RECOGNITION OF EQUIVALENCE AND NOSTRIFICATION OF CERTIFICATES ISSUED BY SCHOOLS ABROAD
Certificate recognizing the equivalence of a foreign school credentials is issued by the department of education of Regional Authorities (
, 46kB) in cases, where the Czech Republic has international agreements regarding equivalence of educational documents with the country where the school is established and recognized. If a foreign school certificate does not clearly show the subjects studied, the applicant shall provide a document stating the content and scope of programmes he/she studied.
If the Czech Republic is not bound by an international agreement on the recognition of equivalence of educational documents concluded with a country where a respective foreign school is set up and recognized, it is the department of education of Regional Authorities that makes a decision upon the validation of a submitted foreign school certificate original, or its officially certified copy. In case that a foreign educational document does not show clearly the subjects studied, the applicant is obliged to submit an overall outline of the programme he/she studied.
In case that the content and the scope of the programme of a school abroad differs in parts, or in case that the applicant does not submit complete documentation showing the content and scope of subjects studied, the department of education of Regional Authorities orders a validation exam. Passing the exam is a pre-requisite of the issuance of the document recognizing the validity of a foreign school certificate in the Czech Republic.
Unless the international agreement does not set otherwise, the authenticity of signatures and stamps on the original certificate from abroad and the fact that the school is recognized in the state where the certificate has been issued needs to be verified by a respective representative office of the Czech Republic and by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the state, where the school which has issued the certificate is based (or by a notary of that state). The officially certified translation of the educational documents into Czech shall be enclosed with the application.
Applicants have to submit an application (, 482kB) to the relevant department of education of Regional Authorities and enclose related documents:
- document about permanent address (documents about longtime stay or other stay for foreigners)
- authenticated copy of school leaving certificate (diploma) with translation and legalization
- authenticated copy of study plan with translation
For more information contact please the competent authorities for the recognition (Regional Education Authorities).
The fee paid for the recognition of validity or for the issuance of a certificate recognizing the equivalence of elementary, secondary or college education received in a foreign country is defined by the Law No.634/2004 on administrative charges; it amounts to CZK 200.
- Act No.561/2004 on Pre-school, Elementary, Secondary, Higher and Other Types of Education (Education Act)
- Regulation of the Ministry of Education No.12/2005 on the conditions for the recognition of equivalence and nostrification of certificates issued by schools abroad
- Agreement between the government of the CSSR and the government of Afghan Democratic Republic on mutual recognition of equivalence of documents regarding the education received and degrees awarded (Prague, 24 June, 1981) - No.111/1982.
- Agreement between the government of the CSSR and the government of Bulgarian People's Republic on mutual recognition of equivalence of documents regarding the education received and degrees awarded in the CSSR and BPR (Prague, 14 April 1982) - No.43/1983.
- Agreement between the government of the CSSR and the Executive Council of the Socialist Federal republic of Yugoslavia on mutual recognition of equivalence of documents regarding the education received and degrees awarded in the CSSR and in the SFRY (Beograd, 12 September 1989) - No.89/1991 (valid for the Republic of Slovenia and for the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- Agreement between the government of the Czech Republic and the government of the Hungarian People's Republic on mutual recognition of equivalence of documents regarding the education received and degrees awarded in the Czech Republic and Hungarian People's Republic (Prague, 1 September 2005) - No. 92/2005.
- Agreement between the government of the Czech Republic and the government of the Polish People's Republic on mutual recognition of equivalence of documents regarding the education received and degrees awarded in the Czech Republic and the Polish People's Republic (1 November, 2006).
- Agreement between the government of the Czech Republic and the government of the Slovak Republic on mutual recognition of the equivalence of educational documents issued in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic (Prague, 23 March, 2001) - published in No.5/2001 of the Bulletin of the Ministry of Education and No. 33/2001 of the Coll.
- Protocol on the equivalence of documents regarding the education received and degrees awarded in the CSSR and the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (Prague, 6 June 1972) - No.123/1973 (valid for Tajikistan, Georgia and Turkmenistan).