Apply for recognition as a healthcare and nursing assistant or as a nursing assistant with a professional qualification from abroad
You have acquired a professional qualification as a healthcare and nursing assistant abroad. Would you like to work in this profession in Germany? You can have your foreign professional qualification officially recognized.
-
Basic information
You can have a qualification as a healthcare and nursing assistant or as a nursing assistant from abroad officially recognized in Germany.
Please note: Your qualification must be state-recognized in the country in which you trained. Informal or non-formal qualifications cannot be officially recognized in Germany.
You apply for recognition at the competent authority in the federal state in which you wish to work. To do this, you must submit an application with all the necessary documents to the relevant state authority. The competent authority will then carry out an equivalence assessment. The competent authority will compare your professional qualification from abroad with the professional qualification in the federal state. Important criteria for the comparison are the content and duration of the training.
You will receive a decision on the outcome of the procedure. The decision will list any existing and any missing professional qualifications.
Requirements
- Equivalence of your professional qualification
- You want to work in the federal state.
-
Procedure
You submit an application for recognition to the competent body. You must submit all the necessary documents in digital form to the competent body.
The competent body will then check: Is your foreign professional qualification equivalent to the professional qualification in the federal state? The competent body compares the qualifications using certain criteria. Important criteria are the content and duration of the training. The competent body also takes into account your professional experience, your other certificates of competence and qualifications when carrying out the equivalence check.
You will receive a notification with the result of the procedure. You will receive recognition if your professional qualification and the professional qualification in the federal state are equivalent.
Sometimes there are significant differences between the professional qualifications. The differences are listed in your notification.
More information
Legal remedy:
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. You should first speak to the responsible office before taking legal action against the decision. -
Competent Department
-
Die Senatorin für Gesundheit, Frauen und Verbraucherschutz | Referat 20 - Berufe im Gesundheitswesen
- +49 421 361 0
- Faulenstraße 9/15, 28195 Bremen
- Website
- gesundheitsberufe
@gesundheit. bremen. de
-
-
Fees / Costs
Processing the application is subject to a fee. The responsible office will inform you of the amount of the fees.
-
Deadlines & processing time
What deadlines must be paid attention to?
There are no deadlines.
How long does it take to process
3 months The responsible office will confirm receipt of your application within one month. The responsible office will inform you if further documents are required. If you have submitted all the required documents, you will receive a decision with the result after 3 months at the latest. In certain cases, the competent body may extend the procedure.
-
More Information
This page has been automatically translated by DeepL. We cannot guarantee that the translation is correct.
The official information in German is complete and correct. 03.03.2026