By David Vilchez, Founder & CEO, Medical Staff Talent
→ Sports Physiotherapist (Manual & Movement Therapy) — Private Family, Dubai
It is the question almost every Western-Trained clinician asks before they say yes to a private family: “If I spend years with one household in the Gulf, working only on my home registration and not in a hospital or clinic there, what happens to that registration?” It is a fair question. Your registration took years to earn, and it is what families’ advisers ask to see before any introduction.
This guide gives you the honest answer for physicians, nurses and midwives, physiotherapists and osteopaths registered in the UK, Ireland, the rest of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States: what keeps your registration alive, how many years you can realistically stay, what counts as practice, and the pros and cons of a long private-family appointment. If you prefer to see it for your own case, use our Home Registration Checker.
The short answer
- Yes, you can work for a private family for years without losing your home registration. Working abroad for a household does not, by itself, end your registration. What ends it is failing to meet its renewal conditions: fees, CPD, declarations and, with some regulators, a minimum amount of practice.
- There is no single “maximum number of years”. Instead, most regulators run a clock on recent practice. The common thresholds are two, three and five years. They matter mainly when you return to practise at home.
- The question that decides everything is whether your years with the family will count as practice. Some regulators accept practice outside the country broadly. Others only count hours completed while you were registered with a regulator in the country where you worked.
Two different things: staying registered and staying “in practice”
Clinicians often treat these as one thing. They are not, and separating them removes most of the anxiety.
Staying registered is administrative and almost entirely in your hands: pay the annual or periodic fee, keep your contact details current so renewal notices reach you abroad, complete your CPD and make the declarations your regulator asks for. Several regulators also offer a status designed for people working overseas or not practising at home. The GMC, for example, lets doctors working overseas stay registered and give up the licence to practise, which they can restore later; the General Osteopathic Council has practising-overseas and non-practising statuses; and the Medical Board of Australia offers non-practising registration to doctors practising overseas.
Staying “in practice”, or recency of practice, is about whether you have done enough recent work for your regulator to let you practise again at home without extra steps. This is where the years matter.
The clocks that matter, regulator by regulator
These are the published rules at the time of writing, simplified to the main thresholds. They change, and your exact category can alter them, so always confirm your own case with your regulator in writing.
| Regulator | To stay registered | The clock | Practice outside the country |
|---|---|---|---|
| GMC (UK doctors) | Annual retention fee; registration without a licence is possible while you work overseas, with no revalidation | No fixed number of years; restoring the licence later is assessed on evidence | Relevant to restoring your licence |
| NMC (UK nurses and midwives) | Annual fee; revalidation every three years with 450 practice hours and 35 hours of CPD | 450 hours in three years; readmission needs 450 in three or 750 in five | Can count for revalidation; for readmission, hours must have been registered with a regulator overseas |
| HCPC (UK physiotherapists) | Renewal every two years with a declaration that you have practised | Two years out: 30 days of updating; five years: 60 days | Practice outside the UK in the last two years avoids return-to-practice requirements |
| GOsC (UK osteopaths) | Annual fee, CPD; practising-overseas or non-practising status | Two years non-practising or off the register: Return to Practice process | Declare it to the GOsC before returning |
| CORU (Irish physiotherapists) | Annual registration | More than two years off the register: a period of updating | Confirm with CORU |
| BIG-register (Dutch doctors, nurses, physiotherapists) | Re-registration every five years | 2,080 hours of relevant work in five years, or training or an exam | Counts only if completed while registered with a statutory register where you worked, unless that country has none |
| Polish chambers (doctors, nurses, physiotherapists) | Membership and fees | More than five years out: notify the chamber and complete re-entry training | Confirm with your chamber |
| Ahpra boards (Australia) | General registration with CPD and recency standards, or non-practising registration | Physiotherapists: 450 hours in three years; nurses and midwives: re-entry after five years | The Medical Board accepts practice outside Australia towards recency |
| Medical Council of New Zealand | Registration; a practising certificate only when practising in New Zealand | Three years or more without a New Zealand practising certificate: extra requirements | Overseas practice is considered, including whether it was lawful |
| Canadian colleges and US state boards | Province by province, state by state; many offer inactive or non-practising classes | Alberta physiotherapists, for example: 1,200 hours in five years | Confirm with your college or board |
Sources: NMC returning to the register and return to practice standards; HCPC returning to practice; GOsC Return to Practice; ISCP on CORU return to practice; BIG-register on work experience abroad; Polish Act on the Profession of Physiotherapy; Physiotherapy Board of Australia; NMBA re-entry to practice; Medical Board of Australia recency FAQ; MCNZ practising certificates; College of Physiotherapists of Alberta.
Across Europe: what your national body says
Outside the UK and Ireland, European rules fall into three patterns. Some countries grant a licence for an indefinite term and look at your practice only when you return. Others renew registration in fixed cycles against continuing education or practice. And several let you suspend membership on request, so you pay nothing while you are away but cannot practise at home until you reactivate. This is what each national body publishes, as researched for our country guides:
| Country | Who holds your registration | What applies while you are abroad |
|---|---|---|
| Spain | Your provincial or regional colegio | Colegio membership is required to practise medicine, nursing and physiotherapy in Spain (CGCOM, CGE, CGCFE). Ask your colegio whether to keep it active and what re-registration would involve. |
| Germany | Approbation or Erlaubnis; Landesärztekammer for doctors | Your Approbation or Erlaubnis is the basis of practice. Chamber membership depends on practising or living in that Land and may end when you move; report the change to your chamber within one month. |
| France | Ordre des médecins, Ordre national des infirmiers, Ordre des masseurs-kinésithérapeutes; ARS for osteopaths | Doctors living abroad can be placed on the Ordre’s special list, which gives no right to practise in France; changes must be reported within one month (CNOM). |
| Italy | Your Ordine, OPI or OFI | Moving your residence abroad is a ground for removal, but a professional working abroad may keep registration on request (DLCPS 233/1946, art. 11). |
| Portugal | Ordem dos Médicos, dos Enfermeiros, dos Fisioterapeutas; ACSS for osteopaths | Registration can be suspended on request; no quotas are due while suspended at the Ordem dos Médicos and the Ordem dos Fisioterapeutas. Nursing registration is suspended automatically after 12 months of unpaid quotas (Estatuto da Ordem dos Médicos). |
| Greece | Medical association (ΠΙΣ), ENE, ΠΣΦ | Registered nurses submit an annual declaration to ENE by the end of February. Ask your body what keeping registration abroad involves. |
| Romania | CMR, OAMGMAMR, CFZRO | Membership or the right to practise can be suspended on request for up to five years. OAMGMAMR recognises practice abroad only where it was effective and legal. |
| Poland | NIL, NIPiP, KIF | More than five years without practising: notify your chamber and complete retraining before practising in Poland again (statute). |
| Netherlands | BIG-register | Re-registration every five years; foreign hours count only if you were registered with a statutory register where you worked (BIG). |
| Belgium | FPS Public Health visa; Ordre des médecins | Doctors must inform their provincial council when their place of activity changes; keep your visa and agréments in order (Ordre, FPS). |
| Austria | Landesärztekammer; Gesundheitsberuferegister | Nurses and physiotherapists: registration is valid for five years and must be renewed before it expires; report a change of main residence within one month (USP). |
| Switzerland | MedReg and GesReg (FOPH) | A MedReg entry is removed only on death, so moving abroad does not delete it; your cantonal practice authorisation is separate (FOPH). |
| Ireland | Medical Council, NMBI, CORU | NMBI recommends voluntary removal rather than a lapse when moving abroad; CORU offers removal on request, with return-to-practice requirements after two years (NMBI, CORU). |
| Sweden | Socialstyrelsen | Your licence (legitimation) stays with you; Socialstyrelsen issues a certificate showing you hold it when you work abroad (Socialstyrelsen). |
| Denmark | Styrelsen for Patientsikkerhed | Your authorisation stays in the Authorisation Register; renouncing it is possible and reversible, but take advice first (STPS). |
| Norway | Helsedirektoratet | Authorisation is recorded in the Health Personnel Register; confirm how a period abroad affects it (Helsedirektoratet). |
| Finland | Finnish Supervisory Agency | A licence to practise as a doctor or nurse is granted for an indefinite term (JulkiTerhikki). |
| Iceland | Directorate of Health | The law requires you to maintain your knowledge and skills; keep a record of your CPD abroad (island.is). |
| Czech Republic | ČLK for doctors; Act 96/2004 for nurses and physiotherapists | ČLK membership cannot be interrupted or suspended, and ending it cancels the Chamber’s licences, so decide carefully before resigning (ČLK). |
| Slovakia | SKSaPA, SLK, SKF | For nurses, working abroad is not in itself a reason to suspend registration, but you must notify the chamber; registration starts a five-year education cycle (SKSaPA). |
| Hungary | OKFŐ register; MOK or MESZK | The operating register runs in five-year cycles renewed through practice and continuing education; chamber membership can be suspended, but you cannot practise in Hungary meanwhile (Act XCVII of 2006). |
| Croatia | HLK, HKMS, HKF | Doctors need 120 CME points in six years, and an expired licence is renewed only after a competence check; physiotherapists renew in six-year cycles (HLK, HKF). |
| Slovenia | Medical Chamber; nursing chamber | Doctors’ seven-year licence needs CME, at least 20% practice in the field and no interruption of more than four years; nurses renew against 70 points (Medical Chamber). |
| Bulgaria | Bulgarian Medical Association; БАПЗГ | Doctors living abroad may stay voluntary members of a regional college while paying fees (BLS). |
| Cyprus | Medical Council; Nursing and Midwifery Council; physiotherapy council | Nurses: licence renewal needs proof of practice (at least 25 days and 32 hours a year) and/or 20 CPD points; ask whether practice abroad counts (Business in Cyprus). |
| Malta | Medical Council; Council for Nurses and Midwives; CPCM | Doctors keep registration through an annual retention fee; ask your council how to maintain registration abroad. |
| Luxembourg | Ministry of Health; Collège médical | A doctor’s authorisation lapses after more than two years without practising in Luxembourg once you live abroad, and can be renewed on request (Guichet.lu). |
| Latvia | Health Inspectorate | Registration lasts five years; re-registration needs 150 academic hours of CPD (100 for nurses and midwives) or a fitness check (VI). |
| Lithuania | State Accreditation Service for Health Care Activities | Ask whether to keep your licence active or suspend it, and how to keep your professional development current. |
| Estonia | Health Board (Terviseamet) | Ask what happens to your entry in the national register while you live abroad (Terviseamet). |
| Andorra | Your professional college | Each college sets its own rules for members working abroad. |
Each of our country guides, starting with the one for European-trained clinicians, goes into more detail. Where a body is silent on time abroad, the rule of thumb holds: keep paying, keep learning, keep evidence, and ask in writing.
So how many years can I stay?
Think of it in three bands rather than as one limit.
Up to two years
For almost every regulator above, this is comfortable. Keep your registration active, keep your CPD up to date, and a return home is usually straightforward. Even the strictest two-year rules (HCPC, GOsC, CORU) only start to apply after this point.
Two to five years
This is where most clinicians in private-family roles actually land, and where planning pays. Your registration can stay fully intact, but if your hours with the family are not accepted as practice, expect a defined period of updating before you practise at home again: 30 days with the HCPC, a Return to Practice process with the GOsC, a revalidation problem at the three-year point with the NMC, or a re-entry plan with some Australian boards.
More than five years
Registration can still be maintained, but the five-year rules arrive: 60 days of updating with the HCPC, BIG re-registration, Polish re-entry training, NMC readmission routes and Australian re-entry programmes for nurses. None of these ends a career; they are structured, time-limited steps. They are simply easier to plan and fund while you are in a well-paid post than after you have moved home.
The question that decides everything: does private-family work count as practice?
Regulators fall broadly into two groups.
- Those that accept practice outside the country provided it uses your professional knowledge and skills and you can evidence it. The HCPC exempts physiotherapists from return-to-practice requirements if they have practised their profession outside the UK in the last two years, the NMC’s revalidation guidance accepts practice hours outside the UK, and the Medical Board of Australia accepts practice outside Australia towards recency.
- Those that look at where and how the hours were registered. The BIG-register counts foreign work experience only if it was gained while you were registered in a statutory register in that country (unless the country has none). The NMC’s readmission route accepts the equivalent hours “while registered with the relevant regulator overseas”. New Zealand’s Medical Council considers whether you have lawfully practised.
Whether your work counts also depends on whether it was lawful where the patient was. Our guide Practising Abroad With a Private Family: What You Can and Can’t Do, Country by Country explains what you may do in each destination, and the Where Can I Practise? checker shows it for your own profession and registration.
Medical Staff Talent introduces and verifies clinicians. The engagement is contracted directly between the family and the clinician, and all local arrangements (visa, licensed entity, coordination with local clinics) remain with the family’s own office and advisers. That is why the two practical steps are the same for everyone: ask your regulator in writing how it will treat your hours, and ask the family’s office what documentation of your role it can provide (contract, dates, hours, duties and references). If the answer is that your hours may not count, your registration is still safe; you simply plan for the updating period on your return.
The pros of a long private-family appointment
- Your registration stays yours. It belongs to you, not to an employer, and it travels with you wherever you go next.
- Clinical depth and autonomy. You know your patients better than any clinic list allows, and you make decisions within a defined scope of practice.
- A strong financial position. Free accommodation, flights and travel paid and medical insurance covered make it easier to fund fees, CPD and, if needed, a return-to-practice course.
- Time for structured CPD. Annual leave and travel can be built around courses and study days, if you plan them.
- A distinctive CV. A well-documented period of one-to-one, travelling practice with a varied household reads well to future employers.
The cons, honestly
- Your hours may not count everywhere. With some regulators, years with a family will not reset the recency clock, so a return can mean a period of updating.
- No line manager, no ward team. Confirmers, appraisers and reflective discussions have to be arranged deliberately; for nurses, our guide to keeping NMC or NMBI registration alive covers this in detail.
- CPD can drift into solitary reading. Participatory learning needs to be planned from the start; see our CPD guide for clinicians who travel with a family.
- Strict confidentiality. Reflections and feedback must be fully anonymised, which takes care.
- Professional indemnity is not covered by the family. You arrange it yourself, and some regulators link it to your registration status; see our article on professional indemnity when working with a private family abroad.
- Specialist skills can narrow. A household caseload is broad but small; keep up the procedures and skills you want to return to.
A typical case (hypothetical)
Picture a physiotherapist registered with the HCPC who plans four years with a family. Before signing, they email the HCPC to ask how practice outside the UK will be treated at renewal, and ask the family’s office for a contract that sets out their role, hours and duties. From the first month they keep one running file: dates, hours, treatments in anonymised form, CPD and two references a year. They renew every two years on time and book two study days on each period of annual leave. If, at the end, the HCPC accepts their practice, they return without extra steps. If it does not, they already know the answer is 30 days of updating, and they have planned it into their notice period rather than discovering it after moving home.
Your plan in three stages
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Before you sign | Confirm in writing with your regulator what keeps you registered abroad and how hours with a private family are treated. Ask the family’s office what documentation of your role it can provide. Decide whether to keep full status or move to a non-practising or overseas status. |
| Every year | Pay fees and make declarations yourself, independently of any reminder. Keep a running file of dates, hours, duties, CPD and anonymised reflections, stored outside the family’s systems. Plan participatory CPD. |
| Six months before a threshold or a return | Review your file against your regulator’s rules. If an updating period, course or exam is needed, book it while you are still in post. |
For the wider picture of the role, read our pillar guide on working for a private family in the Gulf and the three conditions families set for every clinician they appoint. To compare what a gross package leaves you with, use our net position calculator.
Documents to ask the family’s office for
These are the documents your regulator is most likely to ask for when you renew or return. Ask for them at contract stage, when it is easiest:
- A signed contract that states your profession, your role and the start date.
- A letter confirming your usual working pattern, so you can evidence hours.
- A description of your clinical duties, written in general terms that respect confidentiality.
- A named person who can confirm your work, such as the family’s physician or the head of the household office.
- A service letter or reference each year, and a final one when you leave.
- Agreement in writing that you may write anonymised reflections for your regulator.
An email to your regulator you can adapt
Send it before you sign, keep the reply with your records, and adapt the details to your own registration:
Subject: Keeping my registration while working abroad for a private household
Dear Registration team,
I am registered with you as a [profession], registration number [number]. I have been offered a permanent position abroad, providing [profession] care to one private household for around [number] years.
Could you please confirm: (1) what I need to do each year to keep my registration while I live abroad, and whether a non-practising or overseas status is available; (2) whether hours worked in this position would count towards your practice or recency requirements, and what evidence you would need; and (3) what would apply if I return to practise after [number] years.
Thank you for your help.
[Name, registration number, contact details]
How it works with Medical Staff Talent
Before any introduction we verify your qualification, your registration at source with your home regulator, and your references. A current home registration is part of what makes you introducible, so keeping it alive is in your interest and in the family’s. I read every CV personally and arrange a confidential conversation when a background fits a current brief. Our pages for physicians, nurses, physiotherapists and osteopaths explain each role. For the tax side of the move, try the Tax Residence Checker.
Frequently asked questions
Can I work for a private family in the Gulf without losing my home registration?
Yes. Working abroad for a household does not, by itself, end your registration. It stays active as long as you meet your regulator’s renewal conditions, such as fees, CPD and declarations.
What is the maximum number of years I can stay?
There is no single maximum. Most regulators apply recency-of-practice thresholds, commonly two, three or five years, which decide whether you need a period of updating or re-entry when you return to practise at home.
Will my years with the family count as practice?
It depends on your regulator. Some accept practice outside the country if you can evidence it; others count only hours completed while you were registered with a regulator in the country where you worked. Ask your regulator in writing before you rely on it.
Should I move to a non-practising status while I am away?
Where your regulator offers one, it can reduce cost and requirements while keeping you on the register. The trade-off is that you will usually need to change status back, and possibly complete return-to-practice steps, before practising at home again.
Does Medical Staff Talent check my registration?
Yes. Before any introduction we verify your qualification, your registration at source with your home regulator and your references.
Send your CV in confidence
If you are a Western-Trained physician, nurse, physiotherapist or osteopath considering a private-family role, check your own situation with the Home Registration Checker and then send your CV in confidence. Every CV is read personally and handled with discretion.
This guide summarises publicly available information from regulators for general reference. It is not legal or regulatory advice; confirm your own position with your regulator.
Send your CV in confidence
