Handwerksrolle Eintragung von Vertriebenen und Spätaussiedlern mit einer der Meisterprüfung gleichwertigen bestandenen Prüfung im Ausland

If, as an immigrant of German descent, you wish to exercise a trade subject to registration on a self-employed basis, then there are special regulations for the registration of your trade in the register of skilled crafts.

The register of craftsmen is a register in which all

• natural and
• legal entities and
• partnerships with legal capacity

who operate a craft subject to licensing as a standing trade (not a traveling trade or market trade) must register.

A complete list of crafts subject to registration can be found in Annex A to the Crafts Code (HwO). Furthermore, the company management is entered in the register of skilled crafts, which is responsible for the professional-technical management of the skilled crafts company and which has the necessary professional qualification for the practice of the skilled crafts subject to approval.

Owners of craft enterprises as well as employed persons can be considered as company managers. In the latter case, the application for registration must be submitted together with a declaration of establishment management and supplementary documents.

In the case of immigrants of German origin (displaced persons or ethnic German repatriates), the proof of qualification required for exercising the function of business manager can be provided on the basis of a comparison of the professional qualification acquired abroad with the domestic master craftsman's examination for the craft to be exercised.

They must have displaced person or late repatriate status in accordance with §§ 1 ff. of the Law on the Affairs of Displaced Persons and Refugees (BVFG).

The professional qualification acquired in the country of origin must be equivalent to the domestic master craftsman's examination for the craft to be operated that is subject to licensing.

You must apply for entry in the register of skilled crafts as a displaced person or late repatriate electronically via the online procedure or in writing to your local Chamber of Skilled Crafts. Online applications are also available via administrative portals.

Online application:

• Go to the website of your locally responsible Chamber of Skilled Crafts or to the service portal of your federal state and select the correct online service.
• The online service will guide you through the application step by step.
• You can submit the required documents digitally.

Written application:

• Go to the website of your local Chamber of Crafts and download the application form. You are also welcome to contact your Chamber of Crafts directly and have the required documents sent to you.
• Complete the form in full and send it to your local Chamber of Skilled Crafts along with the required documents.

The procedure checks whether the following criteria are met:

• The applicant has displaced person or late repatriate status.
• The applicant has passed an examination abroad that is equivalent to the master craftsman's examination.

After your documents have been checked, you will receive a notification of registration if the requirements are met.

Together with the notification of registration, the company receives the so-called craftsman's card (§ 10 para. 2 HwO).