Authority for Schools, Family and Vocational Training

Recognition of foreign school certificates

Prerequisites

Documents required

• Completed and signed application form (see link "SIZ applications and information") if you are still a minor, with signature and proof of identity of the legal guardian.
• Your proof of identity (e.g. identity card or passport and Hamburg registration confirmation, in case of name change e.g. marriage certificate).
• If you do not live in Hamburg, written confirmation of a specific job offer from a Hamburg training provider or employer is required for your application to be processed in Hamburg.
• Current, complete and signed CV with details of school attendance and, if applicable, study periods and date of entry into the Federal Republic of Germany
• School leaving certificate with overview of subjects and grades and, if applicable, proof of studies in the original language
• Translation of all foreign language documents into German by a sworn person (see link "Interpreter search").
• A translation is not required if your certificate was issued by the school in English.

Please note

There are the following notes:

The recognition of the School Information Center is not valid for applications and enrollments at Hamburg universities.

However, academic achievements acquired abroad may possibly be included in the assessment/recognition as a school qualification.

A university degree from abroad can – for applications on the Hamburg training and job market – be assessed as at most comparable to the “General University Entrance Qualification”.

This does not involve a substantive assessment of the acquired higher education qualification for direct professional practice or continuation of studies.

Procedure

You can submit the application for assessment or recognition of your foreign school leaving certificate by email (preferably in PDF format) to auslandszeugnisse@bsb.hamburg.de

or by post (simple copies) to

Authority for Schools and Vocational Education

School Information Center

-Certificate recognition-

PO Box 761048

D-22060 Hamburg

send.

If your documents are formally complete, you will receive a confirmation of receipt and your application will be forwarded for preliminary review of the content.

If your application is incomplete, you will receive your documents back with information about which documents are required for the complete application and you will have to submit it again.

As soon as your documents have been pre-checked for content, you will initially receive a provisional certificate of recognition (by post or email) or a direct appointment suggestion for submitting the original documents. If the content check reveals that further documents (e.g. individual annual certificates) are required, we will contact you by phone or email. Please ensure that we have your current contact details throughout the entire recognition process and check your email inbox regularly.

Processing time

Processing usually takes several weeks

Fees

The application process is free of charge.




Costs incurred due to required translations into German must be borne by the applicants.

Legal remedies

An appeal against this decision can be lodged with the issuing office within one month. Note: An appeal procedure that is completely or partially unsuccessful is subject to a fee.

Legal basis

§ 48 Hamburg School Act (HmbSG) of 16 April 1997 (in the currently valid version)


Hamburg School Act (HmbSG)




Training and examination regulations for primary schools and grades 5 to 10 of the district school and the grammar school (APO-GrundStGy)




Decisions of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs




Assessment regulations of the Central Office for Foreign Education at the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany




Information on the application procedures at universities;


https://www.wege-ins-studium.de


https://www.anabin.de


https://www.uni-assist.de