Faster Recognition for Foreign-Qualified Pharmacists

Germany has taken a significant step towards addressing the shortage of pharmacists: On 26 March 2026 the German Bundestag has passed a law to accelerate the recognition process in healthcare professions. The law covers physicians, dentists, pharmacists and midwives and is due to come into force on 1 November 2026, pending Bundesrat approval.

Pharmacists from third countries often face a long and uncertain road before they can work in Germany. Waiting times of up to eighteen months, high administrative fees and major differences in procedures between federal states have made professional recognition a real hurdle — just when pharmacies across the country are struggling to fill open positions.

The new legislation aims to change this. It applies to pharmacists as well as physicians, dentists and midwives, addressing the same underlying problems across all these professions: fragmented regional rules, paper-based procedures and lengthy assessments that delay the integration of qualified professionals into the health system.

The current hurdles

To practise independently in a German pharmacy, any pharmacist with a foreign degree must obtain an „Approbation“ – the state licence issued by the relevant regional authority. The procedure differs considerably depending on where the degree was obtained.

EU / EEA / Switzerland: Where training meets EU minimum standards, automatic recognition applies. The process focuses on formal document checks and personal eligibility – usually no detailed equivalence assessment is required.

Third Countries: A comprehensive equivalence assessment compares the applicant's training against the German pharmacy degree. Where significant gaps remain, a knowledge examination must be passed before the licence is granted.

In both cases, applicants must demonstrate language proficiency – typically B2 general German and a subject-specific assessment at roughly C1 level, often tested in a separate specialist language examination.

Under the current system, the process from application to decision frequently takes six to eighteen months and costs between 500 and 2.000 Euros in fees alone (not including costs for language courses or examination preparation).

What changes with the new law

• Knowledge examination as the standard route for third-country applicants, replacing the lengthy document-based equivalence assessment. The equivalence procedure remains available as an alternative for those who prefer it.
• Digitalisation of the entire procedure: electronic submission of documents, online status tracking and legally recognised electronic communication between authorities, with a target processing time of no more than three months.
• Nationally uniform rules to end the current patchwork of regional variation in procedures, deadlines and requirements.
• Earlier language testing: federal states will be able to assess the language proficiency of third-country applicants before the professional qualification is reviewed, speeding up the overall timeline.
• Partial professional licence for EU/EEA-qualified professionals whose training only partly corresponds to the German professional profile, allowing them to work in defined areas while completing additional qualifications.
• Clearer inter-authority communication, allowing state authorities to exchange information on ongoing or concluded procedures in a legally secure manner and avoid duplicate reviews.

Andreas May calls for integration funding and evaluation

EPhEU President and ADEXA Federal Board Member Andreas May, who appeared as an expert witness before the Health Committee of the Bundestag, representing the interests of employed pharmacists – including international colleagues seeking to work in Germany – welcomes the reform but cautions that faster procedures alone are not enough. Genuine workplace integration requires more than a licence: structured onboarding, language support and continuing professional development are just as vital. May therefore urged legislators to accompany the new law with targeted funding for pharmacies that invest in integrating international staff, as well as reimbursement of costs for work-accompanying language and specialist training courses. He also emphasized the need to expand examination authority capacities to ensure shorter waiting times can be achieved – and proposed a formal review of the law’s effectiveness after two to three years.