Dental practitioners – Qualifications – Recognition

General information

Dental Practitioners who have acquired their qualification in a Member State of the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland can apply for recognition of their professional qualification at the Austrian Dental Chamber. They have to be registered in the list of dental practitioners to be able to practice their profession in Austria, reliability and knowledge of the German language are necessary requirements to be registered.

Working in Austria without recognition or employing such persons is an administrative offence, punishable by a fine. There may also be consequences under criminal and civil law.

Requirements

Diploma for dental practitioner, issued by an EEA-State or Switzerland

Competent authority

• Austrian Dental Chamber
  Kohlmarkt 11/6
  1010 Vienna
  e-mail: office@zahnaerztekammer.at
• Dental Chambers of the Federal States (Addresses on the pages of the Austrian Dental Chamber)

Procedure

A written application has to be submitted in person, by post or by electronic means.

If the requirements are fulfilled, the applicant will be registered in the list of dental practitioners.

The recognition process can be expected to take up to three months after the submission of all required documents, in case of non-automatic recognition it can take up to four months.

Required documents

• Application
• Birth certificate
• Austrian residence Permit
• In case the applicant’s name differs from the name shown on the diploma or on the certificate, a wedding or divorce certificate or any other official document proving the change of name must be submitted
• Evidence of citizenship, valid passport or personal identification document
  – Diploma – formal qualification conforming officially recognized and successfully completed training in an EU Member State, EEA-State or in Switzerland
• Certificate of conformity – Directive 2005/36/EC
• Police clearance certificate from the country of origin and Austrian Criminal Record Certificate, issued within the last three months. Please note: Police clearance certificates from Croatia and Slovenia issued by Ministry of Justice only.
• Attestation certifying that the applicant is legally established in a Member State for the purpose of pursuing the activities concerned and that he/she is not prohibited from practising, even temporarily at the moment of delivering the attestation (Certificate of Good Standing)
• Medical certificate (issued by an Austrian general practitioner within the last three months) confirming that the applicant fulfils all health requirements for the profession
• Proof of knowledge of the German language at level C1 (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, CEFR)
• Employer’s confirmation (employment contract, place of work) or address of establishment or domicile (so-called Wohnsitzzahnarzt)
• Proof of professional indemnity insurance (minimum amount insured: two Million Euro) with an in Austria authorised insurance company
• One passport photograph
• Social security number
• Domicile and address for service

All documents and certificates must be submitted in the original or as a copy authenticated by a court or a notary public. Only translations by a certified court translator are accepted. Non-authenticated copies or untranslated documents are not accepted as evidence. Except from the evidence of professional qualifications, documents must not be older than three months.

Not authenticated copies or untranslated documents are not accepted. After processing, all original documents will be returned immediately.

Costs and fees

• 13,20 Euro administration fee
• 13,20 Euro fee for the dental practitioner identification card

Further information

The application is for: Dental practitioners

Further information can be found on the pages of the Austrian Dental Chamber.^{German text}

Legal bases

• sections 7, 9, 26c of the Zahnärztegesetz (ZÄG)
• Zahnärzte-EWR-Qualifikationsnachweis-Verordnung