# Universal `--work` Extension — Spouse work-rights + credential recognition

A relocating professional with a family faces two questions the property decision turns on but the listing never answers: **(1) can my accompanying spouse/partner work?** and **(2) will my own professional qualification be recognised?** This extension classifies both **systems** and names the **competent authority** — it **never** predicts an individual outcome (recognition is a per-applicant national adjudication). Gated on `--visa`: the right-to-work follows the visa class.

⚠️ **The hard rule**: this section NEVER states or implies that a given qualification *will* be recognised, or that a spouse's work right is guaranteed — both are case-by-case national decisions. It outputs only the track + the named authority + a "verify at <authority>" path. Two live traps: **UK lost EU automatic recognition at Brexit** (EU/EEA qualifications are now assessed case-by-case, not auto-recognised); and the Anglo dependent-work rights are **narrowing** (CA Family Open Work Permit restricted to spouses-only from 21 Jan 2025; US H-4 work authorisation is conditional and politically contested).

## Block 1 — Spouse / dependent right-to-work (by visa class)

| Country | Spouse work right | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| 🇩🇪 **DE** | 🟢 **immediate, unrestricted** | family-reunification permit to the spouse of a skilled worker / EU Blue Card holder (§ 27 ff. AufenthG) — permit carries *Erwerbstätigkeit gestattet*; verify the annotation for non-skilled-worker categories |
| 🇫🇷 **FR** | 🟢 **immediate, unrestricted** | *carte talent-famille* — authorises salaried **and** self-employed activity ([service-public F35792](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F35792)) |
| 🇪🇸 **ES** | 🟢 **immediate** (spouse/partner + children >16) | RD 1155/2024 (in force 20 May 2025) — employed or *autónomo*, no separate permit |
| 🇮🇹 **IT** | 🟢 **immediate, unrestricted** | *permesso per motivi familiari* — both *lavoro subordinato* and *autonomo* |
| 🇳🇱 **NL** | 🟢 **immediate** (if sponsor is a *kennismigrant* / Blue Card / ICT / researcher) | partner of a highly-skilled migrant gets free labour-market access (no TWV) ([IND](https://ind.nl/en/residence-permits/family-and-partner/residence-permit-for-partner)) |
| 🇮🇪 **IE** | 🟢 **immediate** (spouse/partner of a CSEP holder) | employment-permit requirement removed 6 Mar 2019 — direct labour-market access on Stamp 1 conditions |
| 🇬🇧 **UK** | 🟢 **immediate, unrestricted** | dependant (partner/child) of a Skilled Worker (+ other work routes) — full work rights |
| 🇦🇺 **AU** | 🟢 **immediate** (secondary applicant on a 482 / skilled visa) | secondary applicants get full work + study rights — but partner-visa class matters; verify the grant |
| 🇺🇸 **US** | 🟡 **conditional — split by visa class** | **L-2 + E-1/E-2/E-3** treaty spouses = work-authorised incident to status (since 12 Nov 2021, no EAD needed); **H-4 only where the H-1B principal has an approved I-140** (EAD required) |
| 🇨🇦 **CA** | 🟡 **conditional** (Family Open Work Permit, LMIA-exempt) | **narrowed 21 Jan 2025** to the spouse / common-law partner (+ some dependent children) of higher-skilled workers; eligibility gated |

## Block 2 — Credential-recognition system (track + authority, never an outcome)

| Country | Regulated-profession system | Academic body (ENIC-NARIC node) |
|---|---|---|
| 🇩🇪 **DE** | [Anerkennung-in-Deutschland](https://www.anerkennung-in-deutschland.de/) (BIBB Recognition Finder) → the competent authority is profession- **and** *Bundesland*-specific (e.g. state *Ärztekammer*); EU automatic-7 + general system | ZAB / anabin |
| 🇫🇷 **FR** | EU Dir 2005/36/EC (Ord. 2016-1809) → profession-specific competent authority; automatic-7 + general | ENIC-NARIC France (France Éducation international) |
| 🇪🇸 **ES** | [EU REGPROF](https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/regprof/) → named competent authority; automatic-7 + general | NARIC España (Min. Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades) |
| 🇮🇹 **IT** | EU Dir 2005/36/EC (D.Lgs. 206/2007) → competent authority; automatic-7 + general | CIMEA |
| 🇳🇱 **NL** | EU REGPROF (NL); BIG-register for health professions; automatic-7 + general | Nuffic / IDW |
| 🇮🇪 **IE** | EU automatic-7 + general system, per-regulator | NARIC Ireland (QQI) |
| 🇬🇧 **UK** | ⚠️ **post-Brexit: NO EU automatic recognition** — per-regulator general-system assessment (Professional Qualifications Act 2022) | UK ENIC (formerly UK NARIC) |
| 🇦🇺 **AU** | occupation-specific **assessing authorities** (40+, one per occupation) + AHPRA (health) — no single national register, not an EU-style system | Dept of Education National Information Centre |
| 🇺🇸 **US** | **state-by-state licensing** — no federal professional-licensing authority, no automatic recognition | no single body — USNEI is the ENIC node; private NACES / AICE-member evaluators |
| 🇨🇦 **CA** | **provincial / territorial** self-governing regulators — recognition is a provincial responsibility, no federal authority | no single node — IRCC-designated ECA providers (WES / IQAS / ICAS / CES) |

## Honest tail — coverage + the standing refusal

- **Coverage**: the 10 systems above are the highest-demand professional-relocation destinations. For the ~116-country remainder the honest output is **"data not publicly available — verify at the national qualifications-recognition body / the relevant licensing board"** — do NOT quote attestation-agency blogs as authority.
- **The standing refusal** (repeat in every output): the day-one fact a mover needs is *whether the profession is regulated and who the competent authority is* — NOT a predicted recognition outcome. Recognition (full / partial / compensation measures / refusal) is adjudicated per applicant against a national reference qualification; the skill routes to the named authority and stops. For EU/EEA movers the **automatic-7** sectoral professions (doctor · general-care nurse · midwife · dentist · pharmacist · veterinary surgeon · architect) are the only ones with harmonised automatic recognition; everything else is the general system.
- **Calendar watch**: CA Family Open Work Permit narrowing (21 Jan 2025); US H-4 EAD policy contested — re-verify both before relying. Wire to `shared/regulatory-watch.md`.

## Status

**Confidence**: HIGH for the 10 documented systems — each dependent-work rule + named recognition authority is primary-sourced to the immigration authority / EU REGPROF / the national recognition portal and date-stamped 2026-06-14; built grounded-research → independent adversarial audit (which corrected the ES competent-authority org-unit name, an NL profession label, and the IE competent-authority database attribution, and confirmed the post-Brexit UK loss of EU automatic recognition + the 21 Jan 2025 CA narrowing). MEDIUM on the federal/devolved internal detail (US 50-state · CA provincial · AU per-occupation authorities each differ — verify the specific state / province / occupation). **Last verified**: 2026-06-14.