Licensing is a state matter in Germany. We show you what your state requires.
This site is for doctors, dentists, pharmacists and veterinarians trained abroad. To practise in Germany you need the Approbation, the full and permanent licence to practise. The 16 federal states grant it, each with its own fees, waiting times and document lists. We clarify the responsible state, the route and the sequence with you before you apply. Write to [email protected].
Which profession?
The four licensed health professions have their own laws, their own tests and sometimes their own authorities.
Medicine
Medical licence (Approbation) for doctors
Human medicine: around 12,900 recognition applications from doctors in 2025.
Read more
Dentistry
Licence to practise (Approbation) for dentists
The knowledge test has three parts: written, oral and practical; the practical part takes about five hours.
Read more
Veterinary medicine
Licence to practise (Approbation) for veterinarians
The authority first assesses your documents; a knowledge test follows only if substantial differences remain.
Read more
Pharmacy
Licence to practise (Approbation) for pharmacists
The knowledge test lasts 30 to 60 minutes and is oral.
Read more
How the procedure works
- Find out which state is responsible. For doctors, dentists and pharmacists: if you live in Germany, the authority of the state where you actually live (your habitual residence) is responsible. If you live abroad, you apply in the state where you want to work. For veterinarians, the state where you plan to practise decides. Responsibility and changing state (German)
- Apply for funding. The recognition grant pays up to €4,800. You apply for it before you file your licensing application, and you need to live in Germany. Funding explained
- File your application and prove your German. You submit your state's documents to the responsible authority. Doctors, dentists and pharmacists mostly prove their German in a specialist language test (Fachsprachenprüfung); veterinarians usually with a language certificate at level B2. The procedure in detail (German)
- Take the knowledge test or have your documents assessed. With a qualification from outside the EU, doctors, dentists and pharmacists take the knowledge test (Kenntnisprüfung). If you want your documents assessed instead, you must say so within four weeks of applying; the choice binds the whole procedure. For veterinarians, the authority assesses your documents first. The decision explained
- Work with a temporary permit, then receive the Approbation. Until you have the Approbation you may work with a temporary permit (Berufserlaubnis): at most two years in total, four for veterinarians, counted across all states. The temporary permit in detail (German)
Four mistakes that cost you dearly
Each of these mistakes is made before the first application is filed, and none can be corrected afterwards.
Mistake 1
Applying first, asking about funding later
The recognition grant covers translations, fees and preparation courses with up to €4,800. You must apply for it before you submit your licensing application, and you need to live in Germany.
We advise you on funding before you apply.
Mistake 2
Applying in several states to be safe
For doctors, dentists and pharmacists only one state is responsible, so a parallel application is not provided for. The authorities can check with each other whether you have applied elsewhere (§ 3(4) of the Federal Medical Practitioners Act, BÄO, with matching rules for dentists and pharmacists).
We check beforehand which authority is responsible in your case.
Mistake 3
Missing the four-week deadline
Doctors, dentists and pharmacists from outside the EU take a knowledge test by default. If you want your documents assessed instead, you must say so within four weeks of applying. The choice binds the whole procedure.
We discuss this with you before you apply.
Mistake 4
Planning around the temporary permit
The temporary permit (Berufserlaubnis) that lets you work before the Approbation lasts at most two years in total, four for veterinarians. The time is counted across all states, and a change of state does not restart it.
Start here
These three pages answer the questions that come before all others. They show human medicine; the other professions have their own pages.
What does it all cost?
The fees of all 16 states in one table, including the knowledge test and the temporary permit.
What happens in the knowledge test?
Structure, subjects, retakes and the fee in each state.
Test or document assessment?
The choice is possible only until four weeks after you apply, and it binds the whole procedure.
Every figure with a source
We trace every fee, deadline and document back to the official notice, the state fee schedule or the chamber's fee regulations. For each entry we record the source and the date it was retrieved. Where an authority publishes no figure, the table shows a dash.
The pages for each of the 16 states are in German, because the procedure itself is conducted in German. The English pages cover the decisions you need to make before that.
The figures behind this site
- 7,930
- individual entries: fees, deadlines, documents, authorities
- 677
- sources, each with the date it was retrieved
Who we are and what we do
approbation-beantragen.de is a service of PreMed GmbH in Cologne. Before you apply, we clarify with you which authority is responsible, which route applies to you (knowledge test or document assessment) and in which order you proceed.
We may advise you on funding: funding advice is expressly permitted as an ancillary service under § 5(2) No. 3 of the German Legal Services Act (Rechtsdienstleistungsgesetz). You submit the funding application yourself. Write to [email protected].