Foreign professional qualification Recognition as an educator

For recognition, the Regional State Office for School and Education Lüneburg checks on the basis of your certificates whether or to what extent your foreign qualification corresponds to a German qualification for the profession of educator. This review is based on defined formal criteria, such as content, professional orientation and duration of the training. Your relevant professional experience will be taken into account as well as other relevant qualifications. The decision on the application will be made by means of a written decision.

If there are significant differences, a compensatory measure (adaptation period or aptitude test) is required before the professional qualification acquired abroad can be recognised. The scope of the compensatory measure is determined by the Regional State Office for School and Education Lüneburg in a decision.

For more information, please visit the anerkennung-in-deutschland.de

This internet portal provides quick and easy answers to questions about recognition, for example:

• Do I have to have my professional qualifications recognised?

• Is the recognition worth it for me?

• Can I submit the application? Do I have a formal entitlement to it?

• Who should I contact?

• What does the procedure look like?

• What documents are required? What form do the documents need to take?

• How long does the procedure take?

• How much does the procedure cost?

• Which laws are relevant to my case?

The responsibility lies with the Regional State Office for School and Education Lüneburg.

In order for the professional qualification obtained abroad to be recognised, the following conditions must be met:

• the professional qualification obtained entitles the holder to carry out professional activities comparable to those of an educator in the country in which it was obtained, and

• there are no significant differences between the professional qualification obtained in the country of origin and the corresponding vocational training in Lower Saxony.

1. Completed application form (not applicable for online application)
2. Hand-signed tabular description of the school and professional career (curriculum vitae) in German,
3. Copy of the certificate of school-leaving certificate in German
4. Copies of the training certificates in the original language and as a German translation:
   1. Graduation documents (e.g. diploma), including attachments in the original language and as a German translation, if applicable
   2. Proof of training content (subject board, explanations and curricular requirements, etc.) in the original language and as a German translation
   3. Certificate from the competent authority stating that you are directly entitled to practise the profession in the country of training in the original language and as a German translation.
5. Copies of proof of relevant professional experience at home or abroad in the form of job references/workbooks in the original language and as a German translation. The evidence should be able to provide information about the activities and the scope of the activities.
6. Proof of identity (identity card, passport or residence permit)

For the documents in non-German language, translations into German are also required. The translations must be prepared or at least confirmed by a publicly appointed/sworn translator in Germany.

Certificates in English do not need to be translated.

The Regional State Office for School and Education reserves the right to request officially certified copies of the above-mentioned documents.

There are no deadlines on the part of the applicants.

The processing time is generally up to 3 months, provided that the application documents are complete. In individual cases, an extension may be necessary.

The deadline for submitting the application begins with the confirmation from the competent authority that the required documents are complete.

In the event of a rejection of the requested recognition, administrative recourse is available.

The rejection will be accompanied by a specific instruction on legal remedies, from which the time limit for filing an action and the competent administrative court can be seen.

Recognition procedures for the reference qualification as a "state-recognised childhood educator" can be applied for at the relevant universities:

The service centres of the network "Integration through Qualification" (IQ Network) will be happy to advise and support you before, during and after the recognition procedure:

Lower Saxony Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs

The text was automatically translated based on the German content.