Frequently Asked Questions

The Hague Apostille is a modality for legalizing academic documents. In countries that signed the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 concerning the abolition of the legalization of foreign public documents, the need to legalize documents and certificates issued by foreign authorities is replaced by another formality: the affixing of the apostille. Therefore, a person coming from a country that has signed this Convention does not need to go to the Consular Mission and request legalization, but can go to the authorized internal authority designated by each State - and indicated by each country in the act of adherence to the Convention itself (normally it is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) - to obtain the attachment of the apostille to the document. Thus perfected, the document is recognized in Italy.

The updated list of countries that have ratified the Hague Convention and the authorities responsible for affixing the Apostille for each of the States is available on the Hague Conference of private international law website: https://www.hcch.net

The Statement of Comparability is a document containing the information relating to the qualification, such as the recognition/accreditation of the institution that issued it in the national education system and the level of the qualification according to the Bologna Process and the European Qualifications Framework, in addition to the specifications of the comparability of your degree with an Italian qualification, the nature of the course (academic or professionally-oriented) and any other useful element that allows it to be evaluated by the relevant bodies.

Through a Comparability request you apply for a Statement of Comparability with the evaluation of a final qualification of the higher education system or upper secondary school granting access to Higher Education.
This comparison does not establish nor guarantee in any way the formal recognition of your qualification in Italy, but it is a useful indication for those institutions that evaluate qualifications during different recognition procedures: the Statement of Comparability fulfills the function of a non-binding opinion and it does therefore not bind the institutions in any way during their assessment and recognition procedures.

The Statement of Comparability neither verifies nor certifies the authenticity of the qualification on which the assessment is based, as this function is performed by the Statement of Verification.

When positive, the verification of the authenticity of the qualification performed by CIMEA experts results in the issuance of a Statement of Verification. The verification procedure consists in confirming whether a foreign qualification from the higher education system or upper secondary school has indeed been awarded to the holder by an official institution within the reference system.

The term Verification of authenticity means any action performed by CIMEA in order to receive information on the actual award of a qualification by the institution of reference. This verification does not establish in any way the formal recognition of the qualification within the Italian national system, but is a useful indication for the institutions that evaluate the qualification during the different recognition procedures: the Statement of Verification of the qualification has the weight of opinion, and does not bind institutions in any way during their evaluation and recognition procedures.

Please refer to the section For which qualifications can you apply for our Statements? at this webpage for all the necessary information.

No. The Statement of Comparability issued by CIMEA is a tool to help and support individual holders of qualifications and administrations and bodies that have to evaluate a qualification, but has no mandatory nature and does not cancel the authority/duty of individual administrations, institutions or bodies in their own and independent assessment of qualifications during their recognition procedures. It is a good idea to check that the institution tasked with recognition needs and/or accepts this document before requesting it from CIMEA. For more information please refer to the section How can you understand if you need CIMEA services? at this webpage.

No. The Statement of Verification issued by CIMEA is a tool to help and support individual holders of qualifications and administrations and bodies that have to evaluate a qualification, but has no mandatory nature and does not cancel the authority/duty of individual administrations, institutions or bodies in their own and independent assessment of qualifications during their recognition procedures. It is a good idea to check that the institution tasked with recognition needs and/or accepts this document before requesting it from CIMEA. For more information please refer to the section How can you understand if you need CIMEA services? at this webpage.

CIMEA, after a careful evaluation of the documentation produced, will issue a Statement of Denial for one or more of the following reasons:

- non-official status of the institution, the degree course or the qualification in the system of reference;
- lack of certification of the quality of the institution and of the course of studies by the competent national authorities, including reference to the place where the studies were carried out;
- cases of substantial difference with the provisions of the Lisbon Recognition Convention;
- counterfeiting or alteration of documents;
- insufficient documentation vis-à-vis that requested, which prevented an evaluation/verification.