The Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria has revealed that Nigerian nurses and midwives must have a minimum of 2 years post-qualification work experience from the date of issuance of permanent practicing licence before their certificates can be verified by foreign nursing boards/councils.
This revelation was made on a circular titled, Revised guidelines for the verification of certificate(s) with the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria for practice abroad.
The council disclosed that nurses who apply with provisional licenses will outrightly be rejected. It also disclosed that all applicants who seek to relocate must have an active practicing license with a minimum of six months to the expiration date.
The revised guidelines, effective from March 1, 2024, aim to streamline the process and enhance the standards of nursing education and practice in alignment with global best practices.
Key Guidelines and Requirements:
- Eligible applicants must possess a minimum of two (2) years of post-qualification experience counted from the date of issuance of their permanent practising license. Applications with provisional licenses will be categorically rejected.
- The Council will require a Letter of Good Standing from the Chief Executive Officer of the applicant’s workplace and the last nursing training institution attended.
- Responses to these requests should be directed to the Registrar/CEO of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria.
- Applicants must hold an active practicing license with at least six months remaining before expiration.
- Applicants are required to visit the official portal at https://licence.nmen.gov.ng/ to log in and start the verification application process by clicking on the dedicated link.
- A non-refundable fee per application must be paid through the portal for verification to Foreign Boards of Nursing. This fee covers the cost of courier services to the applicant’s training institution(s), place of work, and the respective Foreign Board.
- During the application process, applicants are instructed to upload Certificates of Registration only; Notification of Registration will not be accepted.
- Applicants will receive timely notifications via email and dashboard regarding the status of their verification application.
The verification application process is expected to take a minimum of six (6) months as against the 2 weeks it initially took.
The implementation of these guidelines officially commences on March 1, 2024. The council stated that all pending verification applications before this revision will be processed according to the previous guidelines.