How Canadian Students Apply Through uni-assist and Get Documents Certified
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published May 24, 2026 • Canadians Studying Abroad
uni-assist checks your Canadian transcripts and diploma against German admission rules before your application goes to any university. It costs 75 euros for your first program choice and 30 euros for each additional one in the same application round.
📩 Create a uni-assist account and select every program you want evaluated
💵 75 euros for the first program, 30 euros for each extra program
Certified copies and full grade 9-12 transcripts avoid the most common rejections
uni-assist issues a VPD (preliminary review documentation) that goes to your chosen universities
What uni-assist does
uni-assist is the central body most German universities use to check whether your Canadian secondary or post-secondary credentials meet German admission standards before your application reaches an admissions committee. Instead of every university evaluating your transcripts independently, uni-assist runs one standardized check and issues a Vorprüfungsdokumentation (VPD), which universities then use alongside their own program-specific requirements.
Not every German university uses uni-assist. Some, particularly outside the uni-assist member network, run their own document checks. Confirm on your target university's admissions page whether it requires a uni-assist application before you pay any fee.
Step by step from Canada
Create an account on uni-assist's online portal and select your target universities and programs. One application covers multiple program choices for a given semester intake.
Scan and upload your documents: secondary school transcripts (grades 9-12, or 10-12 depending on your province), your diploma or final school leaving certificate, and, for university-level applicants, degree transcripts and confirmation of conferral.
Pay the handling fee. Evaluation costs 75 euros for your first chosen program in a semester and 30 euros for each additional program in the same round. Some universities cover this fee for their applicants, so check before paying.
Send certified paper copies of your documents by mail if uni-assist requests them. Digital uploads alone do not always satisfy the final check.
Wait for your VPD. Processing time shifts with the season, and the months before the October intake run slower due to volume.
Getting Canadian documents certified
uni-assist and German universities want certified copies, not plain photocopies. A certified copy carries a stamp or signature from an authority confirming it matches the original. Canadian applicants typically use one of these routes:
Your high school or university registrar's office, if it issues sealed official transcripts directly.
A Canadian notary public, who certifies that a copy matches an original document you present.
A commissioner of oaths, available in most provinces for document certification.
Translations into German or English need to come from a certified or sworn translator if your original documents are in French from a Quebec institution and the receiving university does not accept French originals directly. Check the specific university's language policy, since some accept French Canadian documents without translation.
Common rejection reasons
| Rejection reason | Fix |
|---|---|
| Uncertified photocopy submitted | Get a notary or registrar seal before resubmitting |
| Preliminary or interim transcript used | Wait for your final transcript showing all grades and graduation status |
| Missing grades 9-12 (or 10-12) | Request the full transcript range from your school |
| No official grading scale explanation attached | Ask your school registrar for a grading scale document |
| Wrong document format (unsealed PDF export) | Request an official, signed PDF or paper copy from the issuing school |
Build in extra weeks for document requests from your Canadian school. Registrar offices process transcript requests on their own timeline, and a rejected uni-assist application over an uncertified copy costs you an entire admission cycle.
After you receive your VPD
uni-assist forwards your VPD directly to each university you selected, alongside any other documents that university still requires, such as a motivation letter, language certificate, or portfolio. You do not need to send your transcripts again separately unless a university asks for originals during enrollment. Keep your uni-assist login active through the admission cycle, since some universities request updates or additional documents through the same portal.
Budgeting for the fee
Applying to three programs in the same semester through uni-assist costs 75 euros for the first choice plus 30 euros for each of the other two, a total of 135 euros. Add more programs and the extra cost stays at 30 euros each, so uni-assist rewards a shorter, better-targeted list of programs over a wide scattershot application.
If your target university does not use uni-assist
A university outside the uni-assist network handles document checks itself. Contact its international office directly, ask for its own document checklist and certification requirements, and expect a similar demand for certified transcripts covering grades 9-12 or 10-12. Some of these universities still reference the anabin database internally even without routing your application through uni-assist, so the underlying recognition rules stay the same.