Use advanced search functions, such as * as a placeholder for parts of words (e.g. refugee can be found by typing ref *) or enter several search terms, such as qualification refugee.
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.
The nationwide joint study by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB), the Research Centre of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF-FZ) and the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) at DIW Berlin focuses on the arrival, current living conditions and future plans of Ukrainian refugees in Germany. The analyses are based on approximately 11,700 interviews with Ukrainian men and women who arrived in Germany between 24 February and 8 June 2022.
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy is funding the "Pilot project for the recruitment of foreign skilled workers for the German craft trades" as a supporting measure to accompany the new Skilled Immigration Act, which comes into force on 1 March 2020.
The flyer in Ukrainian describes important stages on the way to recognition of foreign professional qualifications and lists free sources of information and advice.
On 5 June 2025, the German Economic Institute (IW) will present the results of its new study on the recognition of professional qualifications at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in Brussels. The event will bring together stakeholders to discuss the role of professional recognition in addressing skills shortages.
The success rate of recognition procedures in Germany differs depending on the region where the foreign professional qualification was obtained. In particular, the share of cases where full equivalence was established ranges from 84% of qualifications obtained in the EU member states to 60% of qualifications obtained in candidate states for EU membership.
More than 70 percent of the recognition procedures for foreign professional qualifications obtained in EU member states end with a full equivalence. The positive recognition rate for the Netherlands is the highest as it reaches 94 percent. It is followed by Austria, Latvia, Hungary, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic.
The success rate differs depending on the region where the foreign professional qualification was obtained. The success rate for EU member states is the highest.
The success rate differs depending on the region where the foreign professional qualification was obtained. The success rate for EU member states is the highest.