Recognition of Foreign Professional Qualifications

Since 1 April 2012, opportunities to have foreign professional qualifications recognized in Germany have improved significantly. The Federal Government's Recognition Act introduces the legal right to have qualifications gained abroad assessed in comparison to the equivalent profession in Germany. The first six months of experience show that the new law is off to a good start.

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Germany needs experts! Many businesses, handicraft enterprises, hospitals and care facilities already depend on experts from abroad. In the past, foreign professional qualifications could often not be put to optimal use, however, because assessment procedures and standards had been lacking.

The Recognition Act

The Federal Government's Recognition Act ("Act to improve the assessment and recognition of foreign professional qualifications") has been in effect since April 2012. It improves opportunities for individuals who have gained professional qualifications abroad to practice their learned professions in Germany. The process and criteria for nationally "regulated professions" have been standardized, expanded and improved, which represents a sustainable contribution to securing a skilled labour force and to the integration of people with good foreign qualifications.

In accordance with the Recognition Act, professional certification gained abroad can be recognized as equivalent to Germany certification. In many cases, this is the prerequisite to work or start a business in Germany. The Recognition Act includes a new Federal Law, the Professional Qualifications Assessment Act (Berufsqualifikationsfeststellungsgesetz - BQFG), as well as amendments to around 60 pieces of existing federal legislation regarding the recognition of qualifications in "regulated professions," such as healthcare professionals and master craftsmen.

Advantages for Migrants

Before now, only a very limited number of people who came to Germany with professional and vocational qualifications were entitled to apply for qualification recognition. The new federal law greatly extends the right to an assessment of qualifications gained abroad in professions under the jurisdiction of the federal government and seeks to establish a standardized and transparent procedure:

The introduction of  legal claim to assessment procedures for the roughly 350 "non-regulated professions" (training occupations in crafts and trade as well as those in  Germany's "dual system," as outline in the Vocational Training Act) is a milestone in Germany's recognition practices. The new Professional Qualifications Assessment Act entitles citizens of EU member states and third-country nationals to apply for an individual equivalence review (previously reserved for repatriates only). In the future, questions regarding the equivalency of qualifications gained abroad in these professions will be assessed in a standardized procedure according to standardized criteria. This creates a high degree of transparency for applicants, employers, and relevant authorities.

Until now, the practice of a wide range of professions as well as access to the necessary recognition procedures was only available to citizens of Germany or other EU member states. The Recognition Act does away with this restriction to a great extent. In most occupational fields, only the content and quality of the professional qualifications will play a decisive role, as opposed to factors such as citizenship or national origin. Once this law becomes effective, a physician from Turkey, for example, will be able to obtain a license to practice, providing he or she meets the professional requirements. This would not have been possible previously - even if the physician had studied in Germany. 

Equivalency Procedure

Whether or not a certification is considered equivalent needs to be assessed. For this, responsible authorities will review the equivalency of foreign professional qualifications in terms of content and length of training in comparison to the equivalent professions in Germany. This will safeguard the high standard of German degrees and professional certificates.

Decisions regarding equivalency must be made within three months following the submission of all necessary documentation. In order to avoid creating additional bureaucracy, existing functional structures for the assessment of foreign qualifications will be utilized. This means that the chambers and governmental agencies responsible for the recognition procedures for EU citizens and repatriates will continue in that capacity under the new law.

Every person who has gained vocational qualifications abroad, regardless of residency location or status, can request an equivalency assessment.

First Positive Experiences

There has been great interest in the new procedure during the six months since the Recognition Act entered effect - an interest made clear by, for example, the statistics for the online Internet portal "Recognition in Germany." Since its launch on 1 April 2012, the portal has had over 180,000 visitors, around 43 per cent of whom view the site from locations outside of Germany. The information centres are also reporting a massive increase in visitors. But not every consultation leads necessarily to an official request; the consultations help many to pursue different measures, such as addition training.

The first representative data for recognition statistics are currently being prepared, and will be made available in the middle of 2013, as stipulated by the Act. There have already been many requests and positive results. By the middle of October, around 1600 requests and 270 positive recognitions had been filed in Chamber of Industry and Commerce professions alone. The majority of these first requests however have been reported in the regulated professions (physicians, nurses), and the assessment procedure for these professions is the responsibility of agencies specified by individual Länder.

A First Step Towards Standardization of Recognition Practices

The act will significantly help to improve previously non-uniform, and thus occasionally discriminatory, assessment practices. The Länder are responsible for the implementation of the law. They must therefore provide uniform implementation criteria to the enforcement agencies responsible for the concerned professional guilds. This will ensure that a review of identical qualifications does not differ from one federal state to the next.

To ensure uniform proceedings, The Professional Qualifications Assessment Act enables a relevant agency to conduct the recognition procedure for individuals, for example, in a specific profession or of a certain national background, in a single location. Once again, the Länder will be responsible for this task.

The Länder are currently in the process of amending legislation for the occupations which fall within their jurisdiction (including teachers, engineers, architects, and social workers). Hamburg was the first of 16 Länder to present its own recognition act (HmbABQG), which entered into effect on 1 August 2012. In order to offer all individuals with foreign qualifications a standardized procedure, the Länder are to simplify the recognition procedure of third-country nationals for all occupations - and especially for urgently required occupations like teachers and engineers.

Further Information and Advice

 BMBF Minister Schavan with Professor Dr. Friedrich Esser (right), President of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, and Manfred Schmidt (left), President of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, at the introduction of the new internet portal and hotline for the recognition act on 31.03.2012 in Berlin. ©Bundesregierung / Steffen Kugler

The online portal "Recognition in Germany" points the way to the right agency and offers much information regarding the recognition procedures in both German and English.
The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), on behalf of the BMBF, has opened a telephone hotline available for people both in Germany and abroad from Monday to Friday, 9am to 3pm. The number is +49 (0)30-1815-1111.

In all Länder, the IQ Drop-In Centres offer initial advice at the regional level to individuals seeking recognition. The Federal Government supports this service through its funding programme "Integration through Qualification - IQ," which is run by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, and the Federal Employment Agency.