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 Company Award “We for Recognition” will be launched for the first time this year. The award ceremony will take place in Berlin on June 21, 2017 in the context of the conference “5 years with the Recognition Act – once learned, never forgotten”. Federal minister for Education and Research, Johanna Wanka, as well as Presidents of the German Federation of Chambers of Commerce (DIHK) and the German Confederation of Skilled Crafts (ZDH), Eric Schwitzer and Hans Peter Wollenseifer will be present at the conference.
As of January 18, 2016, the Recognition Act was revised: from now on, the citizens of the European Union or European Economic Area can submit their application and all relevant documents online. Furthermore, their applications will be processed by a single contact point. This application procedure will apply, at first, only to the regulated professions in the federal responsibility.
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 .
In Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil and Colombia, three new counselling centres for the recognition of professional qualifications will be opened. In addition, the existing counselling services in Algeria, Egypt, India, Iran, Italy, Poland and Vietnam will be further expanded. Over the next four years, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research will fund the "ProRecognition" project with almost 8 million euros - twice as much as in the first funding phase.
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.
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 Statistical Office (Destatis) has evaluated the recognition of foreign professional qualifications in 2020. Overall, 5% more foreign vocational qualifications were recognised as fully or partially equivalent in 2020 than in the previous year.
Following the revised EU Professional Qualifications Directive of 2013, the federal government made the application procedures for the assessment of foreign professional qualifications even simpler.
Our country profiles on selected countries with information on the economy and society, on the most important features of the vocational training systems and on current immigration to and integration in Germany are now also available in English!
The new Skilled Immigration Act (FEG) makes it easier for skilled workers with vocational training and individuals with practical knowledge to immigrate to Germany. The first amendments of the Skilled Immigration Act came into force on November 18, 2023.