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Degrees from abroad
Degree from abroad? Exactly how it gets checked, and why it takes longer
Picture it: the offer went out on Monday, the start date is a fortnight away, and a registry six time zones away still hasn't replied. The graduate wonders whether the silence looks like doubt. It doesn't: the delay is built into the process. Here is how to verify a foreign degree, desk by desk, and what to do while you wait.
Three desks at the border
Think of the degree as a traveller arriving at a border with three desks. Each asks its own question, and a stamp from one won't get it past the next.
Canada's national information centre, CICIC, sets out the same order in its step-by-step guide for assessors: confirm the institution's status, authenticate the documents, then compare. That order works for a degree from any country.
The stamp that isn't a desk. An apostille looks official, and it is. But under the Apostille Convention it certifies only the signature, the signer's capacity and the seal on a public document, not what the document says. So when a seller offers "apostilled" degrees, the stamp vouches for a signature, not a degree.
Desk by desk: how employers verify foreign degrees
Desk 1: is the university recognised at home?
Asks: does its own country's education authority list it?
Answered by: that country's ministry or quality agency.
Blind spot: whether this person ever studied there.
Start with the institution, not the certificate. The ENIC-NARIC networks, which link national recognition centres in Europe and beyond, point to the official list of recognised institutions that most countries' higher education authorities publish. In some countries the programme needs its own accreditation too.
A national register stops at its own border: GOV.UK's check covers UK degree-awarding bodies, and the US Department of Education's DAPIP lists no overseas institutions. Our warning lists search the names governments have flagged.
Desk 2: is the award on the record?
Asks: did this person earn this degree?
Answered by: the awarding body, or its country's official route.
Blind spot: what the degree is worth where you are.
When you verify an overseas degree, only the awarding body can say whether this person earned it. Write to its registrar at an address you found yourself. If a partner college taught the course, ask the institution that awarded the degree.
Some countries run an official route, and in several only the graduate can open the door:
| Degree from | Route | Who starts it |
|---|---|---|
| UK | Hedd | Employer, if Hedd covers it |
| US | Clearinghouse | Employer; registrar if not listed |
| Australia, NZ | My eQuals | Graduate shares a link |
| China | CHSI | Graduate orders the English report |
| India | NAD | Either, with consent, if lodged |
| Philippines | CHED's CAV | Graduate applies online |
| Elsewhere | Registrar | Employer, with the request below |
Got a route from someone else? Run it through our verification trap check: the ENIC-NARIC networks warn that even recognition centres get impersonated.
Say your candidate studied in Manila. You can't start CHED's Certification, Authentication and Verification yourself: the graduate applies, and CHED certifies that the records the school issued are genuine. Our CHED guide shows how to check the school itself.
India's NAD holds only the awards a university has lodged, and releases one to an employer only with the student's consent. If a degree isn't there, write to the registrar.
Desk 3: what is it worth here?
Asks: what does it compare to in your country?
Answered by: a recognition centre or evaluation service there.
Blind spot: whether this person earned it, unless the report says the award was confirmed.
In the UK, UK ENIC, managed for the Department for Education, issues a Statement of Comparability. It weighs the awarding body's status, the level at home, entry requirements, length, content and how the course was assessed.
The result is guidance, and the employer decides. Will the UK count your degree explains more.
In the US, the national information centre does not evaluate credentials. Private evaluation services do that work, and NACES is a trade association of independent US services. US federal jobs, for example, accept such an evaluation, as the US Geological Survey's guide explains.
Elsewhere, the ENIC-NARIC country pages name each member country's national information centre. Outside them, ask the national authority for higher education.
Wherever you are, recognition for a regulated profession is decided by a competent authority the state names. For other jobs, ENIC-NARIC says it is up to the employer.
A Statement of Comparability tells you the level. Unless an evaluation report says the service confirmed the award with the university, treat it as a guide to level, not proof of the award. UK ENIC itself says employers may still ask for transcripts and original documents.
Before you file the pack, check that it answers all three desks:
- Apostille: the signature and seal are genuine. No desk.
- Certified translation: what the document says, in your language. No desk.
- Ministry or agency list: the institution is recognised. Desk 1.
- Registrar's reply, or an official route's result: the award is on record. Desk 2.
- Statement of Comparability or evaluation: the level where you are. Desk 3.
The arrivals board: why your answer says "delayed"
Your request has gone out. Here is what the arrivals board might show while you wait for the answer to land.
| Arrivals | What's behind it, and what clears it |
|---|---|
| Delayed | Their term dates and holidays differ from yours, and the graduation list may not be closed. Clears: an early written request. |
| Gate change | The record uses a former name, or another spelling or script. Clears: the name exactly as recorded. |
| Held at arrivals | Nobody on the other end reads the language. Clears: a certified translation (UK ENIC waives this for some languages). |
| Wrong terminal | The transcript came from a partner college; evaluators such as UK ENIC accept only the awarding institution's. Clears: ordering it from there. |
| Not yet departed | A graduate-led route waits for the graduate to share or order. Clears: agreeing the route on day one. |
| Diverted | The authority is gone or its archives destroyed, as ENIC-NARIC notes for some refugees. Clears: ask the national information centre about other ways to assess it. |
| Cancelled | The university isn't listed, or the registry has no record. Clears: ask the candidate, recheck names, then see our employers' guide. |
Both sides of the desk: what to do now
If you are hiring
- At offer stage, get signed consent naming your organisation, the university and the purpose (verifying their degree), plus the name they studied under, in the original script too.
- Note which source answered which desk, and keep each reply on file.
- Make the offer conditional, then judge the answer, not the wait. A slow reply from abroad says nothing about the candidate.
Where there is no official route, this request gives a registrar everything it needs:
Subject: Verification of a degree: [full name]
"Dear Registry team, I am writing from [organisation] about [full name], who studied with you under the name [name the graduate studied under, in the original script], [student or registration number, if known]. They state that you awarded them [degree title] after study from [year] to [year]. Their signed consent is attached. Can you confirm this award is on your record? Thank you, [name, role, organisation]."
If the degree is yours
- If your country has a graduate-led route, set it up now. A CHSI report stays valid for a set period, which you can extend.
- Order official transcripts and the final certificate from the awarding institution, with certified translations if needed.
- Studied in the European Higher Education Area? Find your Diploma Supplement, written to explain your degree to readers abroad.
Then send your own registry two lines:
"I graduated in [degree title] under the name [name as recorded]. Employers abroad may ask you to confirm my award: how do you handle those requests, and is there an official route I should set up first?"
If the comparison comes back below the level a job asks for, a further qualification can close the gap. Our admissions service helps working adults apply to accredited universities; each university makes its own admission decision.
The move that saves the most time. Search desk 1's register, then send the desk 2 request at once. Desk 3 can wait for the answer.
Sources
- CICIC: step-by-step guide for assessors
- HCCH: Apostille Convention, Article 5, and its Outline: an apostille "does not authenticate the content"
- ENIC-NARIC: Recognised higher education institutions, Professional recognition and Employing a refugee
- ENIC-NARIC: United States: the US centre does not evaluate credentials; DAPIP lists no overseas institutions
- ENIC-NARIC Networks: warning about impostor centres; country pages with each national information centre
- GOV.UK: Check if your university or college can award a degree: UK bodies only
- About UK ENIC; How we check qualifications; Statement of Comparability, its documents, translation waiver and after you apply
- NACES and its members directory; US Geological Survey: How foreign education is evaluated for federal jobs
- CHSI: Verification service: English reports, valid for an extendable period
- National Academic Depository: FAQs: only institutions lodge awards; employers verify with consent
- CHED Citizen's Charter (CHED publishes new editions from time to time): CAV of academic records, applied for online through eCAV; see also our CHED guide
- ENIC-NARIC: Diploma Supplement
Want a degree that holds up? Our admissions service helps working adults apply to university in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia, choosing only universities that are officially recognised. If no university on your shortlist offers you a place, we refund our fee in full.