Foreign qualifications in Austria: Recognition & nostrification step by step

Why recognition is worthwhile

Perhaps you’re familiar with this situation: you’ve completed training as a nurse, electrician or teacher in your home country. In Austria, however, you’re working as a cleaner, domestic helper or unskilled labourer. Your diploma is tucked away in a drawer – and with it, a significant portion of your potential income.

You’re not alone in this. Thousands of people in Austria are working below their qualifications because their qualifications aren’t formally recognised here. At the same time, Austria is urgently seeking skilled workers: in care, the trades, technical professions, and in nurseries and schools. Many of these roles are officially on the list of shortage occupations. This means employers are waiting for people like you. Your qualifications are needed – they just need to be officially recognised.

The difference in pay is significant. A domestic helper in Austria earns an average of around 1,470 euros gross per month. A recognised qualified care worker often starts on more than double that amount, depending on the collective agreement – plus a 13th and 14th month’s salary, paid holiday, sick pay and pension contributions. Calculated over an entire working life, recognition quickly adds up to a six-figure sum. Even if the process costs you a few hundred euros and takes several months: hardly any investment pays off as reliably as this one.

Then there’s the security: with a recognised qualification, you’re no longer reliant on unskilled jobs. You can apply for roles that match your training – and you’ll have a better chance of securing residence permits, grants and further training. Our guides ‘From 24-hour care to permanent employment’ and ‘Domestic help jobs in Vienna’ show exactly how the path from a low-skilled job to a qualified position can look in practice.

Recognition, nostrification, assessment: what’s what?

There are many terms surrounding this topic. They sound similar but mean different things. The good news is that you just need to know which route suits your situation.

1. Professional recognition (EU/EEA and Switzerland): Did you obtain your qualification in an EU country, an EEA country or Switzerland? If so, for regulated professions, the EU Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications applies. ‘Regulated’ means that the profession may only be practised with specific training – for example, nursing, midwifery, medicine or certain skilled trades. The procedure is standardised within the EU and is often quicker than for qualifications from non-EU countries.

2. Nostrification (third countries): Is your qualification from a country outside the EU, the EEA or Switzerland – such as Serbia, Bosnia, Turkey, Ukraine or the Philippines? If so, you will need to have your qualification nostrified for regulated professions. The relevant authority will check whether your training is comparable to the Austrian standard. If anything is missing, you will be required to complete supplementary training or sit examinations. For academic degrees, this process is known as ‘nostrifizierung’ at universities.

3. Assessment (non-regulated professions): Many professions are not regulated at all in Austria – for example, computer scientists, economists, translators or marketing specialists. In these cases, you do not need formal recognition. The employer decides for themselves whether your qualifications are suitable. Nevertheless, an official assessment of your qualification can help: you will receive a document that classifies your qualification within the Austrian system. This strengthens your application. For higher education qualifications, this is carried out by ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA at the Ministry of Education.

Three examples illustrate the difference: a nurse from Slovakia (EU) goes through the EU professional recognition process. A nurse from Bosnia (third country) needs nostrification. A programmer from Ukraine doesn’t need to go through any procedure at all – his profession isn’t regulated, so he can apply directly and improve his chances with an assessment.

So first of all, bear this one question in mind: Is my profession regulated in Austria? If so, you’ll need a recognition or nostrification procedure. If not, an assessment is often sufficient – or nothing at all. If you’re unsure whether your profession is regulated: that’s exactly what the free advice service we’ve listed below will clarify for you.

Who is responsible for what?

In Austria, there is no single recognition authority. The body responsible is always the one that corresponds to your profession. Here’s an overview of the most important ones:

• Healthcare professions: The Ministry of Health is responsible for EU recognition and many healthcare professions. Nostrification for higher-level nursing (qualified health and nursing care) is carried out by universities of applied sciences offering nursing degree programmes. The authorities of your federal state’s provincial government are responsible for nursing assistants and specialist nursing assistants.
• School qualifications: Matura and school certificates are standardised by the Ministry of Education or the regional education authorities.
• Degrees: The recognition of academic degrees is carried out by universities and universities of applied sciences. ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA is responsible for the assessment process.
• Trades and crafts: For regulated trades (for example, electrical engineering, plumbing, and master builder), equivalence is handled by the Ministry of Economic Affairs or the provincial governor.

Sounds complicated? It is at first. That’s why there’s the official information portal berufsanerkennung.at. There you’ll find a recognition guide: simply enter your profession and the country where you trained, and you’ll be directed to the relevant authority. Use this portal as your first step – it will save you a lot of wasted phone calls. And remember: the definitive information for your specific case is always provided by the relevant authority itself.

Important to know: within the same profession, the responsible authority may depend on the country where you were trained. Take nursing as an example: for a diploma from an EU country, recognition is handled by the Ministry of Health. For the same job profile with a diploma from a non-EU country, the university of applied sciences or the state government office carries out the recognition process. Therefore, always state both when making an enquiry: your profession and the country where you completed your training.

Step-by-step guide to applying

This is how the recognition process works in practice. Take your time with each step – mistakes at the start can cost you months later on.

Step 1: Get free advice. First, visit an AST – these are the contact points for people with qualifications obtained abroad. The advice is free and available in several languages. The advisers will tell you whether you need to go through the process at all, which authority is responsible and what documents you need to gather. They will also support you throughout the entire process.

Step 2: Gather your documents. Typically, you’ll need: your passport, diploma or degree certificate, evidence of the content and duration of your training (list of subjects, hours, work placements), evidence of professional experience and, depending on the procedure, a criminal record certificate and proof of German language proficiency. Obtain any missing documents from your home country as early as possible – this often takes the longest. Some documents also require certification (an apostille) from the country of issue. A practical tip: ask the relevant authority or advice centre for a written checklist and tick off each document individually. Never hand over originals if certified copies are sufficient.

Step 3: Have certified translations done. Documents in foreign languages must usually be translated into German by court-sworn translators. A standard translation is not sufficient. Check with the relevant authority beforehand to find out which documents actually need to be translated – this will save you money.

Step 4: Submit your application. Submit your application to the relevant authority – ensuring it is complete and well-organised. Incomplete applications are the most common reason for lengthy procedures, as the authority has to request each missing document separately.

Step 5: Assessment and possible conditions. The relevant authority compares your training with the Austrian equivalent. There are three possible outcomes: full recognition, recognition subject to conditions, or rejection. Conditions usually involve supplementary training, an adaptation course or supplementary examinations – in nursing, for example, theory or practical lessons at a school or university of applied sciences. This is not a failure, but the normal procedure: most nostrification processes in nursing involve such conditions.

Step 6: Decision and professional authorisation. Finally, you will receive a written decision. With full recognition, you are authorised to practise your profession – in healthcare professions, this follows registration in the Healthcare Professions Register. From now on, you can apply for jobs as a recognised professional.

One more tip for the whole process: keep every confirmation and every letter from the authorities, and make a note of when you submitted what. If a procedure gets held up, you can use these documents to make specific enquiries at the advice centre. And if you receive a negative decision, that isn’t automatically the end of the matter – you can appeal against decisions, and it is often possible to submit a new application with better supporting documents. The relevant authority will provide definitive information on this.

Costs and duration

To be honest: there’s no set figure – costs and timeframes depend on your profession, the federal state and your individual case. To help you plan, here are some realistic estimates:

• Administrative fees: depending on the procedure, these range from small administrative charges up to several hundred euros. In the case of nursing qualification recognition, costs for the expert report from the university of applied sciences are also added.
• Certified translations: often the largest expense. Depending on the language and the volume of documents, the total can run to several hundred euros.
• Supplementary training: if required, further costs will arise depending on the provider and the scope of the course – check with the AMS and your federal state regarding funding.

The good news regarding costs is that you often don’t have to bear them alone. Depending on the federal state and your situation, there are grants available to cover recognition costs, translations and courses – for example, through the AMS, the federal states or the Chamber of Labour. Make sure to actively enquire about these at the advice centre before you spend any money. Many grants are only approved if you apply for them before spending the money.

As for the duration: straightforward procedures with a complete set of documents are often completed within a few weeks to a few months. For EU professional recognition, statutory decision-making deadlines of a few months apply. Nostrification involving supplementary training, on the other hand, can take a year or longer in total – partly because you’ll be completing the requirements alongside your job. Plan for this and start as early as possible. The relevant authority will provide you with binding information on fees and deadlines specific to your case.

Important: You are allowed to work during the process – just not yet in the regulated profession. Many people bridge the gap by working in personal care or as domestic help, whilst gaining language practice and making contacts.

Proof of German language proficiency

For many applications, you’ll need proof of your German language skills – and you’ll almost always need a good command of German once you start work. In healthcare professions, the authorities usually require level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages; for nursing assistant roles, depending on the federal state, levels B1 to B2 may also be required. B2 means you can understand specialist texts and express yourself spontaneously and clearly.

This is precisely where many people fall short – not because of a lack of specialist knowledge, but because of the technical language. Care documentation, official notices, exam texts: this is a different kind of German to that used in everyday life. A textbook about holidays and shopping won’t prepare you for this. You can find out which certificates count, how long it takes to reach B2 and how to get there faster in our guide ‘German B2 for Care Workers’.

A handy tip: learn right from the start using the texts you actually need – letters from the authorities, training materials, specialist articles from your profession. This way, every learning unit prepares you simultaneously for exams, procedures and everyday working life.

Free advice centres

You don’t have to go it alone. These organisations offer free support:

• AST – Support centres for people with qualifications obtained abroad: the most important point of contact. Free, multilingual advice on recognition throughout Austria, with offices in Vienna, Linz, Graz and Innsbruck, and consultation days in the other federal states. The AST will guide you through the entire process. You can find all contact details at anlaufstelle-anerkennung.at.
• ÖIF – Austrian Integration Fund: provides advice on integration and German, offers subsidised German courses and free learning materials. Find out more at integrationsfonds.at.
• AMS – Labour Market Service: provides support with job searches and skills development, and, under certain conditions, subsidises courses and supplementary training – particularly in shortage occupations such as care work. Information at ams.at.
• Chamber of Labour (AK): provides members with advice on employment law – for example, if your employer has not correctly classified your qualifications – and offers educational grants depending on the federal state.

Our advice: As a very first step, book an appointment at your local AST office. One hour’s consultation there will save you weeks of research on your own – and protect you from costly mistakes, such as unnecessary translations. Take all the documents you already have with you to this appointment, even if they haven’t been translated yet. The advisers will immediately see what’s missing and what you really need.

You should also be wary of private agencies that promise ‘fast recognition’ in return for high fees. You can go through the process just as effectively with the free support provided by the AST – nobody can skip the statutory assessment steps simply by paying a fee.

Frequently asked questions

Read more in the guide: German B2 for care workers · From 24-hour care to permanent employment · Domestic help jobs in Vienna