Verification Fee for Degrees Issued by Foreign Educational Institutions

Effective from January 1, 2017, organizations and individuals conducting verification procedures for documents and materials to recognize diplomas issued by foreign educational institutions as stipulated in this Circular must pay fees in accordance with regulations.

These diplomas include: Graduation diplomas or certificates of completion of education programs at various levels of general education, intermediate diplomas, college diplomas, university diplomas, master's degrees, and doctoral degrees issued by foreign educational institutions for Vietnamese citizens.

However, the Circular does not apply to the verification of documents and materials related to certificates or records of academic results issued by foreign educational institutions for Vietnamese citizens after completing part of a training program or after finishing a short-term training or refresher course.

According to the Circular, the fee levels for verifying documents and materials to recognize diplomas are as follows:

Verification to recognize the diplomas of Vietnamese citizens issued by foreign educational institutions legally operating in Vietnam (including joint training programs between Vietnamese educational institutions and foreign educational institutions where the diplomas are issued by the foreign institution) is 250,000 VND per diploma.

The fee for verifying to recognize the diplomas of Vietnamese citizens issued by legally operating foreign educational institutions after completing training programs abroad is 500,000 VND per diploma.

The Department of Testing and Quality Assurance of Education (under the Ministry of Education and Training) and the Departments of Education and Training of provinces and centrally managed cities organize the verification and recognition of educational diplomas of Vietnamese citizens issued by foreign educational institutions and collect the fees.

The Circular clearly states that the fee-collecting organization may retain 60% of the total collected fees to cover costs as regulated and must submit 40% of the collected fees to the state budget.

Circular 164/2016/TT-BTC will replace Circular 95/2013/TT-BTC dated July 17, 2013, of the Ministry of Finance regulating fees, fee collection policies, submission, management, and use of fees for verifying documents and materials to recognize diplomas issued by foreign educational institutions for Vietnamese citizens.

Source: Financial Journal

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