Recognition as a Nursing Assistant in Bavaria

Working as a “Nursing Assistant (Geriatric Care)” or “Nursing Assistant (Nursing Care)” is not regulated in Bavaria. Individuals with a foreign professional qualification can work in non-regulated professions without recognition. You may only refer to yourself as a “Nursing Assistant (Geriatric Care)” or “Nursing Assistant (Nursing Care)” in Bavaria if the equivalence of your foreign qualification has been recognized.

Information on Bavarian training and the profession of nursing assistant in Bavaria can be found here (PDF).
Our flyer on the nursing assistant procedure can be found here (PDF).

Responsibility for Nursing Assistant Recognition

The Bavarian State Office for Care is responsible for the state recognition of foreign nursing assistants in Bavaria.

Requirements for the recognition procedure

• You plan to work in Bavaria in the future.
  You have completed training / a professional qualification / a degree as a nurse abroad. You have a final certificate (diploma) for this.
• For recognition, your foreign professional qualification must be equivalent to the Bavarian training for nursing assistants.
• Please submit an application.
  We will then check whether the requirements are met.

Please note our Requirements Information Sheet (PDF).

General procedure

1. You submit an application
Immediately after submitting the online application, you will receive an email from us confirming that your application has been received. If any documents are missing, you will receive a message from us within one month of submitting the application. We will inform you which documents you need to submit later.

2. Application Review
We review your application based on the records provided in your documents. As soon as the documents are complete, we check whether there are significant differences in content or duration between your foreign professional qualification and the Bavarian qualification as a “Nursing Assistant (Geriatric Care)” or “Nursing Assistant (Nursing Care)”.
We also take into account documents regarding your professional experience and your continuing education and training in the field of nursing.

3. Decision
If there are no significant differences, you will receive recognition as a nursing assistant: You will receive a notice from us confirming full equivalence. This means: Your foreign nursing qualification is then equivalent to the Bavarian training.
With the notice of full equivalence, you are entitled to call yourself a nursing assistant and you have the same legal status as graduates of the Bavarian training.

If there are significant differences, recognition is initially not possible. We will inform you in writing about your further options.
If we ultimately cannot establish equivalence, we must reject your application.

Please note our Procedural Workflow Information Sheet (PDF).

Processing time

We will make a decision on your complete application within three months. Important: The three-month period only starts once all documents have been submitted to us in full. In justified cases, the period may be extended once.

Required Documents

In order for us to process your application, we require various documents from you. Please read our information sheet and only submit the application once you have prepared all the necessary documents. The information sheet can be found here (PDF).

We do not require your documents in paper form, but only digitally (photo or scan). Important: The photos / scans must be in color, clearly legible, and complete. As a rule, we do not require original papers, officially certified copies, apostilles, or legalizations unless we explicitly request you to send them to us.

We need your documents in the original language and additionally in a German translation. Important: Translations must be provided by a publicly appointed or sworn translator / interpreter in Germany or abroad.

Costs

The procedure costs money. We charge a fee of 40 to 70 euros.
Funding opportunities are available. Please note our FAQs (PDF) and our Costs Information Sheet (PDF).