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The specialist unit at the Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training (f-bb) evaluated the cases processed by the contact points of the “Integration through Qualification (IQ)” in the period from mid-2012 until the end of 2014. A total of 37.562 guidance services on recognition of foreign professional qualifications were provided all over Germany in this period. Those aged 25 to 44 made up 75.8 percent of people seeking counselling. Furthermore, far more women (63.2 percent) than men (36.8 percent) contacted the IQ advisory centers.
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 German Employment Act defines which training and professional qualifications are necessary for non-EU citizens to take up employment in Germany. The German government has now amended this law, and the new version is scheduled to come into effect on 1 July, marking an important step towards an even more welcoming culture in Germany.
The Service Center for Professional Recognition (ZSBA) started work on 1 February 2020. The ZSBA complements and strengthens existing structures for the recognition of foreign professional qualifications in Germany with a range of advisory services and personal support during the recognition procedure. This is primarily intended to help skilled workers who are still abroad and are at the beginning of their job search in Germany.
Under the motto “Discover your talent”, the European Commission encourages stakeholders from all over Europe to organise events on a local, regional or national level.
The “2013 Shortage Analysis” conducted by the Cologne Institute for Economic Research (IW) on behalf of the BMWi’s competence centre has found that companies in Germany increasingly have trouble filling vacancies because there are not enough suitable candidates.
Since the Recognition Acts entered in force, the federal government and the federal states established an extensive range of information structures aimed to support their implementation. The three information portals for recognition of foreign professional qualifications, “BQ-Portal”, “Recognition in Germany” and “anabin”, are central in this context. Their close cooperation ensures high quality content and consistency.
In the beginning of July, the Federal Government passed an act revising the residence rights and thereby created new options for immigration of skilled workers wishing to have their foreign credentials recognized in Germany. A new act is aimed at facilitating immigration of professionals who received only partial recognition and want to obtain full recognition in order to find a job in Germany that matches their skills. For this purpose, the Federal Government introduced a new residence permit.
The Federal Ministry of Education launched the project “Prototyping Transfer – Professional Recognition through a Qualification Analysis” that is aimed to decrease the organizational cost of the qualification analyses, assure their quality and provide the applicants the financial assistance.
More than 44,130 applications for recognition of foreign professional qualifications were processed in 2022 in Germany. In most cases, full or partial equivalence could be certified in 2022. Only 2 percent of the applicants received a negative decision.