HANNA – HANNA – Hamburg‘s recognition navigator

The new online platform provides key answers to questions about recognition procedures for all professions

Starting point/challenge

Is recognition essential for my profession, or can I work without recognition? What steps do I need to take, which documents do I need and where can I get support? And which is the competent authority I have to apply to for recognition? These and many other questions are asked by people wanting to have their foreign professional qualification recognised in Germany. Each year approximately 3,500 orientation counselling sessions are provided in Hamburg. Until now, the focus has been on one-to-one counselling provided by the “Newcomers Service” and the “Counselling Centre for Recognition of Qualifications” (ZAA) in the Hamburg Welcome Center. This has meant long waiting times for an appointment. Hamburg Network IQ therefore came up with the idea of developing an online platform alongside the one-to-one counselling. The objective was to help those seeking advice to make good use of their time and to provide the answers to lots of questions in advance. The aim was also to create a location for pooling valuable knowledge and making it available to everybody on a multilingual basis.

Implementation of the HANNA digital advice concept

Wiki, mass mailing or AI? HANNA, Hamburg‘s recognition navigator, underwent numerous phases of development before the initiators at the Hamburg Regional Integration Network coordination office identified the right method. All institutions involved participated in the development process, from public authorities and competent authorities, to job centres, employment agencies and advice centres. To begin with, the recognition advice processes were analysed, as were the requirements of those seeking advice and of participating authorities. The analysis produced recommendations, and concept development started. This was the basis for the programming and implementation of the new online platform by appropriate service providers. High security requirements, which not only apply to the Department of Economic Affairs, Labor and Innovation (BWAI) – provider of the Hamburg Network IQ Coordination – had to be met.
Advisers were involved in selected advice centres in a test phase, feedback was assessed and HANNA was further optimised. Since spring 2025, a clear roadmap has been immediately available to skilled workers and employers using HANNA. They can now take the next steps in the process without long waiting times for a face-to-face appointment with a recognition advice centre. The digital advice concept provides answers to key questions about the recognition procedure in Hamburg for all foreign professional qualifications. It is multilingual and easy to use. Pertinent information can be retrieved in a step-by-step way on a relevant issue covering any aspect of recognition (professional qualification or school-leaving certificate). This produces a detailed road map including all relevant information, contact addresses and check lists – HANNA is also free of charge.

Conclusion

With HANNA it is easier and quicker to pool information and make it available to everybody digitally, on a 24/7, multilingual basis and in so doing to digitalise and speed up the recognition procedure for immigrant skilled workers. In the Counselling Centre for Recognition of Qualifications (Zentrale Anlaufstelle Anerkennung, ZAA) alone, 25% of all enquiries were responded to by HANNA in the first ten months and the average waiting time for a face-to-face appointment was reduced by 33% from 42 to 28 working days. Now also online since spring 2025 as a service for citizens, the number of skilled workers seeking advice and companies has increased while waiting times have reduced. The challenge in future will be keeping HANNA current and up to date – this will be managed centrally and digitally.