Requirement for Authentication of University Degrees in Country of Origin

[allane]

I have found references to a requirement as of May 2018 that foreign univ. degrees and transcripts must be authenticated in the country of origin. The Legalization Division of The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is stated as being the part of the Thai government exercising this authority. What I can not find is an actual regulation/order/directive from any part of the Thai govt. authorizing this.

  1. Can anyone cite this ?

I will post these follow-up questions here, in case they are not specifically addressed in the regulation:

  2. What was the exact date in "May 2018" ?

  3. What specifically is required:  a) original copies of the degree and transcripts ?

                                                 b) same, but accompanied by a letter of authentication from the responsible part of the foreign government ?

                                                 c) do the required documents need to be presented to the Thai embassy in the originating country before they are sent to                                                        Thailand ?

                                                 d) Is there a requirement that the documents be presented to the MFA in Bangkok before being submitted to the Dept. of                                                         Immigration ? If yes, is it in addition to (c), or offered as an alternative ?

   4.  Is there any variation to the standard procedure (on the Thai end) depending on the country of origin ?

   5.  Is there any variation in Thailand dependent on which Thai Immigration District office is involved ?

   Please cite your source(s). I would prefer a reference in English, but Thai is acceptable.  I am not interested in rumours, speculation or heresay.

[Tanoshi]

To get you Degree legalised to be accepted in Thailand is a 3 step process.

 

If you were from the UK:

1. The document must be certified by the legalisation office of the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth office), Milton Keynes.

2. This is then presented to the Thai Embassy, London for legalisation.

3. In Thailand the now legalised document must be translated to Thai and both submitted to the MFA legalisation office.

 

The document and it's translation will now be accepted as a legally authentic document for use in Thailand.

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, allane said:

I have found references to a requirement as of May 2018 that foreign univ. degrees and transcripts must be authenticated in the country of origin.

There was no new regulation about that done by the the government. That was only in an announcement done by the UK embassy since they stopped handling the certification they could do here. 

The requirement for the degree legalization has been in effect for long time now. I don't think there is actually a requirement for it to be done in your home country. Some embassie is are still able to do them since they are allowed to do it.

[JackThompson]

15 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

The requirement for the degree legalization has been in effect for long time now. I don't think there is actually a requirement for it to be done in your home country. Some embassie is are still able to do them since they are allowed to do it. 

I am preparing to have my degrees sent over here, to cover my bases depending on how other permits-of-stay fall-out in the future. 

 

Before I have them mailed, does anything to be done with them in the USA, first?  Or will a stat-doc of you swearing it is real from the embassy in Bangkok still work, as some previous threads on the subject in "teaching" threads seem to indicate? 

 

I would be applying for IT jobs - not teaching - but do labor-offices sometimes request it for non-teaching fields, even if not legally-required? 

And/or perhaps employers often want something along these lines done?

[ubonjoe]

5 minutes ago, JackThompson said:

Before I have them mailed, does anything to be done with them in the USA, first?  Or will a stat-doc of you swearing it is real from the embassy in Bangkok still work, as some previous threads on the subject in "teaching" threads seem to indicate? 

It can be done in the states but it is bit complicated. See: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/travel-legal-considerations/authentication-of-american-academic-credentials.html

I have seen no reports of the self certification by doing an affidavit being denied.

6 minutes ago, JackThompson said:

I would be applying for IT jobs - not teaching - but do labor-offices sometimes request it for non-teaching fields, even if not legally-required? 

The only time the labor offices would ask for one would be if the job description required it. There is even a form that can be submitted in lieu of degrees for work permit applications. https://www.doe.go.th/prd/assets/upload/files/alien_en/bc8afbeb7da6cb4a20b059dceec95d9e.pdf

6 minutes ago, JackThompson said:

And/or perhaps employers often want something along these lines done?

I don't recall any employers wanting the degree to be legalized but I assume some might want it.

[allane]

On 11/26/2018 at 10:05 AM, ubonjoe said:

There was no new regulation about that done by the the government. That was only in an announcement done by the UK embassy since they stopped handling the certification they could do here. 

The requirement for the degree legalization has been in effect for long time now. I don't think there is actually a requirement for it to be done in your home country. Some embassie is are still able to do them since they are allowed to do it.

I did extensive online research before I posted the OP. Thank you for corroborating my findings, There seems to be increased concern in recent times about a supposed need for authentication of university degrees and transcripts. This may be for some or all of the following reasons:

    - there are British govt. websites stating that their Embassy in Bangkok no longer authenticates degrees, but helpfully states an alternative process, beginning in Britain and involving the Thai Embassy there, and the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The essential elements have been lifted by some other websites, but making no mention of the fact that this procedure only has to be followed by the British.

 - I have uncovered other websites, which while not lifting the British information, strongly indicate that educational credentials need to be authenticated before coming to Thailand, and of course, offering to do this for a fee.

-There is the perennial problem of imprecise use of terminology, with people using terms such as authentication/certification/notarization/legalization interchangeably. There are probably other terms in use too.

A few days ago in the Teaching subforum, a guy from Belgium was complaining that his Embassy in Bangkok wouldn't "legalize" his degree. A close examination of his question reveals that he had only a photocopy of it with him. And, another question about "legalization" has just appeared in the Teaching subforum.

When I first went into Thai Immigration in 1996, I gave them my original degree and a signed and sealed original copy of my transcripts. There was no need for any third-party authentication, and that looks to still be true today, at least to obtain a Non-immigrant "B" visa.

[LongTimeLurker]

On 11/26/2018 at 6:50 AM, Tanoshi said:

To get you Degree legalised to be accepted in Thailand is a 3 step process.

 

If you were from the UK:

1. The document must be certified by the legalisation office of the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth office), Milton Keynes.

2. This is then presented to the Thai Embassy, London for legalisation.

3. In Thailand the now legalised document must be translated to Thai and both submitted to the MFA legalisation office.

 

The document and it's translation will now be accepted as a legally authentic document for use in Thailand.

You did this on your original degree certificate???? What if someone along the line wants to keep the documents and not return them?

 

When I did mine I had a copy certified by a solicitor and then the MFA in London certified the certified copy.

 

Then I presented it to the Saudi Embassy for legalisation.

 

I still have the original certificate intact as well as the certified / legalised copy and just present a copy of the certified / legalised copy whenever needed.

Edited November 27, 2018 by LongTimeLurker

[jimmjam]

When I was teaching, I never even showed my original, just a copy of my degree and transcript. Then my school took everything to Bangkok and 2 weeks later I got the letter for my teaching licence and then went to the labour department to get my work permit.

I suppose it depends where you teach as well.

this was 2 years ago by the way.

[Tanoshi]

13 minutes ago, jimmjam said:

When I was teaching, I never even showed my original, just a copy of my degree and transcript. Then my school took everything to Bangkok and 2 weeks later I got the letter for my teaching licence and then went to the labour department to get my work permit.

I suppose it depends where you teach as well.

this was 2 years ago by the way.

In order to get the letter for your teaching licence, you now need to have your degree legalised in your home Country before it will be accepted as authentic. (As described in post 2, if your from the UK).

 

This became effective probably 12 -18 months ago now.

There was/is a topic on the new requirements somewhere on TVF.

Maybe a Mod could post a link to it.

 

Found it:

 

Edited November 27, 2018 by Tanoshi

[thaiclan]

It is the same for birth certificates.  I renewed my daughters Ed visa (15 months ago) and was informed that the process had changed for birth, marriage certs and for university degrees.  They now have to be legalised in the UK (Miltion Keynes), sent to the UK Thai Embassy in London and then you take them to Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Thailand.  A 3 step process. Caused a bit of a problem because I hadn't allocated the time for all that postage to happen.

 

[moontang]

My university president, who signed my degree, is a notary.  The next step would be apostille stamp at the state capital, which certifies him as a notary, however, Thailand is not a part of that convention.  

[Emster23]

I feel for anyone trying to get work permit here. If they required transcripts from me, I'd have to look elsewhere for employment. I have a master's degree plus 105 graduate credit hours beyond that, many of those credits coming from weekend seminars, summer classes accredited by numerous US universities (15? 20?). Running all those down and getting verification.... that would be a full time job.

[jochen]

18 hours ago, allane said:

A few days ago in the Teaching subforum, a guy from Belgium was complaining that his Embassy in Bangkok wouldn't "legalize" his degree. A close examination of his question reveals that he had only a photocopy of it with him

I guess you are mixing up things a little.

 

I do have the original degree with me, which was presented to Immigration. I even have a signed and certified copy of the degree and ToR. (Another guy who posted in the same topic didn't have the original degree, that's right) Immigration didn't even want to begin to talk about it or look at it. For them they only want it to be legalized in your home country and in the end they won't even examine it except for that final stamp from MoFA in CW.

 

I even talked to a guy who got a degree from a Thai university here, and the same immigration office still wanted it legalized by his home country and stamped and legalized by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Chaeng Wattana.  Which of course doesn't make any sense at all, and only shows that they don't even have the slightest idea what they're doing or demanding because they refuse to just talk about it to us. They're just shouting out demands at us.

 

As for me, I will get my degree (or at least a copy of it) legalized in Belgium and go through the whole process as described above.  I understand why it could be asked, and why it is useful to have it with me here in Thailand.  What I don't understand is that I have just given Kurusapa all the proof they asked for in obtaining my teachers' licence, but now Immigration has found a new hoop to jump through and make life a little harder for us again.  Why can't they just accept that I got my teachers' licence and the MoE did its job. I also find it hard to understand that some Immigration offices demand this, while others (my previous one in Rayong for example) don't.  I also don't understand why a sworn affidavit is equally accepted by Immigration - which is far from the same of a legalized degree. Only shows to me that they don't even know what they're asking for.

 

But in the end, it's better to just do what they ask for. Let's face it we don't really get a choice. 

I guess more of us will face this problem in the near future, and the process as described above explains really well what needs to be done. 

But what's next ? What will be their next demand ?  I thought I had already jumped through al their hoops after 10 years in Thailand, they always seem to find something new.

[vinegarbase]

 

 

2 hours ago, jochen said:

For them they only want it to be legalized in your home country

Chachoengsao immigration doesn't care about that at all. They can easily accept your teaching license from Kurusapa and the certified translation of an embassy statement from Chaengwattana if they wanted to. They are laughing at you now because they are forcing you to take a very expensive trip back home to jump through one of their "hoops". When you get back, be prepared for more. Maybe they will run the clock down on your existing visa one or two more times and make you do a couple border runs as well. Standard procedure at Chachoengsao. They love making foreigners lives miserable there. If there is one place that needs to be investigate by BJ it's that place, but since the overall number of foreigners going to that miserable place are so low it will never happen. 

[Tanoshi]

1 hour ago, vinegarbase said:

They can easily accept your teaching license from Kurusapa 

You won't get a licence now unless your degree is certified and legalised as described.

The requirements changed May 2018.

[LongTimeLurker]

18 hours ago, thaiclan said:

I renewed my daughters Ed visa (15 months ago) and was informed that the process had changed for birth, marriage certs and for university degrees.  They now have to be legalised in the UK (Miltion Keynes), sent to the UK Thai Embassy in London and then you take them to Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Thailand.  A 3 step process. Caused a bit of a problem because I hadn't allocated the time for all that postage to happen.

I renewed my daughter's ED visa 11 months ago and wasn't required to do any of that.