Having a professional or vocational qualification can now help you enter the labor market of Germany. But how to do it? German employers mostly do not get the right candidates because often they cannot identify the right ones. So to be the right one for the applied job, you must have certain recognition of your qualifications or vocational skills. The German government has set aside a procedure for this purpose and certain public departments help you get the recognition of your qualifications and vocational skills to work in Germany.
In many industries, there is a shortage of skilled workers such as installers, programmers, and nurses – the list of trained professionals who are short in numbers is long. Although EU citizens are already allowed to work in Germany, they do so in large numbers. But they alone will probably not solve the skilled labor problem.
The German government has already passed a law on 07.06.2019 to help to bring skilled workers from non-EU countries through”Skilled labor immigration”. The so-called “Migration Pack” brings a lot of chances and opportunities for non-EU skilled workers to settle and work in Germany. The previously applicable restriction on the shortage occupations list is eliminated. In addition, the employer no longer has to prove that he has not found a German or an EU citizen who could do the job.
You can apply for qualifications recognition from abroad and do not need a visa to do so.
The Recognition Procedure
You have completed your qualification from abroad or from your home country and you want to work in your profession in Germany? Then you can or must (mandatory for some regulated professions) have your foreign qualification recognized. In the recognition procedure, the responsible body in Germany checks whether your foreign vocational qualification corresponds to the German reference occupation, ie if there are no significant differences. This procedure is called the Equivalence Check. The responsible body needs certificates and documents, which inform about the content and duration of your qualification. You also need relevant work experience for the process. The main steps for the recognition process are as follows:
- Find the relevant competent body for your profession. You can access the “recognition finder” here.
- After finding a relevant competent body, you need to apply to them for recognition. You will have to submit an application including the application form and your relevant documents (qualification or vocational certificates and work experience proofs).
- You will have to pay the application procedure fees to the relevant competent bodies you apply to.
- In the time of three months, the relevant competent body will examine your application.
- The recognition result can be “Full recognition, partial recognition, or no recognition”. Full recognition means that your qualification is equivalent to the German reference occupation. Partial recognition means that part of your qualification has been approved according to German standards but substantial differences have been identified in another area. To overcome this result, you attend extra training or certificates and then reapply for recognition. No recognition simply means that your qualifications or vocational skills do not seem good enough according to the German labor market standards.
You do not need to get the recognition of your qualifications normally except for regulated professions such as teachers, lawyers, doctors engineers, etc. But also for other qualifications, the recognition can increase the chances of job finding in Germany and the employers will have the ease to hire you for the applied jobs.
Recognition of higher education
If you have higher education, then you will apply for recognition from the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB). The document describes a higher-education qualification from abroad. A processing fee of € 200 is to be paid by the applicant.
Read here full information on ZAB’s official portal.
Recognition for a vocational qualification
For vocational qualification assessment, each province of Germany works individually with the help of the following relevant assessing bodies:
- Chamber of Crafts and Trades
- Chamber of Physicians
- Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK)
Once you decide to work in a province of your choice in Germany, you must contact the local bodies responsible for your occupation. You can easily find it by using the recognition finder tool here.