Apply for a residence permit for the purpose of recognition of professional qualifications on the basis of an agreement with the Federal Employment Agency

You may be granted a residence permit in recognition of your foreign professional qualification if you have been placed in employment under an agreement between the Federal Employment Agency and the employment services in your country of origin. In the health and care sector, one such agreement is, for example, the ‘Triple Win’ programme for placing care workers.

You do not need to worry about the recognition procedure in Germany before you receive your residence permit. You can also begin the recognition procedure after your arrival in Germany. The necessary procedure is set out in the placement agreement. The Federal Employment Agency ensures that the candidates pre-selected under the placement agreement are recruited from countries with an appropriate standard of education and training.

The Federal Employment Agency must have approved your employment in your chosen occupational field. The Federal Employment Agency’s approval is granted for a fixed period of one year. You may apply for approval to work

• in regulated professions in the health and care sector and
• in other selected regulated and unregulated professions

received.

Regulated professions are those for which you must obtain specific professional qualifications. This is the case, for example, for doctors, architects and pharmacists. You can find out whether your profession is regulated in Germany, which laws govern it and which body you need to contact to have your qualifications assessed on the ‘Recognition in Germany’ information portal.

The Federal Employment Agency will approve the employment if the work is related to the specialist knowledge required for the profession for which you wish to have your qualifications recognised after entering the country. A professional connection is deemed to exist if, for example, you wish to have your qualification as a paediatric nurse recognised and intend to work as a nursing assistant whilst the recognition process is ongoing.

You must also submit a declaration stating that, following entry, you will undertake the procedure to establish equivalence or, in the case of regulated professions, to obtain authorisation to practise.

The residence permit entitles you to work for up to 20 hours a week, irrespective of the professional qualification to be recognised.