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The recognition of foreign professional qualifications is essential for securing skilled workers in Germany. The study conducted by the German Economic Institute on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy on the recognition of foreign professional qualifications from a company perspective shows that companies see potential in the recognition of foreign qualifications, but demand simpler, faster and digitally supported procedures.
In terms of individual professions the recognition rate in Germany diverges widely. On the one hand, over 90% of master bricklayers and master concrete workers receive full equivalence. Only slightly below this figure is the success rate of applicants who wish to have their license to practice as a dentist or veterinarian recognized.
In 2023, as in previous years, the regulated medical professions dominated in the recognition procedures for foreign professional qualifications in Germany. For the regulated professions, the rate of positive recognition ranged between 25 and 66 percent. The highest rate of decisions on full equivalence for the non-regulated professions was issued for kitchen specialists, at 89 percent.
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 rate of full equivalencies varies by profession. The success rate of positive recognition for the regulated professions is between 35 and 70 percent, except for the profession of general care and pediatric nurse, which has a low success rate of 24 percent. Furthermore, the proportion of decisions of full equivalence for the non-regulated occupation of cook is the highest at 86 percent. This is immediately followed by the occupations of elec-trician, industrial electrician, and metal technology specialist with over 70 percent.
In 2022, as in previous years, the medical regulated professions will predominate in the recognition procedures for foreign professional qualifications in Germany. For the regulated professions, the rate of positive recognition ranges between 35 and 65 percent, except of the profession of the profession of geriatric nurse, which has a low success rate of 19 percent. The highest rate of decisions of full equivalence for the non-regulated professions was issued for cook, at 81 percent. This is immediately followed by the professions of restaurant specialist, industrial electricians, specialist for metal technology, and electrical systems technician with over 60 percent.
In this section, you can get an overview of the qualifications of refugees in Germany. Our compact country overviews provide you with information on education and vocational training in the main countries of origin and contact points for all aspects of integration of refugees in companies.
The notification indicates the extent to which a foreign qualification corresponds to its German counterpart. Find out what partial, full or no equivalence mean.