the training programme describing each course, a passport copy, a declaration that you may practise as a nurse where you qualified, and your language certificates. A CV and employer statements help the commission. Anything not in Dutch or English needs a sworn translation; black out patients' details.

Copies must be certified by the body the CIBG names, such as your school for the diploma, or by a civil-law notary in the Netherlands. An apostille does not replace a certified copy: "an apostille is not accepted", the CIBG says.

From Certificate to BIG Register

Once recognised, you apply to register: a good command of Dutch, a Certificate of Current Professional Status (CCPS) and a Certificate of Good Conduct from the country where you qualified and any country where you lived, worked, or did a placement or internship, for over three months after qualifying, each under three months old, and €85. Where you lived without practising, a "Non-registration" statement replaces the CCPS, the CIBG says. You start conditionally, three months supervised by a BIG-registered nurse, then definitively, for five years.

Registration is not a right to work: as a non-EEA national you also need a work permit; with a job offer, your employer applies for it, unless your residence document says work is freely permitted or knowledge migrant. The Highly Skilled Migrant permit is one residence route, and only an IND-recognised employer can apply for it. The CIBG notes a major shortage of nurses, and that recognition and registration are no guarantee of a job.

Treat the register as a ladder: re-registration every five years on work and training, specialisations on top, and your PRC licence kept alive beside the BIG number as one professional record, by keeping your PRC licence active while abroad. The Dutch you start this month is the first rung.

Before You Apply: A Checklist

  • Dutch B1 (the NT2 State Exam, or the CNaVT from abroad) and English reading A2, both under two years old
  • Diploma, course overview and syllabus certified by your school, not apostilled
  • Proof that you are licensed where you qualified
  • Your login ready

The Questions Filipinos Ask Us Most

Is there a nursing council I register with in the Netherlands?

The register a nurse joins is the BIG register, kept by the CIBG. A qualification from outside Europe is first recognised on the CBGV commission's advice.

Sources

Read 26–27 October 2026: