Did you know a single evaluation agency has processed over 800,000 credential evaluations from students across 190 countries? International evaluation has become crucial if you have a foreign educational background and want to pursue opportunities in the USA.
Your academic credentials need proper validation in a new country. Credential evaluation converts your foreign education into US equivalents, with costs ranging from $160 to $365. An international transcript evaluation verifies your qualifications when you apply for jobs, continue education, process immigration paperwork, or join the military.
The process usually takes 2 to 4 weeks. Rush options can speed up the timeline substantially. A good grasp of this process helps you save time, money and avoid frustration.
This piece for 2025 will teach you everything about international education evaluations. You’ll learn to pick the right evaluation service, prepare your documents, and use your completed report effectively. Let’s help you turn your foreign credentials into recognized qualifications!
Credential Evaluation / International Evaluation
Credential evaluation bridges different educational systems worldwide. Your academic achievements from one country can be understood and recognized in another through this process.
What is a credential evaluation?
A credential evaluation compares academic credentials earned outside the United States to their U.S. equivalents. Your diplomas, transcripts, degrees, and other educational documents go through analysis to determine their U.S. equivalents. Professional evaluators use their specialized knowledge of global education systems to verify document authenticity and establish equivalency.
Why international education evaluations are important
International education evaluations bring clarity to various stakeholders. These evaluations help educational institutions determine proper course placement and credit transfers. This ensures you won’t repeat coursework unnecessarily. Companies use these assessments to verify your qualifications during hiring.
Credential evaluations play vital roles in:
- Professional licensing and certification processes
- Immigration applications and visa requirements
- Accessing financial aid and scholarships
- Supporting social integration in a new country
The results go beyond just paperwork. Over 800,000 people have received degree equivalency since 1980. These assessments help recognize your academic accomplishments and boost your confidence during cultural transitions.
When you need a foreign transcript evaluation
You’ll need a foreign transcript evaluation in these specific cases:
- Higher Education: U.S. colleges or universities require it, even if another U.S. institution accepted your foreign coursework
- Employment Verification: Jobs that need proof of your educational background
- Professional Licensing: Fields like teaching, nursing, engineering, or medicine require it
- Immigration Purposes: Visa applications, green cards, or meeting USCIS requirements need it
- Military Recruitment: Military service has specific educational requirements
All but one of these situations require detailed evaluation. The exception applies to those seeking an Emergency 30-Day Substitute Permit, where a general report is enough.
Why Do I Need to Verify My Foreign Degree?
Getting your foreign academic credentials verified provides benefits way beyond just meeting basic requirements. Many professionals ask why they need this process when they’ve already achieved success in their home country.
Your credentials need proper verification to establish trust with U.S. institutions and employers who might not understand educational systems from other countries. Your academic achievements could be undervalued without the right assessment. To name just one example, a 4-year engineering degree from India could equal a U.S. bachelor’s degree, but employers won’t know this without formal verification.
This verification also protects your career from potential risks down the road. You wouldn’t want to spend years in a graduate program only to find out your undergraduate degree isn’t valid, or lose a job offer because your credentials weren’t properly verified.
Proper degree verification gives you:
- Career advancement opportunities – verified credentials help you land positions matching your qualifications
- Fair compensation – you’ll get paid based on your actual education level
- Licensing eligibility – you’ll meet requirements for professional certifications and licenses
- Academic placement – you’ll get proper course placement and transfer credits in schools
Your qualifications might be legitimate, but a new country’s system needs proof to bridge educational differences. Your knowledge and skills stay the same, but verification makes them valuable in your new environment.
Verification isn’t just more paperwork – it’s an investment in your future. A professionally evaluated credential becomes an asset you can use with different institutions and employers throughout your U.S. career.
The process also shows any gaps between your education and U.S. requirements. This lets you address these gaps early instead of finding them later at crucial career moments.
Choose the Right Evaluation Service
Your choice of international evaluation service can make or break your application timeline with foreign institutions. You need to focus on two main factors before you start comparing credential evaluators.
How to find a trusted credential evaluation agency
Start by checking which credential evaluation providers your target institution accepts. Some schools work with specific evaluators. Others will take reports from any reputable service. You also need to know which type of report your institution needs. This helps avoid paying for services you don’t need.
Here are important factors to look at when researching evaluation services:
- Documentation requirements that vary by country of education
- Transparent fee structures including any additional charges
- Processing timeframes which typically range from several days to a few weeks
- Translation requirements which can add extra time and costs
NACES and AICE membership explained
The National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) and Association of International Credential Evaluators (AICE) set the standards in credential evaluation.
NACES members are well-established organizations with knowledgeable staff and deep experience in comparative education evaluation. Each NACES member’s core team must include at least one Senior Evaluator with five years of experience. AICE follows a rigorous screening process for its Endorsed Members and ensures they follow ethical practices with high standards.
The U.S. Department of Education doesn’t officially regulate credential evaluation services. Most institutions require evaluations from NACES or AICE members anyway.
Types of evaluation reports: document vs course-by-course
Document-by-Document Evaluation: This identifies and describes each credential with U.S. equivalency but skips detailed course analysis. It works well for employment, immigration purposes, or freshman admissions without transfer credit.
Course-by-Course Evaluation: You get a complete breakdown including individual courses, credit equivalencies, grades, and GPA calculated on a 4.0 scale. This option works best for transfer students, graduate admissions, and professional licensing boards.
The right evaluation type depends on what you need and what your institution requires.
Prepare and Submit Your Documents
Getting the right paperwork is the most important part of your international evaluation experience. Good document preparation will give a smooth process without delays.
List of required documents
You need these documents for most credential evaluations:
- Diploma or degree certificate showing the awarded degree and completion date
- Official transcripts or grade reports listing all courses taken and grades received
- Original academic documents printed on institution letterhead with fresh ink stamps, raised seals, and/or official signatures
- Government-issued identification such as a passport
Your documents must meet specific requirements based on your country’s education system. These requirements vary by a lot based on regional practices.
Translation and notarization requirements
All documents not in English need certified translations. You can do the translations yourself if they are word-for-word and match the original document’s format.
Here’s what you need for translations:
- Certified statement confirming accuracy
- Translator’s full credentials and contact information
- Date of translation completion
- Specification of source and target languages
Some evaluations also need notarization to verify the translator’s identity through an official notary seal and signature.
How to send transcripts securely
Evaluation services give you several secure ways to send documents:
- Sealed envelopes – Official documents issued by your institution in stamped, sealed envelopes
- Electronic delivery – Through verified channels like Digitary Core, MyCreds, or National Student Clearinghouse
- Direct transmission – Via secure file transfer protocol (SFTP) or application programming interface (API)
Many services can now accept PDF transcripts delivered electronically within minutes to recipients worldwide.
Common mistakes to avoid
The most common submission errors include:
- Submitting incomplete transcripts
- Not following document authentication guidelines
- Ignoring specific formatting requirements
- Missing translation or notarization specifications
- Adding PINs or expiry dates to electronic documents
- Sending personal login credentials to evaluation services
You can track your document submission through your service provider’s online portal or tracking system.
Track the Evaluation Process
The evaluation process starts after you submit your documents and moves through several stages. This guide will help you track your progress and know what to expect during your international evaluation.
How long does an international evaluation take?
Your international evaluation usually takes 2 to 4 weeks after we receive all documents. The timeline depends on a few things:
- Your academic records’ complexity
- How fast your school responds during verification
- The evaluation service’s current workload
- Authentication rules for your country
You can get faster results by paying extra fees to speed up the process to just a few days. ECE takes 3-5 business days normally, but right now it needs up to 10 business days after getting all your information.
What happens during document verification?
Your documents go through these stages:
- Document Imaging – We review and scan your documents into our system
- Authentication Review – Our team checks if your documents are valid, from recognized schools, and in the right format
- Secondary Verification – Sometimes we need to check with your school directly
- Missing Document Resolution – We’ll let you know if we need more papers from you
You can check your status anytime through an online portal. You’ll see updates like “We are reviewing your documents” or “We are waiting for your institution(s) to verify your documents”.
How grades and credits are converted
Expert evaluators who know your country’s education system will match your credentials to U.S. standards. They will:
- Convert your grades to match the U.S. scale
- Change your credits into U.S. semester hours
- Work out your GPA on a 4.0 scale
- Sort your courses by academic level
Our evaluators use years of data and international standards to make fair assessments. Each evaluation goes through quality checks before we send it to you and other recipients.
Receive and Use Your Evaluation Report
The international evaluation report you’ve been waiting for has arrived. Knowing how to read and use this document is vital to your academic and professional trip in the United States.
How to read your evaluation report
Your credential evaluation has several important sections. Personal information and educational background appear first. The comparative analysis shows how your foreign credentials match U.S. standards. Course-by-course evaluations list individual courses with U.S. credit equivalents, grades, and a GPA calculated on a 4.0 scale. The statement section validates the evaluator’s qualifications.
The equivalency findings deserve your attention, especially degree comparability statements that explain your foreign qualifications in U.S. terms. Authentication methods, program length, admission requirements, and your home country’s institution status are the foundations of these determinations.
Where to send your report: schools, employers, USCIS
Your evaluation report can serve different purposes:
- Educational institutions: Submit with admission applications to demonstrate academic qualifications
- Employers: Include with job applications to verify your educational background
- USCIS: Attach to immigration applications, as officers may “favorably consider a credentials evaluation performed by an independent credentials evaluator”
- Professional licensing boards: Send to regulatory bodies for certification purposes
You can order extra copies of your report for different recipients within five years of the original evaluation date.
How long the report is valid
Credential evaluations don’t expire. The receiving institutions decide how long they’ll accept an evaluation. Most evaluators keep records for five years after issuance. You might need a new evaluation after this period.
USCIS and other government agencies might want recent evaluations, with recommended validity periods of 2-3 years. Check current requirements before submitting your applications.
Which Credential Evaluation Services Organizations Are Accepted at US Universities?
American universities typically accept credential evaluations from members of two major professional groups. Knowing the right evaluation services can help you save both time and money during your academic trip.
The National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) leads as the most trusted organization by American institutions. NACES members are 30+ years old organizations that employ knowledgeable experts. These independent, non-governmental groups help people who need their non-US credentials assessed under the American system.
The Association of International Credential Evaluators (AICE) offers another trusted path for evaluations. The U.S. Department of Education endorses AICE, which sets evaluation standards nationwide. AICE has charter members such as the Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute (ACEI) and International Evaluation Services.
Your choice of evaluation service matters since acceptance varies among universities and programs. Each school creates its own rules about recognized evaluation services. Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE), to cite an instance, has evaluated credentials for over 45 years and enjoys wide acceptance throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Several other trusted evaluation services include:
- World Education Services (WES)
- Josef Silny & Associates
- Educational Perspectives
- Foreign Academic Credential Service
- International Education Research Foundation
NASBA International Evaluation Services specifically serves accounting professionals and state boards recognize it widely. Healthcare professionals usually need evaluations from services approved by organizations like ASHA.
You should check directly with your target school about their accepted evaluation providers before making a choice. This simple step prevents wasted money and delayed applications that could result from using unrecognized services.
List of Credential Evaluators For International Students
Students who want to learn about international evaluation options can find several trusted services ready to help with credential assessment needs. These organizations differ in their specialization, pricing, and processing times. You need to pick one that matches your requirements.
These credential evaluators have proven themselves as trusted resources for international students:
NACES Member Organizations:
- World Education Services (WES) – Offers complete credential evaluation with document-by-document and course-by-course options
- Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE) – Specializes in educational comparability reports with over 45 years of experience
- Josef Silny & Associates (JS&A) – Provides detailed evaluations for various professions, especially when you have healthcare backgrounds
- SpanTran – Known for their user-friendly online portal and specialized services for Spanish-speaking countries
- International Education Research Foundation (IERF) – Focuses on detailed course analysis for academic institutions
AICE Member Organizations:
- Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute (ACEI) – Offers specialized evaluations for professional licensing boards
- Foreign Academic Credential Service (FACS) – Provides customized service with direct consultant access
- Educational Perspectives – Known for complete evaluations of complex educational backgrounds
Specialized Evaluators:
- NASBA International Evaluation Services – Vital for accounting qualifications and CPA examination eligibility
- Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) – Specifically for nursing credentials
- Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) – Required for international medical graduates
Your selection process should include factors like processing times (ranging from 3 days to 4 weeks), fee structures (typically $75-$400 depending on service level), and institutional acceptance. Make sure to check with your target institution about which evaluators they recognize to avoid extra expenses or delays.
Note that many evaluators provide electronic delivery, translation assistance, and rush processing if you need your application processed quickly.
How Long Does it Take to Process an Evaluation?
Your academic and professional goals depend a lot on how long it takes to process an international evaluation. You need to know what to expect and plan your deadlines right.
Most credential evaluations take 7-20 business days after getting all the needed documents. In spite of that, the actual time can vary based on several factors. Simple document-by-document evaluations finish faster than detailed course-by-course reviews. The process moves quickly when all documents are clear and complete.
Time of year plays a big role too. December-January and July-August are busy seasons. Wait times can stretch by 5-10 more business days. Your timeline might also get longer if your previous school takes time to verify your documents.
Expedited Service Options:
You can speed things up with these faster options:
- Rush service (3-5 business days)
- Priority service (1-2 business days)
- Same-day service (available from select providers)
These faster options cost extra – from $75 for rush service to $200+ for same-day processing.
The best way to avoid delays is to submit your applications during quiet periods. On top of that, it helps to ask for transcripts weeks before you need them. Make sure your documents meet all requirements before you send them in.
Remember to add extra time for documents to reach the evaluation service and come back to you. Most big evaluators now offer digital delivery. This cuts down the total wait time by removing mail delays.
Final Thoughts on International Credential Evaluation
Planning and attention to detail play vital roles in the international evaluation process. This piece has shown you the essential steps to convert your foreign credentials into recognized qualifications in the American system.
Credential evaluation works like an academic passport between countries. The process connects educational systems globally and helps your achievements get proper recognition in the United States. Proper evaluation will give you opportunities for academic growth, job verification, professional licensing, and meeting immigration requirements.
Picking the right service provider starts your evaluation experience. NACES and AICE member organizations provide reliable evaluations that institutions widely accept. You’ll also find specialized evaluators for professions like nursing, medicine, and accounting. Make sure to check which evaluation services your target institution accepts before submitting documents to avoid complications.
Document preparation is the most significant step. Getting official transcripts, diplomas, and translations ready according to requirements will prevent delays and lead to accurate assessment. Professionals analyze your credentials carefully and convert grades and credits to U.S. equivalents using proven methods.
Standard processing takes 7-20 business days. Rush services can speed up this timeframe substantially when time matters. You can present your evaluation report confidently to educational institutions, employers, licensing boards, or immigration authorities once you receive it.
The international credential evaluation process might look complex at first. The steps outlined here will make your experience smoother. Good planning makes everything work better—begin early, collect all documents, and select the evaluation service that fits your needs.
Your educational achievements deserve recognition no matter where you earned them. Professional credential evaluation shows the true value of your academic background and creates new opportunities in the United States.
FAQs
Q1. What is the purpose of an international credential evaluation?
An international credential evaluation translates foreign educational qualifications into their U.S. equivalents. This process is essential for individuals seeking academic admission, employment, professional licensing, or immigration in the United States, as it helps verify and validate their educational achievements.
Q2. How long does the international evaluation process typically take?
The standard processing time for an international evaluation usually ranges from 2 to 4 weeks after all required documents are received. However, many evaluation services offer expedited options for an additional fee, which can reduce the turnaround time to just a few days.
Q3. Which documents are required for an international credential evaluation?
Typically, you’ll need to submit your diploma or degree certificate, official transcripts or grade reports, original academic documents with official stamps or seals, and a government-issued identification such as a passport. All non-English documents must be accompanied by certified translations.
Q4. Are credential evaluations accepted by all U.S. institutions?
While most U.S. institutions accept evaluations from NACES (National Association of Credential Evaluation Services) or AICE (Association of International Credential Evaluators) members, it’s crucial to verify with your specific target institution which evaluation services they recognize to avoid potential issues.
Q5. How long is a credential evaluation report valid?
Credential evaluations themselves do not expire. However, receiving institutions may have their own policies on how long they consider an evaluation valid. For immigration purposes, some evaluations may have recommended validity periods of 2-3 years. It’s best to check with the specific institution or agency you’re submitting the evaluation to for their requirements.