How to validate a degree from another country? If you want to work in the United States or obtain an immigration status, you will be required to validate your foreign education diploma. Likewise, if you hold a foreign diploma and would like to continue studying in the United States, you would need to validate it.
This process often entails a multitude of questions from the applicants so in this post we will go through the most important ones.
First of all, validation is the process of converting your current academic achievements to the scoring system used in the United States. There is no central authority that undertakes the evaluation. Rather, a variety of parties are entitled to validate a foreign education diploma. These include a school, college or university, employer that is hiring an applicant or licensing boards.
Diploma validation and evaluation services costs typically depend on the number of documents that you need to be evaluated for you and the difficulties that may arise in comparing your existing achievements to the US scaling system. Remember that the goal of evaluation is not to equalize the scores but to provide a realistic comparison of your skills and knowledge with regards to the US labor market and educational system.
How to get started?
First of all, you need to collect all the documents related to your educational achievements and qualifications such as diplomas, course certificates, recommendations from your previous employers, reference letters, etc. Then, legalize them with the notary public. After that, you need to translate your foreign education papers into English and certify the translated copies. Only then can you send these documents to be validated and evaluated by the US institution you are targeting.
Credential evaluation services
A respectable and credible credential evaluation service is definitely an option to go for. There a lot of those in the United States. One of the most popular is AERC (American Education Research Corporation). It is well-known for delivering meticulous and comprehensive evaluation of foreign diplomas and accurately converting them to the US system.
USCIS
USCIS (the US Citizenship and Immigration Services) screens each application to determine whether the applicant’s degree matches the requirements set forth for different fields and occupations. The USCIS is authorized to analyze and assess both academic achievements and practical job experience of the applicants.
Professional board or association
Another option to try is to submit your foreign diploma or decree to be evaluated by a professional association in your field. The benefit of this option is that members of the association have in-depth understanding of the occupational skills and qualifications you possess and can evaluate them correctly.
Remember, though, that professional boards are very strict about the evaluations they produce so you will most likely be asked to undergo an interview or professional test so come prepared.
Examination
Sometimes the easiest way to confirm your knowledge and skills is to pass an exam. There is a seemingly endless amount of exams to choose from. The most popular, however, are the Program on Non-Collegiate Sponsored Instruction (PONSI) and the College Level Examination Program (CLEP). Upon passing the exam, you will be awarded a credit score which would recalculate your existing foreign university decree or diploma to the scaling system used in the US.
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