Addressing the nursing shortage in Germany by hiring foreign nursing professionals

Nursing staff in Germany

The demand for inpatient and outpatient care services in Germany has increased dramatically in recent years and continues to show a strongly positive trend. German hospitals and nursing homes are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit qualified healthcare and nursing professionals from within the country. 

Foreign nursing staff and their path to Germany

As long as a caregiver is a citizen of an EU/EEA country or Switzerland, they are permitted to work and seek employment in Germany without restrictions. However, a recognition certificate is often required, which certifies that the foreign qualification meets the requirements for access to the German labor market (https://www.anerkennung-in-deutschland.de/html/de/).

Citizens of a third country (i.e., any other country), however, require a residence permit to work in a nursing profession in Germany. For this, the Federal Employment Agency must first approve the desired employment. This is possible if the professional qualification is equivalent to a German degree or if a placement agreement has been made with the foreign employment agency.https://www.arbeitsagentur.de/arbeiten-in-deutschland/pflegekraefte-in-deutschland)

Nursing professionals are among the occupations in shortage in Germany and are therefore included on the positive list of the Federal Employment Agency (https://www.arbeitsagentur.de/datei/dok_ba015465.pdf), which certifies that filling vacant positions in the nursing sector with foreign applicants is responsible under given conditions in terms of labor market and integration policy.

In order to be admitted to the German labor market, they also need – depending on the regulations of the individual federal states – knowledge of the German language at level B2 or B1 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Medical suitability for the nursing profession must be determined by a German doctor before starting employment. Furthermore, for certain areas of nursing, especially those working with children, a police clearance certificate confirming the applicant's clean criminal record is required.

Determination of equivalence

You can find out here whether the training corresponds to a domestically qualified training and where exactly you can apply for the equivalence assessment:

https://www.anerkennung-in-deutschland.de/html/de/

Once the equivalence of a nursing qualification with a qualified German educational qualification has been certified by the relevant authority, the applicant can apply for an entry visa at the German diplomatic mission in their place of residence. Under certain circumstances, they may be required to participate in further educational programs within the first 18 months in Germany.

You can find much more information at https://www.make-it-in-germany.com/de/.

Are you the human resources manager of a care facility looking for foreign nurses to start working in a nursing profession in Germany and would like support with the formalities or finding accommodation? Then read here how PROGEDO can support you.

Note: For the sake of readability, we sometimes omit gender-specific spelling in our blog posts. All personal information should therefore be understood as gender-neutral.