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.
The new Employment Ordinance has been in force since 1 July. The list of occupations in which people with vocational training qualifications from non-EU countries can access the German labour market is now also in place. Following the "EU Blue Card" for the highly skilled, the improved recognition of foreign vocational qualifications and the relaxations in the rules for students from non-EU countries who wish to stay on to work in Germany, this is a further important step towards making it easier for workers from outside the EU to enter the German labour market and towards covering the skills gap in the German economy via migration.
The new video clearly explains how the recognition of foreign professional qualifications works. The product is a cooperation between "Make it in Germany" and "Recognition in Germany".
The German companies benefit from increase in recognition of foreign professional qualifications. The Federal Statistical Office reports a 20% increase over the previous year. This is a particularly important signal in times of skills shortages.
In Germany thanks to the three central information portals for recognition of foreign professional qualifications, “BQ-Portal”, “Recognition in Germany” and “anabin”, there is a wide range of information on the recognition process. From now on, the new project “ProRecognition” aims to offer also in other countries comprehensive information on the possibilities of having foreign qualifications recognised in Germany.
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.
On 11 January 2013, policy makers and representatives from chambers of commerce, companies, public authorities and migrants’ associations came together for a conference entitled “Skilled workers – Transparency – Respect: tapping the domestic pool of skills” at the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) in Berlin. The participants discussed new approaches to assessing and recognising foreign qualifications and exchanged their experiences.
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.
On September 14, The Federal Statistical Office published the statistics on the Recognition Act for the reference year 2016. Since the Act came into effect in 2012, 86,514 applications for the recognition of foreign professional qualifications were filed, the Federal Statistical Office reports. In 2016, 23,028 new applications were submitted. This is a 14 percent increase over the previous year. The share of those who received a positive ruling is very high. The made up 76,5 percent of all applicants in 2016. In 66,4 percent of cases (19,845 cases), full recognition was granted and in 10,1 percent the partial one. 20,2 percent of applicants have to complete a formalized additional training in order to be able to work in their profession. Only in 3,4 percent of cases, no equivalence could be established between a credential obtained abroad and a corresponding German qualification.
The new app informs refugees about possibilities of recognition of foreign professional qualifications in Germany. The app "Recognition in Germany" is available in the five main languages spoken by refugees, Arabic, Dari, Farsi, Tigrinya and Pashto, as well as in English and in German. The app is compatible with Android, IOS and Windows. It offers an introduction into the subject "Professional Recognition" explains the recognition process in a simple language and provides links to the information and counselling services.
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.