| |
1. Why do I need my educational credentials evaluated?
2. Who evaluates credentials in the U.S.?
3. Will the USCIS accept your evaluation?
4. Will U.S. colleges and universities accept your evaluation?
5. Do you provide educational credential evaluations to be used for university admission purposes?
6. Can you translate my documents?
7. Would you accept my own translation of the educational documents?
8. What kind of evaluation do I need?
9. How long does it take to obtain an evaluation?
10. May I submit copies of my records and translations or does it have to come directly from the school?
11. What does an evaluation contain?
12. Do you evaluate all higher education diplomas as equivalent to a bachelor degree?
13. Do you evaluate graduate school's diplomas for equivalence to Ph.D.?
14. Do you evaluate diplomas and certificates for equivalence to associate degrees?
15. Are you a member of any professional associations related to evaluation of educational credentials?
16. What are the types of evaluation that you do?
17. If I am not happy with my evaluation what can I do?
18. If I do not have a document (diploma) of higher education but have substantial work experience in the field of my education, can my education and experience be evaluated as corresponding to U.S. bachelor degree?
19. Can you reference my work experience in my educational credential evaluation?
20. Can I get an H-1B visa if I have no university-level education?
21. What is the policy at Universal on fraudulent documents?
|
| 1. Why do I need my educational credentials evaluated? |
 |
If you wish to come to the United States (U.S.) as a professional, for example on H-1B visa or J-1 visa, you will need your educational credentials evaluated and submitted with your visa application.
|
|
If you want to attend university in the United States, you need to ask the university where you plan to apply if the Admission Office requires your educational credentials to be evaluated. If they require an outside evaluation you need to determine whether a document-by-document or a course-by-course evaluation is required. You also need to know whether the evaluation is to be submitted with your application, or if Universal Evaluations should mail the evaluation directly to the Office of Admission.
|
|
If you apply for a 'Green Card' on the basis of your professional status you would need to include an educational credentials evaluation in the application package.
|
|
If you plan to seek licensure or certification to practice in a particular state in the United States (e.g., teacher, engineer, physical therapist), you will probably need your educational credentials evaluated. When you apply for a job a prospective employer often wants to know whether you have the U.S. equivalent level of education required for the job or research position.
|
| 2. Who evaluates credentials in the U.S.? |
|
In the U.S., credential evaluation is done by universities and by private organizations such as Universal Evaluations. Many universities and colleges employ admission officers who evaluate foreign educational credentials. Others require foreign credentials be evaluated by a service such as Universal Evaluations. Employers and USCIS generally require that credentials be evaluated by a service such as Universal Evaluations.
|
| 3. Will the USCIS accept your evaluation? |
|
Yes. Our educational credential evaluations meet USCIS regulations. Our evaluations are accepted regularly by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
|
| 4. Will U.S. colleges and universities accept your evaluation? |
|
Each school makes its own policies regarding the evaluation of foreign applicants' educational credentials. These policies are different from university to university. You should contact the college or university where you intend to apply to determine:
|
| |
|
 |
whether it accepts evaluations from credential evaluation companies or performs its own in-house evaluations, and
|
|
whether it will accept an evaluation from Universal Evaluations. |
|
| 5. Do you provide educational credential evaluations to be used for university admission purposes? |
|
You should contact the college or university where you intend to apply to determine:
|
| |
|
|
a. whether it accepts evaluations from credential evaluation companies or performs its own in-house evaluations, and
|
|
whether it will accept an evaluation from Universal Evaluations. |
|
| 6. Can you translate my documents? |
|
No, not at this time.
|
| 7. Would you accept my own translation of the educational documents? |
|
We prefer an official translation. If you do your own translation we may request an official one.
|
| 8. What kind of evaluation do I need? |
|
We offer these kinds of evaluations: Document-by-Document (Academics Only or Academics and Experience), Expert Opinion, Industry Standard Letter, Extraordinary ability Letter, Course-by-Course, Position Analysis, Immigration Attorney Opinion.
|
| 9. How long does it take to obtain an evaluation? |
|
We offer same day, Next Day, One Week. For more information please call us.
|
| 10. May I submit copies of my records and translations or does it have to come directly from the school? |
|
Copies are acceptable however we prefer certified copies. We do reserve the right to request the original transcripts sent directly to Universal Evaluations by the university or school attended and we may request original translations.
|
| 11. What does an evaluation contain? |
|
An evaluation contains a description of the credential that you present including its name, the year it was awarded, the name of the institution attended and your major field of study. It gives the U.S. equivalent for each credential. We call this a document-by-document evaluation.
If you need to show courses and credit, you can obtain a course-by-course evaluation. A document-by-document report meets the needs of those who require an evaluation of the level of education completed outside the U.S. in U.S. terms. These are used for teacher certification, transfer credit, admission into a U.S. University, etc.
|
| 12. Do you evaluate all higher education diplomas as equivalent to a bachelor degree? |
|
Each credential is evaluated individually. Using research provided by NAFSA/AACRAO; as well as in-house research, the evaluations are based on the newest information available. Universal Evaluations maintains current reference materials and conducts its own research in international and comparative education. Some first degrees issued in a foreign country are not equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's degree.
|
| 13. Do you evaluate graduate school's diplomas for equivalence to Ph.D.? |
|
Yes, using the above research tools we will evaluate all graduate degrees and diplomas. The diploma or degree submitted for evaluation will be evaluated in terms of U.S. educational study through Master and Ph.D. degrees if it is deemed equivalent.
|
| 14. Do you evaluate diplomas and certificates for equivalence to associate degrees? |
|
Yes. We evaluate diplomas of some technical and professional colleges to equivalency to the U.S. associate degrees.
|
| 15. Are you a member of any professional associations related to evaluation of educational credentials? |
|
Yes. We are a member of NAFSA
|
| 16. What are the types of evaluation that you do? |
|
Refer Question 8. Please call us for more information.
|
| 17. If I am not happy with my evaluation, what do I do? |
|
All disputes must be sent to us in writing. Please explain the problem and the reason you feel that an error has been made. Upon receiving the written request we will have evaluators review your concerns and your evaluation.
|
|
However, if you did not submit all the pertinent academic records to be evaluated and your complaint is based on this missing material, a re-evaluation fee is required, along with the documents to be added to the evaluation. This fee is equivalent to the original fee for the original evaluation.
|
| 18. If I do not have a document (diploma) of higher education but have substantial work experience in the field of my education, can my education and experience be evaluated as corresponding to U.S. bachelor degree? |
|
Universal Evaluations evaluate international educational documents and the relevant work experience in the relevant field. We have successfully evaluated work experience in such fields as Business, Engineering, Engineering Technology and Computer Science.
|
| 19. Can you reference my work experience in my educational credential evaluation? |
|
In an evaluation, Universal Evaluations may mention teaching certificates, special diplomas issued by another country, and/or training certificates, which enhance employment, but we do not assign academic credits or degrees to these documents.
|
| 20. Can I get an H-1B visa if I have no university-level education or have not completed a university degree? |
|
There are very specific rules for obtaining a H-1B visa if you do not have the academic degree required in the job description. Universal Evaluations advises you speak with the employer or human resource officer of the company or organization you are applying with/to for advice. We can refer you to Experienced Immigration Lawyer.
|
| 21. What is the policy at Universal on fraudulent documents? |
|
When Universal suspects that documents submitted for an evaluation were forged or altered in any way, no report shall be prepared. All recipients indicated and appropriate agencies or organizations shall be notified by Universal. No fees will be refunded and documents shall be retained by Universal.
|
| |
|
FAQs