You're an EU-qualified nurse or physiotherapist and don't want to wait months to practise in France? The European Professional Card (EPC) is a fully digital procedure that can bring the recognition timeline down to 1 month, compared to 4 months for the standard route.
What is the European Professional Card?
The EPC was introduced by Directive 2013/55/EU, which amends Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications. Unlike a paper file sent to a regional administration, the EPC moves between your home country's competent authority and the French competent authority through a shared digital platform: IMI (Internal Market Information System).
In practice, you submit your file online once. Your home country's authority verifies the authenticity of your documents, then forwards the file to the relevant French authority, which has a fixed deadline to decide — once that deadline passes, silence means approval.
Who can use the EPC?
The EPC isn't open to every healthcare profession. Delegated Decision (EU) 2016/790 sets the list — only 5 professions across the EU.
- Pharmacist
- General care nurse
- Physiotherapist
- Mountain guide
- Real estate agent
Of these 5, only two matter for the healthcare workers Suxens supports: nurses and physiotherapists. Healthcare assistants, midwives and occupational therapists aren't EPC-eligible — for those professions, see our healthcare assistant DREETS pathway, midwife automatic recognition guide, and occupational therapist DREETS pathway.
The procedure, step by step
Step 1: Create your IMI account
Create a personal account on the EU platform dedicated to the EPC and select your profession (nurse or physiotherapist) along with your host country (France).
Step 2: Build your digital file
The documents you'll upload are close to what a standard file requires: a copy of your diploma, a certificate of conformity with minimum training requirements, proof of EU/EEA/Swiss nationality, and, depending on the profession, a good-standing certificate from your home authority.
Step 3: Verification by your home authority
Your home country's competent authority authenticates your documents and forwards them, through IMI, to the relevant French authority: the National Council of the Ordre des Infirmiers for nurses, the National Council of the Ordre des masseurs-kinésithérapeutes (MKFR) for physiotherapists.
Step 4: French review — silence means approval
The French authority has a set deadline to review the application — 1 month from receipt of a complete file, extendable by 15 to 30 days if a public health justification applies. If a compensation measure (adaptation period or aptitude test) is required, an additional 2 months apply. If no decision is issued within the applicable deadline, recognition is granted automatically.
EPC vs. standard route: comparison table
| Profession | Standard route | EPC route | EPC deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nurse | Direct registration with the Ordre National des Infirmiers (automatic recognition, Annex V) | Available, but rarely used in practice | 1 month (silence means approval) |
| Physiotherapist | DREETS file (general system) | Recommended — much faster | 1 month (silence means approval), vs. 4 months through DREETS |
Not sure whether the EPC or the standard route is faster for your profession? Suxens helps you pick the right path for your situation — join the waitlist →
EPC by profession: what to know
For nurses
Nurses already benefit from automatic recognition by registering directly with the Ordre National des Infirmiers (see our full EU nurse guide). The EPC is available, but in practice the direct Ordre route remains the standard and sufficient procedure — it's already fast (up to 3 months maximum) and well established. The EPC mainly matters if you want an even shorter, more predictable deadline.
For physiotherapists
Here the difference is significant. The standard DREETS route (see our EU physiotherapist guide) takes up to 4 months. The EPC, reviewed by the National Council of the Ordre des masseurs-kinésithérapeutes, brings that down to 1 month. This is the strongest concrete argument for the EPC in this profession — Suxens systematically recommends this route to the EU physiotherapists it supports.