Custodian / Insurance Advisor / Insurance Broker / Financial Investment Broker / Fee Financial Investment Advisor / Real Estate Loan Broker

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 down permanently in Germany and work in one of the professions mentioned.

Documents required

The competent authority will inform you which documents you have to submit. Important documents are generally:

• Proof of identity (identity card or passport in an officially certified copy)
• List in tabular form with your training and your professional experience (CV)
• training certificates
• Evidence of relevant work experience
• other qualifications
• If the profession is regulated in your training country: a certificate that you are allowed to practice the profession in your training country

The competent authority will inform you which documents you have to submit in the original or as a certified copy.
You must submit your documents in German. The translations must be made by publicly appointed or authorized translators.

Please note

• There are the following hints:
• freedom to provide services
  • If you are based in an EU, EEA or Switzerland country, you do not need to have your professional qualifications recognized for temporary and occasional work as a service provider in Germany. However, there are special requirements: You must report your work to the competent authority before you start working. The notification (according to Section 13a of the Industrial Code (GewO)) takes place in a different procedure.
• Procedure for late resettlers
  • As a late repatriate, you can either go through the recognition procedure according to the laws mentioned here or according to the Federal Expellees Act. You can decide this yourself.

Deadlines

No.


Sometimes documents are still missing in the process. The responsible office will then inform you by when you have to submit the documents.

Procedure

• You submit an "application for the recognition of foreign qualifications and training certificates" to the competent authority.
• For professional qualifications from the EU/EEA/Switzerland:
• You can submit the application and the documents directly to the responsible office or to a single point of contact. You can also submit the application electronically via the point of single contact.
• The competent authority then compares your professional qualification from abroad with the German professional qualification and checks the equivalence. If your professional qualification is equivalent, it will be recognised. You will then receive the notification of equivalence (recognition notification) by post or electronically.
• If your professional qualification is not equivalent, it will not be recognised. You will then receive notification of the differences in your professional qualifications. You then have the right to a compensatory measure: this can be the "specific expertise test" or the "supplementary instruction". The responsible body will inform you about the options. If you successfully complete the compensatory measure, you will receive notification of equivalence.
• With the notice of equivalence, you can apply for a permit for the relevant trade. You must submit a different application for this.
• You can take legal action against the decision of the competent authority. The decision is then reviewed. We recommend that you first speak to the competent authority before taking legal action against the decision.

Processing time

The responsible office will confirm after a maximum of one month that your documents have arrived. The competent authority will inform you if documents are missing.


If all the necessary documents are available, the process takes a maximum of 3 months. In individual cases, the procedure can be extended by a maximum of one month.

Fees

The competent authority will inform you about the costs. The costs generally depend on the effort involved in processing.


Additional costs may also arise (e.g. for translations and certifications). These costs vary from person to person.

Legal remedies

contradiction

Legal basis

Designation: §§ 13c, 34a, 34d, 34f, 34h, 34i trade regulations


URL: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gewo/__13c.html




Designation: § 6 Insurance Mediation Ordinance


URL: http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/versvermv_2018/__6.html




Designation: § 5 Financial Investment Mediation Ordinance


URL: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/finvermv/__5.html




Designation: § 5 Real Estate Loan Mediation Ordinance


URL: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/immvermv/__5.html

Working as security guards, insurance advisors, insurance brokers, financial investment brokers, honorary financial investment advisors or real estate loan brokers is regulated in Germany.
This means: You need a trade license to be allowed to work in the professions. You generally need a certificate of competence for the permit.
Expertise is the technical qualification that you need for the relevant work.
You can also prove your expertise with a professional qualification from abroad. To do this, you must have your professional qualifications recognised. Professional qualifications can be: certificates of competence or certificates of training.