What CORU checks before it registers you
CORU's recognition route in its own order: the standards it assesses, the documents it names, English by board, and what each decision leads to.
CORU reads an international file in a fixed order, and it will not start reading until every piece is in. That single rule explains most of what applicants experience as delay.
Here is what it reads, in that order, and which document answers each part.
The three things CORU reads
- Recognition of your qualification against the Irish standard for your profession.
- Your syllabus, placement hours and scope of practice, subject by subject.
- Your English and your good standing.
Source: coru.ie · as recorded in our regulator registry · Sept 2026
It does this through twelve registration boards, covering eleven of the twelve professions on this site. Each board has its own Standards of Proficiency and its own English minimums, but the route is the same shape for all of them.
Before you start: eligibility and the right board
You must be able to register or practise in at least one country, generally the one where you qualified, with a qualification that opens the profession there. If the profession is not regulated in that country, CORU asks for proof of professional practice.
Source: coru.ie · Guidance Notes: Applying for Registration as an International Qualification Applicant · 2026-10-04
Pick the board carefully. Social workers and social care workers have separate boards; so do radiographers and radiation therapists, who are assessed against separate standards. Medical scientists follow a different route altogether, built around an exam.
Source: coru.ie · Standards of Proficiency for Radiographers · How to apply as an International Medical Scientist · 2026-10-04
The route, step by step
- Read your profession’s Standards of Proficiency; you will be asked to show evidence against them.
- Create a profile on CORU’s online portal, choose the International Qualification application, and enter your qualification, placements, employment and further training.
- Have your documents certified by an approved certifier, or stamped by your university.
- Have the verification forms signed and stamped by your university, the competent authority and, where relevant, an employer, then upload them.
- Submit, then upload the eVetting invitation form (NVB1), the statutory declaration and any proof of professional practice, and complete eVetting online.
- CORU checks for missing documents and third-party verifications, and marks the file “File Complete”.
- A Clinical Practice Assessor and an Education Assessor recommend a decision to the board.
- The board decides; if your qualification is recognised and the rest of the file is complete, you are considered for registration.
Source: coru.ie · Guidance Notes: Applying for Registration as an International Qualification Applicant · Apply for Recognition of International Qualifications · 2026-10-04
The standards behind the assessment
Every board’s Standards of Proficiency are grouped into five domains: professional autonomy and accountability; communication, collaborative practice and teamworking; safety and quality; professional development; and professional knowledge and skills.
Behind them sits each board’s Criteria for Education and Training Programmes, the reference Irish courses are approved against. Your statutory declaration also commits you to CORU’s Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics.
Source: coru.ie · Standards of Proficiency · Recognition of International Qualifications Policy (POL-001) · 2026-10-04
The documents, grouped by what they prove
| What CORU reads | Documents that answer it |
|---|---|
| Your qualification | Certified certificates and official transcripts; verification by your educational institute |
| Syllabus, placements and scope | A certified description of course content; employer verification and CPD where relevant |
| Standing and English | Certified evidence of eligibility to practise; verification by the competent authority; English evidence |
| Identity and character | Certified identity and any name change; statutory declaration; consent to background checks; NVB1; criminal clearance if relevant; two passport photographs |
Source: coru.ie · Guidance Notes: Applying for Registration as an International Qualification Applicant · 2026-10-04
Anything not in English needs a certified translation.
English, board by board
The level CORU aims at across its boards is CEFR C1. The usual IELTS Academic minimum is 7.0 with no element below 6.5, and the usual OET minimum is a B (350) in three components with at least a C+ (300) in the fourth.
Two boards ask for more. Radiographers need IELTS 7.0 with no element below 7.0 and an OET B in every component. Speech and language therapists need IELTS 8.0 with no element below 7.5.
Source: coru.ie · CORU Language Requirements · 2026-10-04
You may be exempt, for example with a university letter confirming that your qualification and placements were taught and assessed through English.
Where files are queried
CORU’s own process points to where files stop. Assessment does not begin until the file is complete, and the pieces you control least are the ones others must send: verification forms from a university or authority, and the eVetting and declaration forms that follow submission.
Source: coru.ie · Guidance Notes: Applying for Registration as an International Qualification Applicant · 2026-10-04
Inside the assessment, a gap between your evidence and the standards is what leads to a compensation measure. Course content without hours, or placements without settings, give the assessors less to credit.
The decision, and what follows
The board can recognise your qualification, require a compensation measure, or, in limited circumstances, refuse.
If your qualification does not align to the Standards of Proficiency for your profession you will be required to complete a Compensation Measure, which may be a Period of Adaptation (POA) or an Aptitude Test.
Source: coru.ie · Compensation Measures · 2026-10-04
A refusal of recognition can be appealed to the Appeal Committee of Council. Recognition leads on to registration and entry on the register.
Source: coru.ie · Recognition of International Qualifications Policy (POL-001) · 2026-10-04
CORU in numbers
CORU registers: total registrants
Unit: registrants · Total registrants
| Period | Total registrants |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 20,312 |
| 2021 | 22,866 |
| 2022 | 25,070 |
| 2023 | 26,940 |
| 2024 | 30,299 |
| 2025 | 36,645 |
CORU’s registers have grown every year, from 20,312 at the end of 2020 to 36,645 at the end of 2025.
International applicants recognised by CORU in 2025
Unit: applicants recognised
| Category | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Physiotherapists | 822 |
| Social workers | 481 |
| Radiographers | 294 |
| Occupational therapists | 188 |
| Medical scientists | 159 |
| Dietitians | 88 |
| Speech and language therapists | 83 |
| Optometrists | 68 |
| Radiation therapists | 24 |
| Podiatrists | 21 |
| Dispensing opticians | 14 |
| Social care workers | 14 |
The boards recognised 2,271 international applicants in 2025. Physiotherapy and social work account for more than half the total by profession, while some boards, dispensing and social care among them, recognised fewer than twenty each.
Sources
CORU facts were read on coru.ie on 4 October 2026, and the charted figures carry their own dates under Figures. Who decides is also on our CORU regulator page.
What to do first
- Find your board and download its Standards of Proficiency.
- Ask your university who signs its verification forms, and how it sends them back.
- Gather a course description that gives hours and placement settings, not only subject names.
- Check your board’s English level and any exemption you may meet.
Choose your profession and Ireland in the Route Finder below for fees and timelines.
What we do
How Credentis Global helps with this route
You trained. We file. The regulator decides. Here is what that means for your file.
Recognition first, then registration
CORU recognises your qualification before it registers you. we map your syllabus, placement hours and scope of practice to the Irish standard, so the recognition file answers what CORU reads.
Every document, in the order the regulator reads it
Each item is checked against the regulator’s own list: names matched to your passport, hours in writing, copies certified by the person the list names.
One portal, and a person who answers
Upload your documents, see every stage of the file and message us in one place. The person who replies is the specialist preparing your file.
We prepare and file. The regulator decides.
Your application goes in from your own regulator account with every page prepared, and every query is drafted against the regulator’s exact question.
One specialist owns your file
The specialist who reads your documents builds the file and answers the regulator’s queries. You always know who has it, and you pay the regulator directly.
