Recognition of a healthcare profession in Bavaria

Do you have a professional qualification in one of the following healthcare professions from abroad and would like to work in Bavaria?

  • Anesthesia technical assistant (ATA)
  • Dietician
  • Occupational therapist
  • Midwife
  • Speech therapist
  • Masseuse & medical bath attendant / masseur & medical bath attendant
  • Medical technologist for:
    • Functional diagnostics (MTF)
    • Laboratory analytics (MTL)
    • Radiology (MTR)
    • Veterinary medicine (MTV)
  • Emergency paramedic
  • Surgical assistant (OTA)
  • Orthoptist
  • Pharmaceutical-technical assistant (PTA)
  • Physiotherapist
  • Podiatrist

Then we will check your qualification. You must submit an application to us for this. We will be responsible for the recognition of a healthcare profession from 01.07.2025.

You can find the online application here.

Do you have any questions?

Please read our FAQs (frequently asked questions and answers).
At the bottom of the website you will also find checklists, information sheets, important links and free offers from advice centers.

The activity or use of the professional title in a healthcare profession is regulated in Bavaria. This means that recognition of the professional qualification is absolutely necessary in order to work in this profession under the corresponding German professional title.

Competence Recognition of a healthcare profession

The Bavarian State Office for Nursing will be responsible for the state recognition of foreign healthcare professions in Bavaria from 01.07.2025.

Prerequisite for the recognition procedure

Prerequisites are:

  • You want to work in Bavaria.
  • You have acquired a state or state-recognized professional qualification in the respective healthcare profession in your country of origin.
  • You can prove your training/professional qualification with a certificate of completion.
  • You may practise your profession in your country of training without restriction.

What documents do I need to submit?

You can find all the information you need in our Leafletforms and documents, which we update on an ongoing basis.

Please note:

Your cooperation is important so that we can process your application without delays. Please send us all the necessary documents in full. If documents are missing, we cannot check your education. If documents are missing, we will inform you. In this case, please reply and send us the missing documents as soon as possible.

General course of the procedure

  1. You submit an application
    You can submit your application online or by post. Once we have received your application, you will receive a confirmation from us.
    If any documents are still missing, you will receive a message from us as soon as possible. We will let you know which documents you need to submit to us.
  1. Application review
    We review your application on the basis of your documents.
    As soon as the documents are complete, we check whether there are any significant differences in terms of content or time between your foreign professional qualification and the German qualification in the respective healthcare profession.
    We also take into account documents relating to your professional experience and your further training/continuing education in the respective specialist area.
  1. Decision notice
    You will receive a decision notice as soon as the documents have been checked.
    If we cannot immediately consider your professional qualification as equivalent, you can compensate for the differences. You can choose between an adaptation period and a knowledge test/aptitude test.
    Under certain circumstances, you can waive the equivalence test. In this case, we will not check your completed hours in theory and practice in detail. We also do not take professional experience and further training into account if you waive the equivalence test. We will only check:
  • Have you completed your training?
  • Is the reference occupation given (skilled worker level)?
  • Do you have unrestricted professional access in your country of origin?
  • If you waive the equivalence test, you must still prove that you have an equivalent level of knowledge with regard to the German training. To do this, you usually have to complete an adaptation measure.
    You have the right to choose between a knowledge test (or, if you have a qualification from the EU/EEA/Switzerland, an aptitude test) and an adaptation period.
    You can find information on the requirements and consequences of waiving the equivalence test in our information sheet “Waiving the equivalence test”.
  1. Personal aptitude
    If there are no significant differences between your training and the vocational training in Germany or if the significant differences have been completely eliminated, we will check your personal aptitude. To do this, we need your certificate of good conduct and a medical certificate. We will also check whether you have the necessary German language skills.
    As part of the recognition procedure in Bavaria, you will usually have to successfully pass a technical language test to prove your technical language skills.
    You can find all information about the language test and how to register here.
  2. Certificate
    As soon as we have checked your professional and personal suitability and all evidence has been provided in full, the certificate of authorization to use the professional title of the respective healthcare profession can be issued.
    From this point on, you have the same legal status as graduates of the German training course.

Processing time

We endeavor to process all applications as quickly as possible.
Depending on the legal basis, we will decide on your complete application within three or four months at the latest.
Important: The deadline only starts when we have received all documents in full.
The deadline may be extended once in justified cases.

Accelerated skilled worker procedure

Applicants cannot submit an application for an accelerated procedure for skilled workers. Only the employer can do this.
The employer must submit the application to the Central Office for the Immigration of Skilled Workers (ZSEF).
Once the accelerated skilled worker procedure has begun, the ZSEF will submit the application for recognition of the foreign professional qualification to us (processing time maximum two months).

Information on this procedure can be found here and on the ZSEF website.

Costs

The procedure costs money. We charge you a fee of between 40 and 70 euros.

There is also a cost of 40 euros for the certificate.

In addition, there are costs for translations and possibly for certifications. If you have to take an adaptation measure, you will incur additional costs for the adaptation period/knowledge test/aptitude test and possibly a preparatory course. Further costs – will be incurred if you have to repeat the adaptation measure.

Please note: There are funding opportunities. If you apply for funding, you must do so BEFORE you submit an application to us. Please refer to our FAQs and our “Information sheet “.

General information

Recognition counseling

The “FAQ/Frequently Asked Questions” only refer to applications for recognition for healthcare professions that can be submitted to the Bavarian State Office for Nursing from 01.07.2025.

Bavarian State Office for Nursing
Department 1
Mildred-Scheel-Str. 4
92224 Amberg

Telephone service center: +49 9621 9669-4545
Mon., Tue. and Thu. 10:00-12:00
Wed. 14:00-16:00

anerkennung-gesundheit@lfp.bayern.de
www.lfp.bayern.de