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  • Recognition of Foreign Diplomas and Degrees

Recognition of Foreign Diplomas and Degrees

Undergraduate study

Providing proof of previous education is a mandatory part of the Faculty’s admission process. If you graduated outside the Czech Republic, you must undergo a procedure to get your previous education recognized. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the rules and schedule the steps you must complete to facilitate the process.


The deadline for submitting proof of previous education is September 30.


You can choose either nostrification or recognition by the Faculty.


The nostrification certificate has lifelong validity, whereas recognition by the Faculty is valid only for one admission procedure at one Faculty. Please note that in the case of secondary education, nostrification requests are processed by Prague City Hall or other relevant Regional Authorities.

Nostrification

Nostrification documents are issued by Regional Authorities (“krajský úřad”), the Metropolitan Authority of the Capital City of Prague (“Magistrát hlavního města Prahy”), or the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. Please, keep in mind that it is a time-consuming process and might take up to 3 months to be finished. For further information, please visit these websites:


The Division of Education, Youth, and Sport of the Prague City Hall

The Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport of the Czech Republic

The Multicultural Center Prague (MKC Prague)

Recognition by the faculty

If you applied to our Bachelor's program, you need to prepare documents confirming your secondary (high school) education, i.e. diploma and transcript of records.

All submitted documents must be translated into Czech or English. Documents in other languages will not be accepted. Please, note that a certified translation is not enough - the translation must be overseen by a notary. If your documents were issued in English or have already been translated into English, you do not need to get a notarized translation.


Please, note that additional verification (apostille or super-legalization) may be required. Refer to the list of states and respective verification methods below to find out whether further verification is needed in your case.

List of states and the respective verification requirements


The Faculty of Humanities itself oversees the recognition process; it is valid only for one admission procedure at the Faculty.


How to request recognition by the Faculty:

We have prepared a step-by-step guide for applicants on how to request recognition by the Faculty; you can find it here.


You can find a tutorial on how to submit a recognition request and pay the recognition fee here.


For more information, contact us at .

International and European Baccalaureate

If you are a holder of an International Baccalaureate (IB), you must request nostrification or recognition by the Faculty. For further information, read the information above.

However, applicants with an International Baccalaureate who submit a matriculation examination (vysvědčení o maturitní zkoušce) in addition to the IB Diploma can be exempt from the process. If you are unsure whether your IB Diploma needs to be recognized, feel free to contact us at .


Please, note that Charles University now accepts only electronic copies of IB Transcripts which must be sent via the International Baccalaureate Information System.

Automatic equivalency

Matriculation examination certificates issued in Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, or Slovenia are deemed automatically equivalent in the Czech Republic by its international agreements with the abovementioned countries (further information is available here). However, in the case of Poland, Hungary, and Slovenia, we strongly recommend contacting us first before submitting the document.


We also recommend that graduates of Czech-based international secondary schools contact us before submitting the documents since diplomas issued by international secondary schools based in the Czech Republic usually need to be nostrified/recognized.


Graduate study

Providing proof of previous education is a mandatory part of the Faculty’s admission process. If you graduated outside the Czech Republic, you must undergo a procedure to get your previous education recognized. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the rules and schedule the steps you must complete to facilitate the process.


The deadline for submitting proof of previous education is September 30.


You can choose either nostrification or recognition by the Faculty.


The nostrification certificate has lifelong validity, whereas recognition by the Faculty is valid only for one admission procedure at one Faculty. Please, note that in the case of higher education, nostrification requests are processed by higher education institutions.

Nostrification

The best option is to contact a university (it does not have to be the university you are applying to) with a study program similar to your degree. Please, visit the CU Rectorate's website for further information about nostrification at Charles University.

Recognition by the Faculty

If you applied for one of our Master's programs, prepare documents confirming your higher (university) education - Bachelor's/Master's diploma and diploma supplements.

All submitted documents must be translated into Czech or English. Documents in other languages will not be accepted. Please, note that a certified translation is not enough - the translation must be overseen by a notary. If your documents were issued in English or have already been translated into English, you do not need to get a notarized translation.


Please, note that additional verification (apostille or super-legalization) may be required. Refer to the list of states and respective verification methods below to find out whether further verification is needed in your case.

List of states and respective verification methods


The Faculty of Humanities itself oversees the recognition process; it is valid only for one admission procedure at the Faculty.


How to request recognition by the Faculty:

We have prepared a guide for applicants on how to request recognition by the Faculty.


You can find a tutorial on how to submit a recognition request and pay the recognition fee here.


For more information, contact us at .

Automatic equivalency

Some university diplomas issued in Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, or Slovenia are deemed automatically equivalent in the Czech Republic by its international agreements with the abovementioned countries (further information is available here). However, we strongly recommend contacting us first before submitting the document.


Postgraduate study

Following is information concerning the official recognition/nostrification process which is a mandatory part of the Faculty's admission process. Without finished nostrification/recognition process, you cannot be enrolled in the study. You can start with the process once you are sure you have been accepted to the programme but take into consideration the approximate length of each individual procedures.


For the process, you will need hard copies of your MA diploma and diploma transcript. In some cases, these documents should be certified either through an apostille (in case of states that signed the Apostille convention) or super-legalization.


Please, bear in mind that only copies in English or Czech language will be accepted for this process.


Nostrification

It is issued by one of the universities of Czech Republic. The best option is to choose a University (it does not have to be the one you applied for) that has the same or at least a similar MA programme to your MA studies.


Nostrification document has a life-long validity and as such it can be used for any admission processes provided it is an admission for postgraduate (Ph.D.) type of programme. A fee of CZK 3,000 is paid to the university of your choosing within the framework of the procedure on recognition of the equivalence or validity of foreign education.


The whole process should take 30+ days after you submit all documents to the specific university.


Applicants must submit mentioned notarized copies of MA documents along with a filled-in form to the selected office. The form can be found on the web pages of each specific university. Regarding Charles University, further information can be found here.

Recognition by the Faculty

This process is done by the Faculty of Humanities itself. This process is intended for a single use only which means that you can use it for only one admission process at a time.

How to request recognition by the Faculty:


In your online application, you can find a new section „Proof of education“. After clicking on this icon, a webpage will be displayed to you which details the ways of submitting proof of previous study. You will also see your personal information which you provided in your online application. Please, check this information (and edit it, if necessary) and choose how you want to submit your proof of previous study.


If you choose recognition by the Faculty (foreign secondary/higher education – it will be assessed), the system will generate a PDF request and a fee of 870CZK (to be paid online).


For recognition, we ask you to submit following documents:

  • A hard copy of a foreign certificate proving higher education obtained by completing a study programme at a foreign university operating under legal regulations of another state. All submitted documents must be certified by a notary; a copy without official certification will not be accepted. Please, note that additional verification (apostille or super-legalization) may be required – please, refer to this list of states and respective verification methods to find out whether further verification is needed in your case. If you are not sure which form of verification you need to provide, feel free to contact us at .

  • An original or a notarized copy of a document/diploma supplement describing the contents and scope of education completed at a foreign university (an overview of courses completed during period of study). Only notarized copies will be accepted.


If needed, some additional documents may be required.


To verify requirements according to the state where you diploma has been issued, please check:

List of states and the respective verification requirements


For more information, please contact us at .

Automatic equivalency

If you are a holder of a foreign document concerning a foreign MA which is automatically equivalent in the Czech Republic in accordance with its international agreements without any further administration procedures – these include documents certifying completion of a programme of study in Slovakia (with the exception of diplomas issued by foreign branches of Slovak higher education institutions after 28 March 2015), in Poland, Hungary, or Slovenia.


If this is your case you have to submit only your MA documents along with an electronic form which you can find in your application.





Last change: February 14, 2024 14:49 
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