Recognition of professional qualifications


Depending on the profession you wish to pursue, you will need to have your Dutch qualification recognised in Germany.

You can find more information, e.g. for which professions recognition is necessary, at www.anerkennung-in-deutschland.de.

Information on the assessment of your Dutch qualification abroad can be found under Onderwijs en internationalisering on the website of the Dutch government.

The state of North Rhine-Westphalia has developed a special ‘ticket system’ that makes it possible to have degrees (also for regulated professions) recognised in North Rhine-Westphalia via this instance. This is regulated on the The Ticket System of the Single Point of Contact website.

Information on the recognition of qualifications in Germany can be found on the website of the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (Anabin). Here you will find several webpages where you can search.

Special webpages for medical professions

On the Cologne District Government website you can read how you can have a profession in the medical sector recognised in North Rhine-Westphalia, among other things. For Lower Saxony, we refer to the Lower Saxony Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs website.

Zorgselect provides detailed information about working in a medical profession in Germany.

A description of a Dutch MBO degree can be applied for at S-BB. Here you can download a certificate in German with a description of your profession.

For a description of a Dutch HBO degree you have to go to the Nuffic.

The ITEM, part of Maastricht University, has prepared descriptions for the professions of physiotherapist, nursing assistant and teacher on how you can have your diplomas recognised in Germany. These descriptions can be found on their website.

Professionals residing abroad can receive individual counselling and support in the recognition procedure from the Central Service Point for Professional Recognition. The service point assists professionals in compiling the necessary documents for the competent authority, provides information on regional counselling and qualification offers and assists in finding an employer.

Ler(n)end EUREGIO

Employers in the border area would like to gain insight into the competencies of a worker with a vocational qualification who would like to work with it on the other side of the border. In order to create transparency and acceptance of vocational qualifications in the Euregio, the Ler(n)ende Euregio has developed so-called “authorised descriptions”.

An authorised description is a comparative description, authorised by the competent authorities, of the training profiles of two closely corresponding occupations in Germany and the Netherlands.

The comparative description is made on the basis of the competencies that a person must have on the basis of their vocational qualification. Authorised descriptions are made by comparing the profiles of an occupation on the basis of the competences that someone must have on the basis of their vocational qualification.

The descriptions can be found on the website of the Ler(n)ende EUREGIO.