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The Federal Statistical Office published the statistics on the Recognition Act this October. The number of new applications, filed for the recognition of professional qualifications obtained abroad, in 2015 was 19,389. This represents an increase of 10 percent compared to the previous year. Since the Act came into effect in 2012, more than 63,000 applications have already been submitted. The recognition process is becoming increasingly popular. This is a positive signal, especially for economy, because it implies that, more skilled international workers with recognized professional qualifications can strengthen local companies.

In most OECD European countries and in the United States, labour migration in 2022 was at a 15 year record level. Year-on-year increases in the primary destination countries were striking: the number of new permanent-type labour migrants increased by 59% in Germany.

The extended country profile of Ukraine includes information on the economy and society in the country, on the most important features of the vocational education and training system, and on immigration to and integration in Germany.

On March 1, 2024, further new changes to the amendment of the Skilled Immigration Act (FEG) come into force.

The Federal Statistical Office has published the recognition figures for 2022. In 2022, for the first time since Corona, the Federal Statistical Office recorded significantly more recognitions. 52,300 people received their recognition notification in this country. This is an increase of 11% compared to 2021. The number of new applications also rose sharply, by 13% compared to the previous year. This development is enormously important for Germany: Most companies face immense skills shortages.

On 30 November, the German Government agreed its key points on the immigration of skilled workers from third countries. It thus paves the way for the most modern immigration law Germany has ever had. The key points provide for facilitating immigration firstly for skilled workers with recognised foreign vocational qualifications, secondly for skilled workers with proven professional experience, and thirdly by introducing an opportunity card for job-seeking.

The BQ Portal was recognised as the best and most innovative performer in public administrations across Europe. On the 18th of November at the Provincial Government House in Maastricht, the BQ Portal was awarded the European Public Sector Award trophy in the European/national/regional category by the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA). Some 266 projects from 36 European countries and the European institutions participated in competition. However, only three projects won the European Public Sector Award.

Every year, the BIBB Recognition Monitoring Project takes a closer look at recognition figures. Applications for federal occupations saw growth of 10 percent compared to the previous year. 34,700 new applications for federal occupations were received in the recognition offices in 2021 ; 41% of these – and therefore significantly more than in previous years – were submitted from abroad, in particular from third countries.

Refugees are increasingly succeeding in integrating into the German labour market. Particularly female refugees benefit from improved recognition and training opportunities for their qualifications in the teaching and health care sectors.

Immigrants perform worse in the labor market than natives, likely because of the low transferability of home-country professional certificates. The standardized recognition of professional certificates in the host country represents one policy for increasing their transferability.This paper investigates the effects of a large recognition reform in Germany on the labor market outcomes of non-EU immigrants.