Category: Recognition of Qualifications
Choose the procedure you need
All procedures (4)
- Lost your professional certificates? § 14 recognises you without them
- Medical licence in Germany (Approbation): Section 3 BÄO and the route for non-EU graduates
- Recognition of foreign professional qualifications in Germany: the three-month rule and when it starts
- When is your qualification equivalent? The "substantial difference" test in Section 4 BQFG
About this section
Recognition of foreign professional and academic qualifications under the Professional Qualifications Assessment Act (BQFG): when your qualification counts as equivalent and when the authority finds a “substantial difference”, the three-month deadline that only starts once the file is complete and may be extended once with reasons given, and the §14 skills analysis for applicants who cannot produce their documents — wording that obliges the authority rather than permitting it. Doctors get a separate page on the licence to practise (Approbation) and the language level that §3 never names federally, because each state medical chamber sets its own.
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Lost your professional certificates? § 14 recognises you without them
Losing the paperwork does not end the file — the law provides a mandatory alternative, not an optional one.
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Medical licence in Germany (Approbation): Section 3 BÄO and the route for non-EU graduates
The equivalence assessment comes first — the Kenntnisprüfung is not automatic. And the statute names no CEFR level at all: B2 and C1 come from state medical chambers, and they differ.
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When is your qualification equivalent? The "substantial difference" test in Section 4 BQFG
Three elements must be present together for a difference to count as substantial — and the statute says documented work experience compensates. Send it with the first application, not after.
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Recognition of foreign professional qualifications in Germany: the three-month rule and when it starts
The three-month decision period starts when your file is complete, not when you apply. How to identify the competent body, and why regulated and non-regulated professions are a different game.