Apply for recognition as a midwife with a professional qualification that will be automatically recognized

Prerequisites

• You have a professional qualification as a midwife, which is automatically recognized.
• You want to work as a midwife in Germany.
• Personal suitability: You are reliable for working as a midwife and have no criminal record.
• Health suitability: You can work as a midwife mentally and physically.
• You have German language skills at the required language level. This is usually language level B2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

Documents required

The responsible office will tell you which documents you need to submit. Important documents are generally:

• Proof of identity (ID card or passport)
• Marriage certificate (if your name changed through marriage)
• CV
• Evidence of your professional qualifications (e.g. certificates, professional certificate)
• Training certificates
• Evidence of your relevant professional experience as a midwife
• Evidence of other relevant knowledge for working as a midwife
• Maybe: You don't yet live or work in the EU, the EEA or Switzerland? Then you have to prove that you want to work in that profession in Germany. Evidence is e.g. B. Applications for a job, invitations to interviews or personal statements
  

You only need to submit the following documents if your professional qualification comes from the EU or EEA and was completed before a certain date (cutoff date). The responsible authority will inform you:

• Certificate of conformity
  If there is no certificate of conformity:
  Evidence of the content and duration of your training (e.g. list of subjects and grades, study book, diploma supplement, transcript of records)
• Certificate: You must have worked continuously and lawfully as a midwife for at least three years during the five years preceding the issue of the certificate. In some cases you only need to provide proof of two years. That depends on your training. The responsible office will inform you.
  

You usually hand in these documents later. The responsible office will inform you when you should hand in the documents:

• Proof of your personal suitability: criminal record extract or certificate of good conduct from your country of origin. The proof may be a maximum of 3 months old when the application is submitted.
• Proof of your health suitability: medical certificate. The proof may be a maximum of 3 months old when the application is submitted.
• Proof of your German language skills: language certificate
  

The responsible office will inform you which documents you must submit as a simple copy, a certified copy or the original.

Please note

Freedom to provide services
Do you only want to offer services in Germany sometimes and for a short period of time? Then you usually don't need state permission. You must meet these requirements:

• You must be established in another EU, EEA or Switzerland country.
• You must provide proof of your professional qualifications.
• You must report your activity in writing to the responsible authority.

The responsible office will inform you.

Certificate of equivalence
The approval process also includes a check of equivalence (recognition process). You can apply for a separate decision regarding the results of the examination.

Procedure for late repatriates
As a late repatriate, you can go through the recognition process either according to the laws mentioned here or according to the Federal Expellees Act. You can decide this yourself. The responsible office will advise you on which procedure is right for you.

Deadlines

There is no deadline.

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

Procedure

application

You submit an application for permission to use the professional title “midwife” to the responsible body.
You can submit the application with the documents to the responsible office or send it by post. Do not send originals. Sometimes you can also send the application electronically. The responsible office will inform you.

Examination of the application by the responsible body

The responsible body checks whether you meet all the requirements for granting permission to use the professional title “midwife”. A prerequisite is that your professional qualifications are recognized.

Automatic recognition

There are different cases in which a professional qualification can be automatically recognized. This generally applies if you acquired your professional training in a member state of the EU, the EEA or Switzerland. The responsible office will inform you about the options for automatic recognition. With automatic recognition, the equivalence of your professional qualifications is not checked individually. This means: If you also meet all other requirements (reliability, health suitability, German language skills), you will receive permission to use the professional title “midwife”.

Certificate of conformity for professional qualifications acquired before the training country joined the EU/EEA:

Vocational training from the EU or EEA can also be automatically recognized if it was started before the country in which you were training joined the EU/EEA (or does not correspond to the legal designations). To do this, you must submit a certificate from the responsible authority in the country in which you are training that your professional qualifications meet the minimum standards of the EU (“certificate of conformity”). If your professional qualifications do not meet the minimum standards, you must provide proof of your professional experience. You must have worked as a midwife in your country of origin for 3 consecutive years in the last 5 years before submitting your application. The authorities in your home country must confirm this to you.

If your professional qualification is automatically recognized, you must also meet the additional requirements. Then you will receive permission to use the professional title “midwife”.

Processing time

The responsible office will inform you if documents are missing. If the documents are complete, the process will take a maximum of 3 months.

Fees

The responsible office will inform you about the costs. The costs generally depend on the effort required for processing.

Additional costs may arise (for example for translations or certifications). These costs vary from person to person.

Legal remedies

You can take legal action against the decision of the responsible authority within a certain period of time (for example, lodge an objection). The decision is then reviewed. Details can be found in the legal remedies information at the end of your notice. We recommend that you first speak to the responsible authority before taking legal action against the decision.

Legal basis

Left:

• Language: de-DE
  
  Description:
  
  Title: §§ 5, 43 ff. Law on the study and profession of midwives (Midwife Act - HebG)
  
  URL: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/hebg_2020/__43.html


• Language: de-DE
  
  Description:
  
  Title: §§ 43-47, 55, 56 Study and Examination Regulations for Midwives (HebStPrV)
  
  URL: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/hebstprv/__43.html

The profession of midwife is regulated in Germany. This means: In order to work as a midwife in Germany, you need a state permit. With permission, you can use the professional title “midwife” and work in the profession.

Even if you have a professional qualification from abroad, you can obtain state permission from the responsible authority in Germany. In order to receive permission, you must have your foreign professional qualification recognized.

In the recognition process, the responsible body compares your professional qualification from abroad with the German professional qualification and checks the equivalence. In some cases, your professional qualifications may be automatically recognized. This means that no equivalence check is carried out. It is assumed that the training is equivalent.

Your professional qualification is usually automatically recognized if you acquired your professional qualification in a country in the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) or in Switzerland. However, there can also be exceptions to this rule. This depends on which country you completed your training in and when.

There may be other cases in which your professional qualification is automatically recognized. The responsible office will inform you. If your professional qualification is not automatically recognized, other regulations apply.

You must also meet other requirements for the permit to be granted. Further requirements are e.g. B. sufficient German language skills and health suitability.
You can also apply for the procedure from abroad.