Rising recognition rates
How BIBB and GIZ support skilled workers in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia
The 2025 recognition statistics show that demand for the recognition of foreign vocational qualifications continues to rise – with particularly strong growth in qualifications from Egypt and Morocco. For many years, the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) has been working with the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH to improve preparations for vocational recognition and labour migration right from the countries of origin. THAMM Plus is taking this cooperation to the next level. A task that is becoming even more important in light of the European Commission’s Skills Portability Initiative.
Vocational recognition has reached new record levels: in 2025, around 76,200 new applications for the recognition of foreign vocational qualifications were submitted for federal occupations – seven percent more than in the previous year. This means that the number of applications has almost doubled within five years.
The increase is particularly marked for qualifications from Egypt and Morocco: in 2025, around 3,000 applications for recognition related to Egyptian vocational qualifications – an increase of 88 percent compared with the previous year. Approximately 2,500 applications for recognition were related to professional qualifications obtained in Morocco, 45 percent more than in 2024. Tunisia, too, has been among the top five countries of origin in terms of recognition applications for several years.
The statistical data does not, on its own, allow any conclusions to be drawn as to why the number of applications from individual countries is rising. However, it does demonstrate the importance of professional recognition in the migration process today. This also increases the importance of providing skilled workers with reliable information about recognition procedures and career prospects in Germany before they migrate.
Recognition does not begin with the application
For successful recognition, skilled workers from abroad must first know whether, when and how a recognition procedure makes sense. Equally important is a realistic understanding of the career prospects associated with recognition in Germany.
This is precisely where the collaboration between the BIBB-Competence Centre for Professional Recognition and GIZ comes in. The two organisations have been working together on issues relating to professional recognition for several years now. From 2021 onwards, advisory services in various countries received digital training on the opportunities and requirements for professional recognition in Germany.
In 2024, representatives of the BIBB-Competence Centre for Professional Recognition travelled to Morocco at the invitation of the GIZ project THAMM Plus. 60 staff members of the Moroccan employment agency ANAPEC were trained on the new opportunities offered by the Skilled Labour Immigration Act and on professional recognition, amongst other things.
Cooperation was also intensified in Egypt in 2025. As part of the THAMM Plus Labour Mobility Forum, the BIBB held a workshop in Cairo for representatives from various Egyptian ministries. The focus was on skilled labour immigration, the German vocational training system and the role of professional recognition.
Cooperation within the framework of THAMM Plus also continued in Tunisia in 2026. At the European-Tunisian Forum in Tunis, BIBB contributed its expertise on qualification measures for vocational mobility. The focus was on additional specialist and cross-disciplinary qualifications for graduates of vocational training in the tourism and hospitality sectors.
THAMM Plus: Systematically incorporating recognition
Since December 2025, the cooperation has been placed on a new footing: the BIBB-Competence Centre for Professional Recognition advises the GIZ project THAMM Plus in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. The current agreement runs until March of 2027.
The aim is not to get as many people as possible through recognition procedures. The cooperation is rather specifically intended to help develop fair, transparent, regular and sustainable pathways for labour migration. To this end, THAMM Plus combines skills development, language support, intercultural preparation and the networking of institutions in the countries of origin and destination.
Morocco: Strengthening local structures
In Morocco, the particular emphasis is on establishing sustainable local structures. Training courses and information materials are intended to ensure that knowledge about recognition and labour migration remains available even after individual projects have ended.
Séverine DialloCoordinator of the THAMM Plus Project in Morocco
“With just under 2,500 applications for the year 2025, there was a further 45 percent increase in applications from Morocco. Particularly significant in Morocco is the proportion of non-regulated occupations, at just under 50 percent. Among the top 10 occupations in applications from Morocco in 2025, seven are non-regulated occupations, such as electronics technician for automation technology or motor vehicle mechatronics technician. THAMM Plus, in collaboration with the BIBB, is focusing, amongst other things, on providing workshops for labour market stakeholders in Morocco to promote the provision of advice to skilled workers on employment opportunities in Germany.”
Egypt: Leveraging lessons learned from recognition procedures
In Egypt, experiences from previous recognition procedures are being analysed to derive insights for the development of qualification measures in the countries of origin. The aim is to take into account potential requirements of the German recognition system right from the design stage of qualifications.
Shahira WassefHead of the Migration Portfolio, GIZ Egypt
“It’s great news that Egypt ranks sixth among the most common countries of origin for apprenticeships in 2025! The number of applications – just under 3,000 for occupations governed by federal law – has risen by 88 per cent compared with the previous year. However, the question also arises as to whether this leads to employment that matches with the qualifications. It is therefore important to us and our Egyptian partners that recognition forms part of a transparent overall process, which we aim to establish on a sustainable basis through THAMM Plus.”
Tunisia: Linking qualifications and career mobility
In Tunisia, too, insights gained from recognition procedures are to be incorporated more fully into the development of training programs. A key focus is on further developing technical and cross-disciplinary competencies in a way that supports career mobility.
Caroline PrzybyllaConsultant, THAMM Plus Tunisia
“Since 2022, Tunisia has consistently ranked among the top five training countries in terms of applications for occupations governed by federal law. We are delighted by this development! At THAMM Plus, we are constantly working to align the needs of both labour markets and to develop qualification approaches that strengthen career prospects in Tunisia as well as in an international context.”
This marks a shift in approach: recognition is no longer considered only after the completion of a training program. The question is rather how vocational training, qualifications, advice and recognition can be better integrated right from the outset in the country of origin.
The issue is gaining importance on a European level
The experiences gained from the cooperation between BIBB and GIZ are also gaining significance at European level. On September 16 2026, the European Commission published its proposals for new EU directives as part of the so-called Skills Portability Initiative (SPI). These proposals also address common rules and mechanisms that could simplify and accelerate the recognition of qualifications held by third-country nationals.
This brings issues to the top of the European agenda that also play a role in the collaboration between BIBB and GIZ: How can qualifications be made more transparent? How can countries of origin and destination better align their information and training systems? And how can skilled workers realistically estimate the professions they can access with their qualifications on the European labor market even before they migrate?
Rising recognition figures and fair migration go hand in hand
In addition to the number of applications, the results of the recognition procedures also provide insight into the recognition process. In 2025, approximately 44 percent of completed procedures resulted in full equivalence. In another 45 percent, a compensation measure was determined. Less than two percent of the procedures were denied.
The rising number of applications thus primarily reflects the growing importance of professional recognition in the migration process and highlights the relevance of the question regarding the quality of migration pathways. It is crucial to design the associated processes in such a way that skilled workers are well-informed, their qualifications are appropriately taken into account, and sustainable career prospects can emerge.
This is where the collaboration between BIBB and GIZ comes in: It combines information, counselling, and training with institutional cooperation between countries of origin and destination—and helps ensure that recognition is considered early on in the migration process.