Yes. If you are a refugee in Germany you can apply for recognition of your vocational qualification. This is because professional recognition has nothing to do with residence status or nationality. The recognition of your vocational qualification can be helpful or even necessary for your professional future.

Professional recognition for refugees

What is professional recognition?

No. The recognition procedure and the granting of a visa are two separate procedures.

Are you from a third country and want to work in Germany? If so, in most cases you need to apply for a visa. 

You can apply for a visa to a German mission abroad in your country of origin.

Following entry into Germany, you must have the visa re-registered into a residence permit at the relevant immigration office. You are then permitted to live and work in Germany for an extended period.

Further information about the granting of visas is available from our online portal on the “Immigration” page.

Immigration

In Germany and in some other countries, counselling on the recognition of professional qualifications is available free of charge. You can find the right counselling offer for you on our online portal via the Recognition Finder.

An overview of all provision is available on the counselling page on this portal.

You must submit your application for recognition to the competent authority in Germany. You can find the competent authority and the application procedure in the Recognition Finder.

Documents for the application
Recognition Finder

The recognition procedure checks individually whether your qualification can be recognised. For this, the competent authority compares your professional qualification against the German reference occupation. Your professional experience will also be taken into account. It is therefore sometimes difficult to make general statements about the chances of success of a recognition procedure.

The requirements for a recognition procedure are:

• You wish to work in Germany.
• You have achieved a state or state-recognised foreign professional qualification.
• You can provide a final certificate as evidence of your professional qualification.

You receive a recognition notice following the check. The notice informs you of the result of the recognition procedure. There are various results: The professional qualification is recognised, there are substantial differences compared to the reference occupation or the professional qualification is not recognised. In most cases substantial differences can be compensated for by participating in training.

Are you not able to provide a final certificate? If so, for non-regulated professions you may be able to complete a skills analysis. This also applies to a master craftsperson qualification in the trades or crafts that require a licence. There are also options for regulated professions. For example you can complete an adaptation period or take a test.

You will find your reference occupation in the Recognition Finder. There you will also find information about counselling offers and about the competent authority for your application for recognition.

Recognition Finder

Counselling search

How do I get recognition?

You ask yourself: Can I work without recognition in Germany?
What is the difference between working with and without recognition? 

In order to be allowed to work in Germany, recognition is essential for regulated professions. Regulated professions are legally protected occupations, for example in the security and healthcare sectors. Sometimes it is possible to work in a specific field without official recognition. For example, as a pedagogical specialist in a nursery.

Exception: You come from the EU/EEA/Switzerland and you only occasionally practice your occupation in Germany. In this case you must register with the competent authority. Recognition however is not necessary.

Non-regulated professions are not legally protected. Do you want to work in a non-regulated profession? In this case you do not require recognition. However, a recognition procedure or an assessment of your higher education qualification may bring advantages for your future in Germany.

Whether regulated or non-regulated: In our “Recognition Finder” we have listed the options for working in your profession without official recognition. Enter your profession  and the tool will guide you with questions. Under “My other options” on the last page, there is another paragraph: “Working without recognition”. 

Recognition Finder

If you have a foreign higher education qualification for a regulated profession you are required in each case to apply for recognition. This applies for example to medical practitioners and pharmacists. A higher education qualification enables you to apply directly to the job market for non-regulated professions. This applies, for example, to mathematicians and sociologists.

However, a recognition procedure or an assessment of your higher education qualification may bring advantages for your future in Germany.

Advantages of recognition
University / university of applied sciences
What is vocational recognition?