Anerkennung als Erzieherin und Erzieher mit Berufsqualifikation aus dem Ausland beantragen

Do you have a foreign professional qualification as an educator? In order to work in this profession in Germany, you need to have your professional qualification recognized.

The profession of educator is regulated in Germany. This means that in order to work in the profession without restrictions, you must provide proof of a specific qualification.

You can apply for recognition of your professional qualification as proof of a foreign qualification. You can also apply for the recognition procedure from abroad.

In the recognition procedure, the competent authority compares your professional qualification from abroad with the professional qualification in the selected federal state. The procedure is called: equivalence assessment.

You will receive a notification of the result of the equivalence assessment. The notification will state your professional qualifications. If you lack professional qualifications for recognition, the notification will also state the main differences.

In addition to the equivalence of professional qualifications, you must also meet other requirements in order to work as an educator. You will often have to prove these requirements at a later date.

The responsible office will tell you which documents you need to submit. Important documents are generally

• Application form from the responsible office
• Proof of identity (e.g. passport or identity card)
• Marriage certificate (if your name has changed due to marriage)
• Curriculum vitae
• Proof of your professional qualifications (e.g. certificates, professional certificate)
• Proof of the content and duration of your education (e.g. diploma supplement, transcript of records)
• Proof of your professional experience as an educator (e.g. references)
• Information about an application for recognition that has already been submitted. Please indicate the body to which you have submitted the application.
• Proof of the content and duration of your education (e.g. list of subjects and grades, study book, diploma supplement, transcript of records)
• Are you from a third country and do not yet live or work in the EU, the EEA or Switzerland? Then you must provide proof: You want to work in the profession in the selected federal state (for example, applications, entry visa for gainful employment, personal declaration).
• perhaps: your birth certificate
• perhaps: proof of your general school leaving certificate
• perhaps: Proof of your German language skills: Language certificate
• perhaps: Proof that you are authorized to work as an educator in your country of training.
• Perhaps: Proof of your personal suitability: Certificate of good conduct (e.g. criminal record, certificate of good standing)
• perhaps: Proof of your health suitability: medical certificate

You must submit officially certified copies of some documents. The responsible office will let you know which documents you need to submit as a simple copy, as a certified copy or as an original.

• You have a completed professional qualification as an educator from abroad.
• You want to work as an educator in your chosen federal state.

You may also need to fulfill the following requirements:

• You have German language skills at the required level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The responsible office will inform you about the required language level.
• Health suitability: You are in good health.
• Personal suitability: You are reliable for work as an educator and have no criminal record.

Fees may apply. In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, fees of EUR 30.00 to EUR 150.00 are charged. The amount depends on the complexity of the recognition procedure.

The responsible office will inform you about the costs. The costs generally depend on the time and effort required for processing.

Additional costs may be incurred (e.g. for translations or certification of your documents or compensatory measures). These costs vary from case to case.

You can hand in the application with the documents to the relevant office or send it by post. Sometimes you can also send the application electronically. The responsible office will inform you.

The responsible office will receive the application. It will confirm that the application has been received after one month at the latest. Once the competent body has received all the documents from you, it will process your application.

The competent authority will then check: Is your professional qualification equivalent to the professional qualification in your federal state? For example, the content of the training and the duration of the training are important for the comparison. The competent authority will also take into account your professional experience, other certificates of competence and qualifications.

If your qualification is equivalent and you meet all other requirements, you will receive state recognition. You may use the professional title of state-recognized educator. You then have the same professional rights as a person with the German professional qualification. Your professional qualification will be recognized.

Are there significant differences between your professional qualification and the German professional qualification? Then your professional qualification will not be recognized.

In most cases, you can then take a compensatory measure. This allows you to compensate for the main differences.

There are various compensation measures:

• Adaptation course: You work as an educator and do additional training at a technical college.
• Aptitude test: In the aptitude test, only those areas in which significant differences have been identified are tested. The aptitude test is a practical examination. Written and oral tests may also be required.

You can often choose between an adaptation period or an aptitude test.

If you successfully complete the compensation measure, you will receive recognition.

You must also meet other requirements to work as an educator. These include, for example, your personal and health suitability and your German language skills. However, these will only be checked by the employer when you start work. You may have to submit additional documents. The employer will inform you of this.

• There are no deadlines.
• Sometimes documents are still missing from the procedure. The responsible office will then inform you by when you must submit the documents.

Working as a socio-educational specialist

You cannot work as a socio-educational specialist in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern without recognition as an educator.

Your employer will inform you about your other options.

You can take legal action against the decision of the competent authority within a certain period of time (for example, by lodging an objection). The decision will then be reviewed. Details can be found in the information on legal remedies at the end of your decision. We recommend that you first speak to the responsible office before taking legal action against the decision.

• Educators with a foreign professional qualification, apply for recognition
• In order to be allowed to work as an educator without restrictions, the foreign professional qualification must be recognized.
• The recognition procedure checks whether the foreign professional qualification is equivalent to the German professional qualification.
• If there are significant differences, compensatory measures can usually be taken.
• The application for recognition can also be submitted from abroad.

Ministry of Education and Child Day Care Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

Ministry of Education and Child Day Care Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

Forms available: Yes
Written form required: Yes
Informal application possible: No
Personal appearance necessary: No