Getting a Degree Earned Abroad Recognised Back in Your Home Country

Why you need formal recognition at home

A degree earned in Germany, Poland, or another European country does not automatically count as equivalent once you return home. Employers hiring for regulated professions, and universities considering you for further study, often ask for a formal recognition decision first, especially in fields like medicine, law, teaching, and engineering.

The ENIC-NARIC network

The ENIC-NARIC Networks bring together national information centres from 56 countries under a joint initiative of the European Commission, the Council of Europe, and UNESCO. Each country runs its own national centre, and Turkey, the Western Balkan countries, and Moldova all have theirs. Find your country's centre through the ENIC-NARIC network directory , and use only the official centre listed there. The network itself warns that some third-party sites present themselves falsely as official centres.

Turkey: YÖK Denklik

Turkish graduates of foreign universities apply through YÖK (Yükseköğretim Kurulu, the Council of Higher Education) and its Denklik equivalence system. YÖK compares your foreign qualification and transcript against Turkish degree standards before issuing a denklik certificate, which employers and Turkish universities then accept as proof your degree matches a Turkish equivalent.

Western Balkan countries and Moldova

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia each run a national ENIC-NARIC centre inside their ministry of education, handling recognition requests the same way: comparing your foreign diploma and transcript against national qualification levels. Moldova follows the same structure through its own national centre. Contact details and application forms sit on each country's page in the ENIC-NARIC directory.

Notarisation and legalisation before you apply

Most national centres ask for your diploma and transcript in a certified or notarised form, sometimes with an apostille or legalisation stamp attached, before they start the comparison. Sort out that step first if your destination country's rules require it, since submitting uncertified copies usually delays your application rather than getting it rejected outright.

Recognition for regulated professions

Academic recognition through your national ENIC-NARIC centre confirms your degree matches a given level in the local system. It does not automatically grant you the right to practise in a regulated profession like medicine, nursing, law, or engineering. Those fields usually add a separate step through the relevant professional body or licensing authority, on top of the academic recognition, so check both requirements rather than assuming one covers the other.

What you need to apply

• 📩 Your original diploma or a certified copy

• 🏠 Your full academic transcript

• 🎓 Your Diploma Supplement, if your university issued one, since it speeds up the comparison

• ⏱️ Certified translations of any document not in your home country's official language

• 💶 Proof your university and program held accreditation, when the recognition office asks for it

Timing and what to expect

Recognition decisions take weeks rather than days, and complex cases, especially in regulated professions, take months. Apply as soon as you have your final documents rather than waiting until a job offer or license application forces the timeline. If your degree covers a regulated profession, check whether recognition happens automatically under a professional directive or whether you need the separate academic recognition process as well, since the two procedures are not always the same.

If your recognition request is refused

A refusal does not always mean your degree fails to match. Ask the recognition centre for the specific gap it identified, since some cases only need extra coursework, a bridging exam, or additional documentation rather than a full re-application. Most national centres publish an appeals or reconsideration process, so check your country's centre page for the exact steps before you resubmit.

How recognition differs from academic credit transfer

Formal recognition through an ENIC-NARIC centre confirms your qualification level for employment or further study purposes in that specific country. It is not the same as academic credit transfer between universities, which happens directly between institutions when you continue your studies. Keep the two processes separate in your planning, since a university accepting your credits does not automatically mean a national recognition office accepts your degree as equivalent, and the reverse holds too.

If you plan to work in more than one country

Recognition decisions apply to the specific country that issues them. A denklik certificate from Turkey's YÖK does not transfer automatically to another country's recognition system, and the reverse holds too. If your career plans span more than one country, budget time and paperwork for a separate recognition application in each one rather than assuming one approval covers every destination.

Start the process before you need it

Recognition offices process requests in the order they arrive, and a case that needs extra documentation or a bridging exam takes longer to resolve. Begin your application as soon as you have your final diploma and transcript in hand, rather than waiting until a specific job posting or university deadline forces your timeline.