The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) in Washington launched in July 2013 the report "Tackling Brain Waste: Strategies to Improve the Recognition of Immigrants’ Foreign Qualifications”. The report addresses various governmental strategies on the recognition of immigrants' professional credentials, with a focus on measures to remedy the existing gaps in this area.

Foreign-trained professionals often encounter difficulties in having their skills and professional and academic experience recognised in their attempt to obtain a job in the host-country, according to their qualifications and skills, particularly in regulated professions.

The MPI report identifies a number of difficulties faced by foreign professionals in practising their vocation, among them differences in education and training, language proficiency or employer resistance to hiring a candidate with unfamiliar qualifications. For occupations that require licensing or registration—such as in engineering or health care—examinations, application fees or supervised training requirements can represent additional barriers to entering the labour market. “The sheer complexity of licensing systems and the vast number of agencies and government departments involved at different levels of government leave room for confusion and make it difficult for governments to ensure that policies are implemented consistently,” said Madeleine Sumption, author of the MPI report.

The report is the latest in a research project that is investigating how governments can improve the recognition of foreign qualifications through domestic public policies and international cooperation. The research project is being produced with the assistance of the European Union, through a 100,000 euro grant. Previous reports in the series have focused on credential recognition in the United States, particularly in the medical and engineering sectors and international labour mobility.

In the United States significant efforts are in progress to reduce barriers to the transfer of skills and experience brought by internationally trained professionals. Credential recognition is currently also on the EU agenda, a process being underway to reform the directive that regulates the recognition of credentials in regulated occupations in the EU.

Source: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/news/2013_07_30.php