Trades requiring a permit; application for recognition of a foreign professional qualification
To work as a guardian, insurance advisor, insurance intermediary, financial investment intermediary, fee-based financial investment advisor or real estate loan intermediary, you must have your professional qualifications from abroad recognized.
Description
Working as a security guard, insurance advisor, insurance broker, financial investment broker, fee-based financial investment advisor or real estate loan broker is regulated in Germany.
This means that you need a permit under trade law to work in the professions. For the permit you need a certificate of competence.
The Sachkunde is the professional qualification that you need for the corresponding work.
You can also prove your expertise with a professional qualification from abroad. To do this, you must have your professional qualification recognized. Professional qualifications can be: Certificates of competence or certificates of training.
If you want to work permanently as a self-employed person in the above-mentioned professions, you also need a permit. The permit allows you to operate these professions permanently and independently as a trade. You must meet several requirements for the permit. One important prerequisite is proof of expertise. You apply for the permit in a different procedure.
Prerequisites
- You have a professional qualification as a guard, insurance advisor, insurance broker, financial investment broker, fee-based financial investment advisor or real estate loan broker from abroad.
- You would like to settle permanently in Germany and work in one of the professions mentioned.
Procedure
- You submit an "Application for recognition of foreign qualifications and training certificates" to the competent body.
- For professional qualifications from the EU/EEA/Switzerland:
You can submit the application and documents directly to the competent body or to a single point of contact. You can also submit the application electronically via the Single Point of Contact. - The competent body will then compare your professional qualification from abroad with the German professional qualification and check the equivalence. If your professional qualification is equivalent, it will be recognized. You will then receive the notification of equivalence (notification of recognition) by mail or electronically.
- If your professional qualification is not equivalent, it will not be recognized. You will then receive a notice of the differences in your professional qualification. You then have the right to a compensatory measure: this can be the "specific expert examination" or the "supplementary instruction". The competent body will inform you about the options. If you successfully complete the compensatory measure, you will receive the notice of equivalence.
- With the notice of equivalence, you can apply for a permit for the relevant trade. For this purpose, you must submit another application.
- You can take legal action against the decision of the competent body. The decision will then be reviewed. We recommend that you first talk to the competent authority before taking legal action against the decision.
Deadlines
None.
Sometimes documents are still missing in the procedure. The responsible office will then inform you by when you have to submit the documents.
Processing time
The competent body will confirm that your documents have arrived after a maximum of one month. The competent office will inform you if any documents are missing.
If all necessary documents are available, the procedure takes a maximum of 3 months. In individual cases, the procedure can be extended by a maximum of one month.
Required documents
-
The responsible office will tell you which documents you need to submit. Important documents are generally:
- Proof of identity (identity card or passport in officially certified copy)
- List in tabular form of your training and professional experience (curriculum vitae)
- Evidence of education
- Evidence of relevant professional experience
- Other evidence of qualifications
- If the profession is regulated in your country of training: a certificate stating that you are authorised to practise the profession in your country of training.
The competent authority will inform you which documents you have to submit as originals or as certified copies.
You must submit your documents in German. The translations must be done by publicly appointed or authorised translators.
Fees
The responsible office will inform you about the costs. The costs generally depend on the effort required for processing.
Additional costs may arise (e.g. for translations and certifications). These costs vary individually.
Links to more information
Status: 04.01.2023
Responsible for editing: Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung
- Online transactions, Bavaria-wide
- Online transactions, locally limited
- Prefillable Form, Bavaria-wide
- Legal bases, Bavaria-wide
- Legal bases, locally limited
- Fees, Bavaria-wide
- Fees, locally limited
If you select a location under "Localization" the contact details of the responsible authority and, if applicable, locally valid information will be displayed.