The Service Center for Professional Recognition (ZSBA), established Feb. 2020 at the Federal Employment Agency, provides support in the recognition procedure for persons interested in seeking recognition prior to their entry to Germany. ZSBA services include guidance on a possible place of employment, support for the applicant in collecting the necessary documents, forwarding the documents to the competent body and arranging contacts with domestic employers and training provision. The ZSBA was established with the Skilled Immigration Act. It supplements the existing counselling offer and is aimed at Skilled workers who are living abroad and applying for recognition from there. The ZSBA expands on the initial guidance provided by for example the hotline “Working and Living in Germany” or the ten German Chamber of Commerce Abroad, which are part of the project ‘ProRecognition’. The role of the ZSBA primarily fulfils three functions:

• It serves as a central point of contact for applicants throughout the entire Recognition procedure. Therefore, ZSBA undertakes, for example, the following tasks in particular: support applicants in determining the appropriate Reference occupation, clarify with the applicants the federal state in which they want to work and apply, help applicants to put together the necessary documents.

• It reduces pressure on the competent authorities in terms of counselling before and during the recognition procedure.

• It makes the recognition procedure more transparent and efficient for applicants.

The ZSBA makes no decisions regarding recognition, and does not trigger any deadlines if they accept documents for a preliminary check. For the purpose of exchanging information, the ZSBA works with the competent authorities and where required with the immigration authorities. The ZSBA also provides information regarding counselling provision in Germany, opportunities relating to training and about the prospects on the German labour market. For this, it works together with the counselling centres in the Network “Integration through Qualification” (IQ). The ZSBA is based at the Federal Employment Agency's (BA) International and Specialized Services (ZAV) in Bonn.