Division 3.3 - Recognition of Foreign Professional Qualifications

Since the Law to Improve the Assessment and Recognition of Professional Qualifications Acquired Abroad (Recognition Act) has entered into force on 1 April 2012, the claims to assessment of foreign professional qualifications in the area of responsibility of the Federal Government have been expanded and the procedure has been made simpler and more transparent. On behalf of the BMBF, the BIBB has developed the Internet-based information portal "Anerkennung in Deutschland" [Recognition in Germany] which is intended primarily for people seeking recognition, counselling experts and German institutions acting internationally and also for the general public.

Moreover, the BIBB was commissioned at the end of 2012 to monitor the implementation of the Federal Recognition Act. This includes the analysis of the implementation statistics of the Federal Statistical Office and the State statistical offices, a continuous monitoring of the enforcement of the Act and the preparation for evaluating the Act. This project and the "FaMigra" research project are being carried out by our division in cooperation with Division 3.3.

The objective of the FaMigra research project "Immigration to Germany – Factors influencing personnel recruitment decisions in companies" is to find out under which conditions companies are willing to meet their demand for skilled labour by hiring immigrant members of the working population.

Division 3.3 is further responsible for coordination of the “Skills Analysis Networks” project (NetQA). The aim of NetQA is to help competent bodies involved in the recognition procedure to establish an expert regional network structure for the conducting of skills analyses. For this purpose, the project also supports the competent bodies in all matters relating to skills analyses. This assistance covers everything from the initial consultation with persons seeking recognition to the final decision regarding equivalence of the professional or vocational qualification in question.