Germany is streamlining the recognition of foreign professional qualifications in healthcare professions. The new rules apply, among others, to physicians, dentists, pharmacists, and midwives. The changes are particularly relevant for professionals with degrees from so-called third countries—that is, countries outside the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA), and Switzerland. This includes Ukraine. Most of the new regulations will take effect on November 1, 2026.
Knowledge Test Instead of Certifications
One of the biggest hurdles in the recognition of professional qualifications from third countries has been the document-based equivalency assessment. In this process, the foreign education is compared in detail with the corresponding German education. Applicants must submit extensive documentation regarding their education and have it translated.
For physicians, dentists, and pharmacists, the direct knowledge exam will generally become the standard procedure in the future. This is a professional licensing exam with uniform standards. It does not focus on previously identified individual differences between foreign and German training.
A document-based equivalency assessment remains an option if applicants expressly choose it.
Less paperwork
Those who take the knowledge assessment directly no longer need to submit documents required exclusively for the document-based equivalency assessment. These include, for example, detailed curricula from foreign universities. These documents no longer need to be copied, translated, or certified.Other documents required for the recognition and licensing process are not automatically waived as a result. Above all, the time-consuming comparison of foreign training with German training is simplified.
A different rule applies to midwives: They can choose between a knowledge exam and an adaptation course.
Reduced Burden for Professionals from Third Countries
The changes also apply to individuals who obtained their medical professional qualifications in Ukraine. Since Ukraine is not part of the EU, the EEA, or Switzerland, Ukrainian degrees are treated as qualifications from a third country for recognition purposes.
For those affected, the new regulations may, in particular, reduce the effort required to obtain detailed training documents, have them translated, and have them certified. Instead of a comprehensive comparison of training content, the focus will generally be on the knowledge test in the future.
The timing of the application is important: For applications for recognition of a professional qualification obtained in a third country that are submitted on or before October 31, 2026, the previous regulations will continue to apply. The new rules will therefore generally apply to such applications starting November 1, 2026.
However, this does not mean automatic recognition of foreign credentials. Even after the reform, the respective requirements for professional licensure must still be met.
Knowledge of German remains necessary
The reform does not lower the professional requirements. The target level remains Standard C1. Special professional language courses are available for academic healthcare professions. Information on this is available on the website of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees: https://www.bamf.de/DE/Themen/Integration/ZugewanderteTeilnehmende/AnerkennungsBSK/anerkennungsbsk-node.html
According to the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG), the standards for patient safety and quality of care remain in place. For doctors, for example, recognition of their professional qualifications alone is not sufficient to obtain a medical license. A medical license is the state authorization to practice medicine. To obtain it, applicants must, among other things, demonstrate the required German language proficiency.
The reform is thus primarily intended to reduce bureaucracy and speed up the recognition of foreign professional qualifications. The professional and language requirements for working in a healthcare profession in Germany remain in place.
Sources:
Bundesministerium für Gesundheit: Fragen und Antworten zur Anerkennung ausländischer Berufsqualifikationen in Heilberufen
Bundesministerium für Gesundheit: Gesetz zur Beschleunigung der Anerkennungsverfahren ausländischer Berufsqualifikationen in Heilberufen
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