ABSTRACT We live in a period of heightened internationalisation of population movement for work, education, and varied forms of forced and voluntary migration. Recognition of qualifications earned by the individuals concerned is a key practical, social, and psychological issue for themselves, as well as impacting on prospective employers, host communities and nations, and a variety of political and cultural debates. This paper analyses the education and qualification system in Austria, a longstanding recipient country for migration, and develops a theoretical framework for classifying institutional procedures that can recognise foreign degrees and the results of both non-formal and informal learning. It argues that both technocratic objectives and moral claims for a quick (or centralised) simplification of these procedures are unrealistic but identifies complementary measures to improve the situation incrementally. Additionally, the paper compares five theoretical approaches – namely human capital theory, theories of credentialism and professionalism, neo-institutionalism, and systems theory – which provide different explanations for the function of credentials in education and their use in labour markets, and offer new perspectives on the contribution of credentials to cultural diversification and to socio-economic inequality. This comparison helps us to understand the potential of and the challenges for recognition in different sectors of qualification systems.