Hello all,

I have a job offer in IT with a company located in Berlin and with an annual salary of 41000 Euros. I recently applied for a German National Visa for employment and the officer at the window told me that I might need to get my degree recognized from ZAB and also get a ZAV approval to speed up the process. I got my degree from a major university in the US and it is recognized with a H+ but my specific degree isn't. 

I read that if I apply under Blue Card option, my ZAB evaluation procedure can be finished within two weeks. Now, I am wondering if I can apply for ZAB evaluation under Blue Card option instead of visa so that everything gets processed quickly. I also intend to apply for Blue Card once I am in Germany and I am qualified for that under high skilled workers scheme with a salary greater than the minimum of 38000 Euros. Please let me know if there is a problem in doing so. I would really appreciate any help

You can apply to have your degree evaluated by the ZAB (see https://www.kmk.org/service/anerkennung-auslaendischer-abschluesse/zeugnisbewertung-fuer-auslaendische-hochschulqualifikationen/bewertungszweck-blue-card.html ). If you include a copy of your degree and pay the fee immediately,  the evaluation shouldn't take mire than 2 weeks.

The only way to avoid the ZAV approval process is to convince your employer to offer you a salary over the regular Blue Card limit of 49, 600€ per year.

Thanks for the reply, Arianne. One more quick question:

If ZAB approves my application for recognition of my university degree, will they update that information for my university on their Anabin database as well? Thanks again!