General Information

If you already have an unconditional recognition of your professional qualification and can work in your profession without having to proof additional qualification measures, please refer to the information on 'Employment – Holders of an academic degree' or 'Employment - Skilled workers with a vocational training or to participate in a vocational training or internship'.

For more detailed info on the recognition process, please check www.anerkennung-in-deutschland.de (you can select English at the drop-down-menu 'Sprache: Deutsch').

In India, you can also contact for any clarification or query regarding recognition of your qualifications https://prorecognition.in/ (Email: recognition@indo-german.com)
General information on working and living in Germany can be found on www.make-it-in-germany.com.

Before filling out the application form and booking an appointment, please prepare 2 identical sets of the following documentation for your visa. Please DO NOT STAPLE documents.

• valid passport issued within the last 10 years, with at least 2 empty pages for visa; passports with observations regarding the front data page cannot be accepted
• application form, completed online with VIDEX - printed out twice and both forms duly signed by you
• 3 current, identical passport photos according to biometric specifications (current = not older than 6 months)
• Declaration for additional contact and legal representation information - completed and signed twice by you
• Declaration in regards to § 18 AufenthG
• 2 copies of your passport’s data page (A4 size copies)
• Proof of vocational training of at least two years and approved by the state in which it was obtained OR completed university degree
  
  Please note that a foreign university degree might be considered vocational training in Germany
• Acknowledged proof of knowledge of German, usually at least level A2, for care professions at least level B2, not older than one year
  
  Acknowledged are certificates by Goethe Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, ÖSD, telc
• If you do not have an acknowledged proof of German and the acquisition of German skills is not part of the qualification measures: Registration for a language course
• These are the different options to obtain recognition of your qualification and the documents necessary:
  
  1. If you already have completed the formal recognition process and obtained a deficit notification (Defizitbescheid) or notification of partial recognition (Teil-Anerkennungsbescheid), you have to submit with your application
  
  - the notification
  Depending on the content of the notification you have to submit documents for one of the following options:
  
  a. If the deficit notification indicates that a theoretical qualification measure is required:
  - Registration confirmation for participation in a theoretical course OR
  - Confirmation of an in-company training measure with a detailed plan/timetable of the intended curriculum OR
  - Registration confirmation of a course preparing for a necessary knowledge test AND
  - Information by the institute providing the measure in regards to its status (licenced by the state, recipient of government grants, participant in state funded programs etc.)
  
  b. If the notification mentions that a practical qualification measure (i.e. work in a company) is required:
  - Declaration regarding a contract of employment“ (Erkärung zum Beschäftigungsverhältnis) and Appendix A (Zusatzblatt A) for a concrete job offer, to be completed and duly signed by the future employer
  - Training plan that indicates who is responsible for your training and how the deficits identified in the notification are to be compensated
  - Details of the planned remuneration
  
  c. If the deficit notification mentions that the passing of an exam / knowledge test (Kenntnisprüfung) is required:
  - Registration confirmation to participate in the knowledge test, if applicable registration confirmation of a course preparing for the test
  
  d. If participation in a German course is part of the qualification measure:
  - Registration confirmation by the language school indicating the number of lessons per week (at least 18 hours / week) and confirmation that the course fee was paid in full
  
  2. If you intend to enter Germany in order to start or complete the formal recognition while already working for an employer in Germany in your area of training (”Acknowledgement Partnership - Anerkennungspartnerschaft“) you have to submit with your application:
  - Confirmation by the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB) that your previous training is approved by the state in which it was obtained (more information can be found here AND
  - Declaration regarding a contract of employment (Erkärung zum Beschäftigungsverhältnis) and Appendix A (Zusatzblatt A) for a concrete job offer, to be completed and duly signed by the future employer AND
  - Written agreement between you and your future employer
  - that you commit to start the process of formal recognition of your training immediately after entering Germany, if not before AND
  - that your future employer commits to making it possible for you to complete necessary qualification measures as stipulated in the course of the recognition process within three years of entering Germany
  
  - If the intended qualified employment requires a professional practice license (Berufsausübungserlaubnis):
  Information by your employer that
  a. the employment falls under a collective agreement (”Tarifbindung“) and the working conditions will be in accordance to that OR
  b. the employer is bound by church law and the working conditions will be in accordance with that OR
  c. the employer is a care institution licensed in accordance with § 72 SGB XI AND
  d. that the current employment will lead to the intended employment after the recognition process was completed
  
  As this is information that can only be ascertained by your intended employer, please refer to them to the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) for detailed information if they are unclear on what is necessary.
  
  3. If your recognition procedure has already been initiated and the responsible authority for the recognition procedure has advised you that it is unable to complete the procedure without an analysis of your qualification (”Qualifikationsanalyse“) you have to submit with your application:
  - Invitation to participate in an analysis of your qualification by the authority responsible for the recognition
• For your stay in Germany, you have to show proof of sufficient financial means to cover your living expenses. This currently means that you need at least 1.160,-- EUR before taxes per month.
  
  Sufficient financial means can be shown by one of the following ways:
  
  1. Through a work contract for the time until you have obtained full recognition of your qualification; this job would generally be related to your ”goal job“. Necessary document:
  
  - Declaration regarding a contract of employment (Erkärung zum Beschäftigungsverhältnis) for a concrete job offer, to be completed and duly signed by the future employer
  
  Please note: this option in general is not available to you if you intend to enter Germany to do the in-depth analysis of your qualification. In that case you are only allowed to work for no more than 20 hours / week, so you will have to show sufficient financial means by one of the other means.
  
  2. Proof of self-financing:
  - Confirmation of a blocked account in Germany with the sufficient amount (also in the case you are employed, but to not have a sufficient salary; the short fall can be made up through a block account)
  
  3. Formal obligation letter by a sponsor who resides in Germany:
  - 'Verpflichtungserklärung' in accordance with §§ 66 – 68 of the German Residence Act
• Proof of previous professional activity, e.g. employer certificates, references, proof of former employment subject to social insurance contributions
• If applicable – Pre-approval by the Federal Employment Agency (ZAV-Vorabzustimmung)
• If you are 45 years of age or older at the time of the visa application or by the time you have obtained full recognition of your ”goal job“ and whose yearly salary is below 48.180,-- €:
  o document of proof of adequate contribution to a German Pension fund / pension insurance
  o the signed declaration
• Certificate about compulsory health insurance (Gesetzliche oder private Krankenversicherung) from German employer valid from date of employment, if you will have an employment contract.
  
  Please note: If not already included in the compulsory health insurance, a separate ”Incoming“-Health Insurance has to be presented for the time from arrival in Germany until beginning of employment. If you will not be employed during the recognition of your training (for example because you participate in a course and not ”practical experience“), you will have to show proof of private health insurance that covers you during your residence in Germany.
• Visa fee of 75 € payable in INR

Please note that the German Missions reserve the right to ask for additional documents or the verification of certificates, for which additional fees would be charged.

Submission of the above-mentioned documents does not guarantee that a visa is granted.

Submission of incomplete documentation or refusal to appear for a visa interview may result in the rejection of your application.

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