IOM • OIM International Organization for Migration (IOM) RECOGNITION OF QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCES OF MIGRANTS Edited by Anke Schuster, Maria Vincenza Desiderio and Giuliana Urso International Organization for Migration (IOM) TABLE OF CONTENTS OVERVIEW OF FINDINGS .................................. 15 1. Introduction ............................................... 17 2. Objectives and methodology .................................. 19 3. Definitions and conceptual issues regarding recognition of foreign qualifications and competences ................................ 21 4. Validating and recognizing foreign qualifications and competences: challenges and good practices ................................. 26 5. Labour market outcomes of recognition of qualifications for third-country nationals....................................... 34 6. Policy recommendations...................................... 37 References ................................................. 40 COUNTRY STUDIES ......................................... 43 PART I. GOOD PRACTICES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM SELECTED EU MEMBER STATES ........................ 43 1. Denmark ................................................. 45 1. Introduction ............................................ 45 1.1. New government in 2011 leads to organizational change in assessment of qualifications and competences .............. 47 1.2. Lack of information in English a challenge for over one third of skilled migrants .................................... 48 1.3. A lack of awareness about assessment and recognition of foreign educations in Denmark .......................... 49 1.4. Ad hoc model on low- and medium-skilled immigrants ...... 49 2. Assessment of regulated professions and assessment of foreign qualifications ............................................ 50 3. Assessment of foreign qualifications ........................ 53 4. Challenges faced by users of the DAUI’s assessment and recognition services ................................................ 54 5. Statistics regarding assessments of foreign qualifications ....... 55 6. The recognition of foreign qualifications and the Danish labour TABLE OF CONTENTS market ................................................. 60 3 7. Conclusions and recommendations ......................... 63 References .............................................. 64 2. Germany ................................................. 67 1. Introduction ............................................ 67 2. Recognition practices in place .............................. 69 2.1. Professional education and dual system training ............ 70 2.2. Recognition of foreign school and academic certificates ...... 71 2.3. Recognition of foreign qualifications for regulated professions . 72 2.4. Methodological issues ................................. 74 2.5. Information situation ................................. 74 2.6. The new Berufsqualifikationsfeststellungsgesetz (BQFG) ..... 75 3. Statistics/Available data on recognition procedures and outcomes 81 3.1. Number of applications ................................ 82 4. Conclusions and recommendations ......................... 85 References .............................................. 86 3. Italy ...................................................... 89 1. Introduction ............................................ 89 2. Identification of recognition: practices in place ................ 91 2.1. Recognition: regulations and methodologies ............... 92 2.2. A relevant example: the case of nurses .................... 95 2.3. Initiatives at local, regional, national and international levels .. 99 2.4. Government initiatives aimed at the involvement of countries of origin ............................................ 108 3. Labour market analysis in relation to recognition procedures .... 109 4. Conclusions and recommendations ......................... 116 References .............................................. 117 4. Netherlands ............................................... 119 1. Introduction ............................................ 119 2. Current and evolving trends in the recognition of formal and informal learning ........................................ 120 2.1. Quality assurance of accreditation of prior learning (apl) procedures and regulation .............................. 121 2.2. APL as a crisis measure ............................... 122 2.3. E-portfolio ......................................... 122 3. Identification of recognition practices ....................... 123 3.1. Definitions and methodologies .......................... 123 4. Are different types of migration taken into account? ........... 125 4.1. Highly qualified migrants .............................. 125 4.2. Refugees ........................................... 125 5. Role of the different institutions ........................... 126 5.1. Authorities for the recognition of foreign diplomas .......... 126 6. A sectoral example: recognition procedure in health care ........ 129 7. Variations in labour market access based on qualifications ....... 130 Recognition of Qualifications and Competences Migrants 7.1. Recent initiatives and legislative changes .................. 130 8. Role of consultations with employers ........................ 133 4 9. Good practices and challenges ............................. 133 10. Labour market analysis in relation to recognition procedures .... 135 10.1. Type of migration flows to the country ................... 135 10.2. Overqualification .................................... 138 10.3. Number of third-country nationals seeking recognition of non-EU qualifications ................................. 138 10.4. Results of recognition process (by third country, skill level and length of stay) ....................................... 139 11. Conclusion ............................................. 139 References .............................................. 141 5. Sweden ................................................... 143 1. Introduction ............................................ 143 2. Recognition of formal, non-formal and informal qualifications of third-country nationals in Sweden .......................... 146 3. Qualifications, competences, skills, types of learning and recognition ............................................. 148 4. Recognition of formal education forms ...................... 150 5. Institutions and methodology of evaluation of foreign secondary and higher education credentials............................ 151 6. Validation of non-formal and informal learning ............... 152 7. Methodology of evaluation of prior learning (Non-Formal/Informal learning) ........................... 153 8. 2012: A new national structure for validation of real competence – based on proposed national criteria and guidelines for validation of real competence; assessment of foreign vocational education – making skills visible .................................... 155 9. Recognition of qualifications of third-country nationals and their access to the Swedish labour market in practice ............... 157 10. Competence, employers and employment on the Swedish labour market ................................................. 158 11. Labour market analysis in relation to recognition procedures .... 160 12. Conclusion ............................................. 164 References .............................................. 165 6. United Kingdom ........................................... 169 1. Introduction ............................................ 169 2. Identification of recognition practices in place ................ 172 2.1. Definitions of relevant terms ........................... 172 2.2. Methodologies for assessing, validating and recognizing learning ............................................ 174 2.3. Processes for different types of migration .................. 181 2.4. Role of different institutions and their integration ........... 182 2.5. Sectoral examples for recognition procedures ............... 183 2.6. Regulated and non-regulated occupations ................. 184 2.7. Local, regional, national and international initiatives ......... 184 2.8. Involvement of countries of origin ....................... 185 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2.9. Consultations and employers ........................... 185 5 2.10. Good practice and problematic areas ..................... 186 3. Labour market analysis in relation to recognition procedures .... 187 3.1. Type of migration flows towards the country ............... 187 3.2. Extent of overqualification of TCNs...................... 190 3.3. Recognition rates .................................... 190 4. Conclusions and recommendations ......................... 194 References .............................................. 195 PART II. GOOD PRACTICES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM NON-EU SETTLEMENT COUNTRIES .................... 199 7. Australia .................................................. 201 1. Introduction ............................................ 201 1.1. Labour migration of third-country nationals ............... 201 2. Identification of recognition processes in place ................ 205 2.1. Level of demand for credential recognition – four trends ..... 205 2.2. How are different types of migration taken into account? ..... 208 2.3. How are qualifications, competences, skills, types of learning and recognition defined for policy purposes? Select Australian best practice initiatives ................................ 213 2.4. To what extent are countries of origin involved