This might be a little long but I'm really confused and I'm feeling very hesitant about calling the Bezirksregierung cuz I don't know if I'm gonna be able to explain all of this in German🥺 So I would really appreciate it if someone could help.

So I wanted to do an online Antrag at Bezirksregierung Köln's website to get my certificates recognized and I get asked this question. DeepL translates it as "Which degree would you like to have recognized". The way I understood it, they're basically saying "What is the kind of certificate that you possess that you want to get recognized", but it doesn't make sense I'm being asked this, because my certificate could be considered the Hochschulreife in my home country but be considered the FOR in Germany.

I asked chatGPT and it said

„Welchen Abschluss möchten Sie anerkennen lassen?“
Literally:

There is no mention of whose qualification—foreign or German—in that sentence alone. However, in the context of an Anerkennungsverfahren, it’s always:

but that also doesn't make sense for me cuz it's not like I can choose what I want it to be recognized as, that's up to the Bezirksregierung to decide! (more importantly, I don't know what my high school diploma is equivalent to in the German system)

so yeah I'm basically lost lol

by TopDuty9142

3 comments

  1. It is asking you what kind of scholary degree you want to have recognised to use in Germany. This is per the German School System.

    If you are EU there should be documents to find this out. It is mostly about there are probably different people responsible for the different areas, German bureaucracy makes me bureaucrazy anyways. Do what you think fits bests, as you don’t automatically get it approved.

  2. for some reason what chatgpt aid didn’t appear. It said

    “literally: Which qualification would you like to have recognized?

    However, **in the context of an Anerkennungsverfahren**, it’s always: Which German qualification do you want us to recognize your (foreign) diploma as?”

  3. The structure is organized according to the German schooling system, so ie which level of degree do you need for whatever job or school you are applying for. They’re asking what level of recognition do you need for what you intend?

    Hauptschulabschluss, Besondere 10, Realschule, Abitur;

    This does imply you already know what you are going for. If you don’t right now, my advice would be to choose the highest level you think your degree will be recognized for. For an Abitur they’ll require at least two languages for example.

    The difference is typically not as relevant in the private sector as it is in academia and for public office, but the higher the degree, the easier it is to convince them you have the “brains” for whatever job you are looking for.

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