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Doctors trained in non-EU countries will have to pay more than three times as much to sit the medical test needed to practise in the Netherlands, under a draft regulation put forward by the health ministry.
The fee for the professional competence test will rise from €1,700 to €5,371.50 in March 2027, and to the full cost of running the test – just over €7,000 – a year later, the ministry says.
People already on the waiting list will have to pay the higher fee as the price is determined by the date of the exam, not the application. Non-EU trained dentists are also seeing their fees rise by almost double to help cover government expenses for organising the tests.
The ministry justifies the cost rises by saying that they will fund more test places. Currently only 72 doctors a year can take the test, which has caused waiting lists of up to two years. There are currently no places available.
Under a new contract with universities, up to 120 people will be able to take the test in 2027, cutting the waiting times by about a year.
More than 6,000 doctors and nurses from outside the EU came to the Netherlands in the past eight years, but only about 38% of doctors and 20% of nurses obtained the papers they need to work here, according to CIBG figures obtained by Trouw. Just over a third of dentists succeeded.
Candidates must first pass a Dutch language test at academic level before they can apply for the competence test, and most then work under supervision for several months before they can register.
“The route for international doctors is tough and takes a long time,” Paul Herfs of the association for foreign-trained doctors VBGA told Trouw. While waiting, he said, they cannot work as doctors, their Dutch language skills deteriorate and they can struggle with their mental health.
The number of non-EU dentists working in the Netherlands has doubled in five years, and the cabinet said in June it wants to steer refugees with medical qualifications into care jobs faster.
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