Denmark Attracting More Highly Educated People from Abroad

More foreigners with a high-level or research education have their foreign education assessed by the Danish Agency for International Education.

– If we wish to create growth in Denmark, it is necessary that our industries have access to a highly qualified workforce. This may be accomplished by more young people in Denmark receiving an education and also by attracting and retaining international talents. So it is gratifying to see that more and more highly educated foreigners wish to work in Denmark, says Science Minister Charlotte Sahl-Madsen.

The proportion of assessments where the applicant has a high-level or research education has risen from 35 per cent in 2008 to 45 per cent last year. At the same time, the total number of assessments has more than doubled in two years, and about 2,900 assessments in 2009 is 38 per cent more than in 2008.

These figures appear from the annual report on assessment and recognition of foreign educational qualifications recently delivered by the Science Minister to the Danish Parliament.

A large part of the increase is due to a marked rise in the number of assessments for the use of the Danish Immigration Service, which is the authority dealing with applications for residence permits under the Greencard scheme. But also assessments for other purposes continued to rise, reaching nearly 2,000 assessments in 2009, which is eight per cent more than the year before.

The increase in the number of educational assessments for the use of the Greencard scheme can notably be ascribed to applicants from Pakistan and India.

Despite the increased number of cases to be handled, the processing time for an assessment by the Danish Agency for International Education did not change in 2009, remaining at an average of 27 days.

The assessments are chiefly offered for the purpose of making it easier to search for jobs in Denmark. But also within professions requiring a licence, more persons with foreign qualifications have applied for recognition in Denmark. There has been a particularly large number of applicants for Danish health professions such as nurses and doctors, and in 2009 this resulted in more than 2,200 licence decisions.

For further information, please contact the Ministry's press officer, Charlotte Holst, phone +45 22 11 02 00 or chhh@vtu.dk.

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