RECOGNITION OF FOREIGN CERTIFICATES AND DEGREES, HIGHER EDUCATION

The process of recognition of higher education documents is prescribed by the § 89 and 90 of Higher Education Act .

Procedure of the recognition

Applicants for the recognition have to submit an application. Requirements of the application:

• personal details (name, nationality, date and place of birth, address, phone, e-mail),
• higher education institution (original name, residence, entry date, date of graduation, study programme and branch of study in Czech, academic title),
• address for correspondence,
• previous education (starting with secondary school),
• reasons of the recognition (for further study in the Czech Republic, for professional recognition, for inscription of the title to the personal documents, for other purpose),
• enclosures,
• details about plenipotentiary,
• date and signature.

Applicants also have to enclose related documents:

• a diploma or its authenticated copy,
• a diploma supplement or its authenticated copy or full record of educational history,
• if requested, the officially certified translation of these documents must be presented,
• a letter of attorney, if applies another person than graduate.

The recognition of the diploma depends on an examination of the diploma by a relevant public higher education institution providing a study programme similar in its contents. If in doubt, the appurtenance of the public higher education institution shall be determined by the Ministry, or the Ministry shall resolve upon recognition of higher education by itself. Applicants may to appeal against the decision.

Legalisation

Unless an international agreement state otherwise, the authenticity of signatures and stamps on original documentation must be verified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the state which is the seat of the institution that has issued the document or by a notary in the state concerned and also by a relevant embassy or a consulate of the Czech Republic in the respective country. For members of the Hague Convention the legalisation proceeds by Apostille (more information about Apostille on http://www.hcch.net). Such legalisation is not required for documents coming from countries which are parties to a relevant international agreement abolishing the requirement of legalisation for foreign public documents. The Czech republic is a member of several agreements about legal cooperation.

The authorities competent to make decisions on recognition:

• Public higher education institutions
  • on recognition of foreign higher education diplomas and periods of study.
• Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport
  • for confirmation of equivalence if there is an international agreement on recognition of equivalence of higher education diplomas between the Czech Republic and the country where the documents were issued,
  • for all questionable cases.
• Ministry of Defence
  • for military fields of study
• Ministry of the Interior
  • for safety fields of study

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