When it entered into force on 1 April 2012, the Recognition Act created a legal entitlement to the assessment of professional qualifications gained abroad, regardless of the applicant’s nationality and the origin of the qualifications. The recognition procedure, which is the same across all Länder, is aimed at making foreign qualifications available in Germany’s national labour market by comparing qualifications acquired abroad to German reference occupations.

International skilled professionals to gain faster and easier access to employment

Bettina Stark‑Watzinger, Federal Minister of Education and Research, says: “The skills shortage is one of the greatest challenges we face. It must be our goal to ensure that skilled professionals from abroad can start to work here even more easily and faster.” The Skilled Immigration Act is therefore aimed at further easing access to the German labour market. In addition, the BMBF wants to enhance the implementation of the recognition procedures in cooperation with the Länder.

Number of applications almost doubled

The Report on the Recognition Act provides information about the status quo and the development of procedures for the recognition of professional qualifications in Germany. 49,500 new applications filed in 2022 marked a new record high. The total number of applications has almost doubled since publication of the last Report in 2019. At the same time, the duration of the procedures has been shortened.

Applications are now increasingly submitted from abroad, having reached a share of 48 percent. The number of applications submitted from countries of training outside the EU has risen particularly sharply. Despite growing numbers of applications, the length of the recognition procedures has been successfully reduced. The procedure for the individual assessment of qualifications now takes 85 days on average.