Recognition of educational qualifications
Many people who come to Germany have already acquired qualifications in their countries of origin. In order to be able to use these qualifications and degrees in Germany as well, there is the possibility of recognition of educational qualifications.
For some professions - the so-called regulated professions - recognition is a prerequisite to enable employment at the foreign qualification level in the first place (e.g. medical professions, legal professions, professions in the field of education). However, recognition can also be useful for non-regulated professions.
Special counseling centers advise on the topic of recognition of professional and academic degrees from abroad and accompany the application to the recognizing bodies. Here you can find the counseling centers in Thuringia: Professional Recognition (IBA-T Mitte), Recognition Counseling North Thuringia (IBAT Nord).
There are also special counseling centers with regional responsibilities for the recognition of school certificates: https://www.ibs-thueringen.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Flyer_AQSB_2020_web.pdf.
Further information on the recognition of foreign school-leaving certificates and vocational qualifications in Thuringia can be found here: https://bildung.thueringen.de/fileadmin/schule/migration/INFORMATIONSBLATT_Anerkennung_Schulabschluss_Berufsabschluss.pdf