Recognising a foreign diploma: the full route
ENIC-NARIC, nostrification, regulated professions — which route applies when, which documents you need and how long it really takes.
A degree obtained abroad is not automatically recognised in Austria — and confusion about which document is actually required takes more time than the procedure itself.
First, determine whether your profession is regulated
The key question is whether the profession appears on the list of regulated occupations (physician, lawyer, architect, certain engineering specialisations). For regulated professions, practising without official recognition of the degree is simply not permitted. For unregulated ones, the employer decides how well the degree meets their requirements, and formal Nostrifizierung is often not necessary.
ENIC-NARIC — the first and fastest step
The Austrian ENIC-NARIC office issues an information statement (Zeugnisbewertung) — not a legal recognition, but a reference indicating which local level your degree corresponds to. For most unregulated professions, this is sufficient for an employer or for admission to a master's programme.
Nostrifizierung — when full recognition is required
For regulated professions and for continuing education at a public university, full Nostrifizierung is required — a subject-by-subject comparison of the curriculum. If the difference is significant, the university assigns additional examinations (Ergänzungsprüfungen) rather than issuing an outright refusal.
Documents worth gathering before you leave home
The degree and its supplement listing subjects and hours, a certified translation into German, an apostille or consular legalisation — and, if possible, the university's curriculum (Studienplan) from those years. The absence of the Studienplan is most often what extends the review by months.
How long it actually takes
Zeugnisbewertung at ENIC-NARIC — typically 6–10 weeks. Full Nostrifizierung for a regulated profession — from 4 months to a year, depending on whether additional examinations are required. This should be factored into the plan before relocating, not after the first rejection letter from an employer.
The most costly moment in degree recognition is not the procedure itself, but the year spent determining which procedure is needed at all.
The path looks long on paper, but nine out of ten steps can be started before relocating — and that is precisely what reduces the overall timeline the most.
We support diploma recognition, document legalisation and apostilles. This rubric shows where formality decides the timeline — and which document is actually needed.