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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.

The majority of applications for recognition are filed by foreign doctors wishing to have their license to practice medicine recognized. The range of countries of origin is enormous. Romania ranks first with 561 applications processed. Syria, a non-European country, ranked second, followed by Austria. Some 400 applications processed were filed by those trained in Egypt.

The rate of full equivalencies varies by profession. For the regulated professions, the rate of full recognition ranges from 25 to 65 percent, with the exception of veterinarian which has a success rate of 80 percent. Furthermore, the highest rate of full equivalence was issued for the non-regulated occupation of cook, at 83 percent. This is immediately followed by the occupations of electrical systems technician, technician for metal technology and hairdresser with over 60 percent.

The majority of applications for recognition are filed by foreign general care nurses. Further professions we selected for a detailed overview are doctors, office clerks, electronics technicians and motor vehicle mechatronics technicians. The range of countries of origin is enormous. Bosnia and Herzegovina ranked first with 2.004 applications processed.

For the regulated professions, the rate of full recognition ranges from 35 to 75 percent, except for veterinarian and nursing professional which has a success rate of 90 percent and 86 percent, respectively. Furthermore, the highest rate of full equivalence was issued for the non-regulated occupation of cook, at 82 percent. This is immediately followed by the occupations of electrical systems technician, specialist for metal technology and industrial electrician with over 70 percent.

The majority of applications for recognition are filed by foreign general care nurses. Further professions we selected for a detailed overview are doctors, office clerks, electronics technicians and motor vehicle mechatronics technicians. The range of countries of origin is enormous. Bosnia and Herzegovina ranked first with 1.518 applications processed.

Since 1 January 2021, the UK is no longer a part of the EU single market or the EU customs union. The EU’s relationship with the UK including recognition procedures has thus fundamentally changed.

As in 2020, the most frequent applications come from Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is fol-lowed by the Philippines, Serbia, and Syria. The positive recognition rate in 2021 for Latvia with 94 percent is the highest. It is closely followed by the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, and Hungary, which also have positive recognition rates of over at 90 percent.