A Guide to Using Anabin Database
What is the Anabin database?
The Anabin database lists information on all institutions and degrees that have been evaluated by the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB) in Germany to date. The database is currently available only in German. You need to make sure of two things in the Anabin database:

1. The educational institution where you got your degree must be rated as "H+" in Anabin.

2. Your degree must be listed there as equal ("gleichwertig") or similar ("entspricht") to a German bachelor's degree.

In this guide you will find out:
How to search for your university institution on Anabin
Step 1. Start of the search
Open the Anabin database here and click on the “Suchen” (Search) tab.
Step 2. Select the country of your institution
Click on “Länderauswahl öffnen” (Open country selection), select the country you have studied at and confirm by clicking “Länderauswahl bestätigen” (Confirm country selection).
Step 3. Narrow down your results
After selecting your country, you should see the name of the country you selected on the right hand side. In the lower part of the screen you will now see the search results. To narrow down the results, you can add additional filters, such as “Orte” (City/town), “Institutionstypen” (Institution type) or individual search terms. You should use German transliteration for your search (e.g. country, city, individual search terms).
Step 4. Check the results
Navigate to your institution and check the “Status“ column for your university. To get the complete search results, click on the purple icon with the white “+“ sign. Once you clicked on the plus sign, the pop-up windows with further details about your university will appear. The most important part of that pop-up window is the “Status” section. Here your university is classified as H+, H+/- or H- (see below for what these different classifications mean).
What does the Anabin university status mean?
H+ means the institution is fully recognized in Germany.
H+/- means that there is no clear recognition status for your university and each degree is evaluated and decided on a case-by-case basis.
H- means the foreign qualification is not recognized in Germany.
If your university has an H+ or H+/- status, you still have to look up your particular degree since the degree must also be recognised as „entspricht“ or „gleichwertig“ (German for “equivalent” or “corresponding”) to a German university degree.
How to search for your university degree on Anabin
Step 1. Start of the search
The academic degree can be found here. Please click on “Suchen nach Abschlüssen” (Search by academic degree) or “Suchen nach Abschlusstypen” (Search by degree type).
Step 2. Select the country of your institution
Click on “Länderauswahl öffnen” (Open country selection), select the country in which you acquired your degree and confirm by clicking “Länderauswahl bestätigen” (Confirm country selection).
Step 3. Narrow down your results
After selecting your country, the name of the country you selected should be displayed on the right hand side. In the lower part of the screen you will now see the search results. To narrow down the results, you can add additional filters, such as the „Abschlusstypen” (Type of degree) or “Studienrichtungen” (Field of study) or individual search terms.
Step 4. Check the results
Navigate to your degree and make sure that the degree title on Anabin exactly matches the title of the degree you have. To get the complete search results in the detail window, click on the purple icon with the white “+“ sign. Once you click on the plus sign, you will be shown a pop-up window with further details about your degree. In the pop-up window, the most important section is marked “Bewertung” (Rating).
What does the Anabin degree classification mean?
There are three types of classifications currently used in the Anabin database:
Gleichwertig: your degree is considered equivalent to a comparable German academic degree, and there are no formal differences.
Entspricht: your degree is considered as equivalent to a German degree, and there are no significant differences from it.
Bedingt vergleichbar: your degree is only conditionally comparable, meaning that there are formal differences to the corresponding academic degree in Germany. In this case you have to apply for a Statement of Comparability.
In order for your university to be deemed equivalent or comparable to a German degree, this section should list your degree as “Gleichwertig” (Equivalent) or “Entspricht” (Comparable). Please note that degrees that are listed as “entspricht Fachschule” (corresponds to Fachschule) are not comparable to any German university degree.
Remark
It is necessary to carry out both steps, as it is possible that the academic degree is listed without reference to the university.
The two print-outs of the positive results for the university and the academic degree can then be used together as proof of equivalency when applying for a visa.
Not all foreign academic degrees or universities are listed in the anabin database. In certain cases, an individual Statement of Comparability is required.
If the university in anabin is assessed with the status H+/-, the degree must be listed in the detailed display. Otherwise, an individual Statement of Comparability must also be submitted.
You can obtain detailed information on Statements of Comparability from the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB) (E-Mail: zabservice@kmk.org).
For Google Chrome users, we can also suggest adding the  Google Translate Chrome Extension.
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