Germany recognizes more foreign qualifications

German authorities recognized 21,800 foreign professional qualifications in 2017, the Federal Statistics Office said Tuesday, an increase of 14 percent compared to the previous year.

Syrians most frequently applied for recognition of their qualifications, with 3,600 requests, an increase of 80 percent compared to 2015. This was followed by 3,100 requests from Bosnia-Herzegovina and 2,400 from Serbia.

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Of the 31,100 applications processed in 2017, 23,500 were for a health profession, including 10,700 for health and nursing staff, 8,000 for doctors and 1,100 for physiotherapists.

Some 13,600 applications were considered completely equivalent and 8,200 were equivalent to a limited extent, with 930 applications withdrawn and 470 applications rejected. A decision for 8,000 of the applications had not been made at the end of 2017.

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The number of recognition procedures for degrees acquired in the European Union fell by 11 percent in 2017 compared to the previous year, while the number of procedures for vocational qualifications from other European countries increased by 31 per cent and from non-European countries by 36 per cent.

law/rt (AFP, EPD)

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