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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.
The Federal Statistical Office published the statistics on the Recognition Act this October. The number of new applications, filed for the recognition of professional qualifications obtained abroad, in 2015 was 19,389. This represents an increase of 10 percent compared to the previous year. Since the Act came into effect in 2012, more than 63,000 applications have already been submitted. The recognition process is becoming increasingly popular. This is a positive signal, especially for economy, because it implies that, more skilled international workers with recognized professional qualifications can strengthen local 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?
The share of applicants granted full equivalence in Germany varies widely among the individual professions and among the professional groups. The proportion of applicants who received full equivalence is especially high in the sales sector. On the other hand, the success rate in the law and administration sector is extremely low due to significant differences in the law and administration systems among the countries.
The Federal Ministry of Education launched the project “Prototyping Transfer – Professional Recognition through a Qualification Analysis” that is aimed to decrease the organizational cost of the qualification analyses, assure their quality and provide the applicants the financial assistance.
A delegation with representatives of the Swedish Council for Higher Education visited the BQ-Portal on 1 February in order to get acquainted with the professional recognition in Germany. Since 2017 it is possible in Sweden to have your foreign professional credentials recognized. In Germany this legal right was introduced already in 2012. The Swedish Council for Higher Education is responsible for carrying out recognition procedures in Sweden and already uses the information available in the BQ-Portal in daily work. At the meeting, the Swedish guests learned how to find the information in the BQ-Portal, and found out, how the BQ-Team carries out research on foreign VET systems and professional profiles.
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.
The specialist unit at the Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training (f-bb) evaluated the cases processed by the contact points of the “Integration through Qualification (IQ)” in the period from mid-2012 until the end of 2014. A total of 37.562 guidance services on recognition of foreign professional qualifications were provided all over Germany in this period. Those aged 25 to 44 made up 75.8 percent of people seeking counselling. Furthermore, far more women (63.2 percent) than men (36.8 percent) contacted the IQ advisory centers.
The success rate of recognition procedures in Germany differs depending on the region where the foreign professional qualification was obtained. In particular, the share of cases where full equivalence was established ranges from 84% of qualifications obtained in the EU member states to 60% of qualifications obtained in candidate states for EU membership.
The success rate differs depending on the region where the foreign professional qualification was obtained. The success rate for EU member states is the highest.