Professionals who qualified in a Member State of the European Union and apply for recognition in Italy often arrive with a Dichiarazione di valore obtained at some expense from the Italian consulate, and learn that the ministry does not want it. For professional qualifications obtained in the Union the consular statement is neither sufficient nor required: the document the Italian authorities ask for is the certificate issued by the competent authority of the country of qualification, usually called certificate of conformity, which attests that the qualification meets the conditions laid down by Directive 2005/36/EC. The reason lies in the structure of the European rules on professional recognition, which this page sets out, together with what to do in practice.
The European framework
Directive 2005/36/EC establishes the system of mutual recognition of professional qualifications between Member States, with the aim of allowing professionals to move freely within the Union. The recognition is subject to conditions and standards regulated at European level: for the professions with harmonised training the Directive sets minimum training conditions that every Member State must meet, and for the other regulated professions it sets the general system of comparison of training with compensatory measures. In both cases the Directive determines which documents the host State may require from the applicant and which it may not, and the documents are those issued by the authorities of the home State, which alone can certify that a qualification was awarded in accordance with the national rules that implement the Directive.
The Italian implementation
Italy implemented the Directive with Legislative Decree 206 of 9 November 2007, which defines the procedures, the requirements and the competent authorities for the recognition of qualifications obtained in other Member States, both for regulated and for unregulated professions of origin, and the steps an applicant must follow. Legislative Decree 15 of 28 January 2016, which implemented the amending Directive 2013/55/EU, completed the framework and aligned the list of documents with the European one. Under these rules an applicant documents an EU qualification with the qualification itself, the certificate of conformity or the certificate of the home competent authority on the level of the qualification, the certificate of good standing and the proof of professional experience. The Dichiarazione di valore issued by Italian diplomatic representations is not among them, and the ministries have accordingly stopped requiring it for EU applications.
What each document verifies
The certificate of conformity is issued by the competent authority of the country where the qualification was obtained, a ministry, a professional chamber or a university designated for the purpose, and confirms that the qualification meets the standards and requirements of the European rules and complies with the regulation of the profession in the issuing country. For the professions with harmonised training it certifies compliance with the minimum training conditions of the Directive, for the others it states the level of the qualification and whether the profession and the training are regulated. The Dichiarazione di valore gives general information on the value, the authenticity and the level of an educational qualification within the system of origin. It is essential for establishing the basic validity of a foreign qualification, but it does not and cannot verify whether a professional qualification meets the harmonised standards and the regulatory requirements of the Directive, since the Italian consulate is not the authority competent for the profession in that country. Only the home authority can give that assurance on the content, scope and quality of the training, and that is why the ministries and the professional bodies require its certificate.
In practice
A professional with an EU qualification should obtain from the home competent authority the certificate of conformity or the equivalent certificate for the general system professions, and the certificate of good standing, which is valid for three months and must be requested close to the filing, have both translated by sworn translation into Italian, and file them with the competent ministry together with the qualification, the transcript and the proof of experience. The consular statement is not needed and its absence cannot be objected to. It remains useful for academic recognition and for a preliminary assessment where the home certificate is unclear on the level of the qualification, and it does no harm if filed in addition, but it never replaces the certificate of the home authority. The firm identifies the authority competent for each profession in each Member State, prepares the request in the form it requires and assembles the Italian application, as described on the page on professional recognition.
Frequently asked questions
Can I file the Dichiarazione di valore in addition to the certificate of conformity?
Yes. It is not required and the ministry will not ask for it, but it does no harm as a supporting document, and some ministries list it among the optional documents. The application is incomplete without the home authority’s certificate, however many other documents accompany it.
My profession is not regulated in the Member State where I qualified: which certificate do I need?
A certificate from the home competent authority on the level of your qualification under article 11 of the Directive and on the fact that the profession is not regulated there, together with proof of at least one year of full-time professional experience in the last ten years, unless your training was itself regulated. The firm identifies the authority that issues the certificate in each country.
Does the rule apply to the general system professions as well as to those with automatic recognition?
Yes. Legislative Decree 15/2016 concerns every application under the Directive. The content of the home certificate differs, compliance with the minimum training conditions for the automatic professions and level of the qualification for the others, but in both cases it is the home authority’s certificate, not the consular statement, that documents the qualification.
What if the home authority is slow or does not answer?
Every Member State designates its competent authorities and a national contact point for professional qualifications, which indicates the right office. The firm corresponds with the authority directly on the client’s behalf and, where the certificate cannot be obtained in time, prepares the application with the evidence of training that the Directive allows the ministry to consider.
Do you hold an EU professional qualification?
Tell us your profession and the country where you qualified: you receive within one working day the certificates your application requires, the authority that issues them and a written quote for the file.
