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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.
In order to advise and accompany foreign experts on their way to Germany, there are numerous institutions and structures in Germany and abroad that offer support.
The 2019 Global Education Monitoring Report by UNESCO congratulates Germany for its policies in recognizing migrants and refugees’ prior qualifications and skills. The recognition of foreign professional qualifications increases the probability of immigrant employment by 45 percentage points and the hourly wage by 40%. A million migrants a year visit the website ‘Recognition in Germany’, which offers advice on the recognition procedure in 9 languages. The information on foreign vocational training systems and professional qualifications in the BQ-Portal is accessed annually by over 180,000 website visitors, primarily assessment authorities, companies and experts.
From 1 July onwards, skilled workers from non-EU countries will find it easier to relocate to Germany. On that date, the new Employment Act will come into effect, which is aimed at counteracting the current shortage of skilled workers and enhancing Germany’s position in the worldwide competition for qualified professionals. Not an easy task, as other large Western economies and newly industrialised countries are also adapting their immigration policies.
The Federal Statistical Office published the statistics on the Recognition Act for the reference year 2016 this autumn. In 2016, 19.800 applications for recognition of foreign professional qualifications were processed. Only in 3,4 percent of cases, no equivalence could be established between a credential obtained abroad and a corresponding German qualification.
The 20,000th recognition notification of the IHK FOSA went to Mariana Raposo dos Santos in Karlsruhe. This confirmed the full equivalence of the chemical laboratory assistant's training completed in Portugal with the German qualification. The recognition notification makes her professional qualification as a skilled worker transparent and thus contributes to her integration into the German labour market.
The applicants willing to have their foreign credentials recognised must bear the costs of the recognition procedure. They must meet the costs for an application, translations, certified copies, and if necessary for a qualification analysis, as well as an additional training.
Make it in Germany has published six new videos on the topic of "how the fast-track procedure for skilled workers succeeds". Fast-track procedure is aimed at speeding up the administrative procedures for professionals wishing to work in Germany until the visa is issued. Three German companies report the path to employment with the Skilled Workers Immigration Act and about the fast-track procedure, from the perspective of skilled workers and companies .
The United Kingdom leaves the European Union at the end of October - possibly without an agreement. What does a No-Deal-Brexit mean for the recognition of foreign qualifications?
With the help of adaptation qualification, the significant differences leading to only partial equivalence can be compensated in cases of non-regulated professions. This section shows the adaptation qualification in greater detail.