African Impulse - Recognition of foreign certificates in Germany
You want to work in Germany and have a professional qualification that is not similar to that required in Germany? You have sent an application for a job and your employer cannot still understand what the certificate is or if you are sufficiently qualified for the job?
In Germany, certain professions like lawyers, teachers, nurses, doctors and masters of trade are regulated. This means to work in such professions, you need to have your certificate recognized or must have the exact certificate.
For other unregulated professions such as being a baker, running an IT company or working as an IT specialist where you do not need to have your certificates recognized or where partial equivalence is required, it may still be advantageous to have your certificates recognized so that companies and peers understand your qualifications and skills.
It may also be that you are moving from a non-EU country, like Cameroon, to Germany and you possess a non-academic certificate or qualification. It this case, recognizing the qualification is a prerequisite for getting employment in Germany. It may also be a requirement in order to get a residence permit containing permission to work. The good thing is that you can even start the certificate recognition process from abroad, months before you actually travel to Germany
Most migrants do not know that the qualifications they have in their countries could be evaluated to find out if it is equivalent to German qualifications required to exercise a profession. Even if it is not equivalent, the concerned may need to just do a few supplementary courses to attain the equivalence. Even work experience can be considered in addition to your qualification. At times, getting this recognition might just require writing an external examination.
The recognition process also costs money (between €200 and €600) for the fees in addition to other costs for documentation, translations etc.
For those who are already in Germany, through the "Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Festellung und Anerkernung im Ausland erworbener Berufsqualifikationen", you have a right to apply for the assessment of the recognition of your certificate to that of a German one.
African impulse has participated in the MOZAIK project (IQ Netzwerk) on the assessment of recognition of foreign certificates and can help accompany you through this process.
You can contact us to this effect every Thursday between 17:45 and 19:45 through +49 152 1783 4152
You can find further information at the official website for the recognition in Germany here
