How to Check If Your Degree Is Recognized in Germany?
If you are from a non-EU country and want to move to Germany for work or studies, the first step is to check whether your degree is recognized in Germany. And the fastest and easiest way to do this is by checking in the Anabin database.
However, there’s one major problem—this database is entirely in German.
What is the Anabin Database?
The authority responsible for evaluating and recognizing foreign qualifications in Germany is the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB). Every time ZAB conducts an evaluation, the results are updated in the Anabin database.
That means everyone can check whether their qualifications are already recognized without the need to go through the entire evaluation process with ZAB. And to do this through Anabin, you must complete two key steps.
University Recognition
The first step is to check if your university is listed in Anabin and whether it has recognition. To do this, open the Anabin website and click on “Institutionen” or Institutions.
Next, switch the tab from “Info” to “Suchen nach Institutionen,” or Search for Institutions. Then click on “Länder” and select the country where you completed your studies from the dropdown menu.
This will display a list of all universities from your country that are included in the Anabin database.
You can browse through the list manually or refine your search using additional filters, such as city, type of university, or other specific search terms.
Once you find your university in the Anabin database, click on its name, and a pop-up window will open with detailed information. The most important section to check here is the Status.
If your university has an H+ status, it means it is fully recognized in Germany, and your degree is more likely to be accepted without needing further evaluation. If the status is H-, unfortunately, your university is not recognized in Germany, and you will likely need to go through the ZAB recognition process.
If your university falls under H+/-, it is only partially recognized. However, if you are applying for the Opportunity Card, you still receive points under the new system.
When applying for your visa or job applications, you will need to print this pop-up window as proof that your institution is recognized in Germany.
To do this, click the printer icon in the top right-hand corner of the pop-up window or press CTRL + P on your keyboard, and either print the document or save it as a PDF for later use.
Degree Recognition
To do this, go back to the Anabin database and click on “Hochschulabschlüsse” (University Degrees). Then switch the "Info" tab to the "Suchen nach Absclussen" (Search) tab.
Just like before, it's best to filter by country, which should already be set from your previous search.
Now, you’ll see a list of all relevant degrees from your country that are included in the Anabin database. To narrow down the results, you can filter by the type of degree (“Abschlusstypen”), such as Bachelor’s,
Master’s, or Doctorate, or search by the field of study (“Studienrichtungen”), like Engineering, Medicine, or Business, or enter specific keywords related to your degree.
If you don’t find your degree on the first try, don’t worry—just adjust your search terms and filters or just scroll through the full list of degrees available for your country until you find yours.
Once you have found your degree, click on it to open a pop-up window with detailed information. Scroll down to the section labeled “Bewertung” and look for a column called “Äquivalenzklasse,” or equivalence class.
If your degree is listed as "Gleichwertig" or "Entspricht" (equivalent), it means it is fully recognized in Germany.
If it says "bedingt vergleichbar" or conditionally comparable, you will have to apply for a further evaluation.
Finally, click on the print icon in the upper right corner to print it directly or save the document as a PDF.
Application
If both your university and your degree are recognized in Germany, you can use the two printouts together as proof of recognition for your visa application.
Just make sure that the degree title listed in Anabin exactly matches the title on your degree certificate.
Because if there is any kind of discrepancy, there is a good chance that it may not be accepted by the visa authorities.
However, if your university or degree is not listed in Anabin, don’t worry—this doesn’t necessarily mean that your qualifications are not recognized in Germany.
It simply means that no evaluation has been conducted yet, so there is no existing ZAB assessment available for your institution or degree.
In such cases, you will need to get your qualifications individually assessed by the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB) and obtain a Statement of Comparability (Zeugnisbewertung).
Disclaimer: The Content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal or other advice. It is important to do your own analysis before making any decision.
