How to Order Transcripts and Legalise Your Degree for Use in Another Country

Start with your university registrar

Your registrar's office, not your academic department, issues official transcripts and confirms your degree was awarded. Request a sealed paper transcript or a verified digital version through your university's official transcript service, and expect a small processing fee. Order more copies than you think you need, since employers, recognition offices, and immigration authorities in another country each often want their own original copy rather than a shared one.

Check whether you need an apostille or full legalisation

The 1961 Hague Apostille Convention lets countries that are both members accept a single certified stamp, called an apostille, instead of a longer legalisation chain. When your home country and the country where you want to use your degree are both Hague Convention parties, an apostille from the competent authority in your home country is usually all a recognition office or employer asks for. Country membership changes over time, so check the current status of both countries directly on the HCCH status table before you start, rather than assuming a country's status based on general geography.

If your countries are not both Hague members

Without apostille coverage between the two countries, you need full consular legalisation instead. That path usually runs through several steps: notarising your degree, certifying it at your home country's foreign ministry, then legalising it again at the destination country's embassy or consulate in your home country. Build in extra weeks for this route, since it passes through more than one office and often involves postal transit time between each step.

Get the apostille or legalisation stamp

Each country designates specific offices to issue apostilles, often a ministry of foreign affairs, a ministry of justice, or regional courts, depending on the country's legal structure. Contact your home country's competent authority directly, listed on the HCCH website for your country, to confirm which office covers university degrees and what you need to submit or post to them.

Add a certified translation if needed

If your destination country's official language differs from the one on your degree and transcript, ask for a certified or sworn translation done by a translator recognised by that country's authorities. Attach the translation to the original apostilled or legalised documents rather than sending it separately, since assessors expect to review both together as one package.

How long each step takes

Registrar offices typically process a transcript request within a couple of weeks, though busy periods around graduation slow this down. Apostille offices in Hague Convention countries tend to be the fastest step, often turning a request around within days to a couple of weeks. Full consular legalisation chains take the longest, since your document passes through two or three separate offices, each with its own queue and processing rhythm.

Common mistakes when ordering documents

The most frequent error is getting a document translated before it is apostilled or legalised. Most receiving countries want the translation to cover the final, stamped document, including the apostille or legalisation itself, not just the original degree text. Confirm the order your destination country expects before you pay for translation, so you do not pay for it twice.

A second common mistake is ordering only one certified copy. Employers, recognition offices, and universities each often keep the copy you send them rather than returning it, so order enough originals for every recipient plus one spare for your own records.

Send your documents to the right recipient

• 📩 For employment, send certified copies directly to the employer's HR department, keeping your originals safe.

• 🏠 For formal recognition, send your apostilled degree, transcript, and Diploma Supplement, if you have one, to the national ENIC-NARIC centre.

• ⏱️ For further study, check the receiving university's own document requirements, since some ask for documents sent directly from your previous institution rather than from you.

Budget time and a small fee for each step

Registrar transcript fees, apostille or legalisation fees, and translation costs add up across a document chain with several offices involved. None of these steps are usually expensive individually, but each adds processing time on top of the others. Start the process as soon as you know you need your degree abroad, rather than waiting until an employer or university sets a hard deadline.

If you studied in more than one country

Graduates with a joint degree, an exchange year, or multiple qualifications across different countries repeat this process for each institution separately. Each university issues its own transcript, and each country's degree needs its own apostille or legalisation chain if the receiving country requires proof from every stage of your education. Start with the qualification the receiving country or employer actually asks for, then add supporting documents from other institutions only if requested.

Keep your documents safe once legalised

An apostille or legalisation stamp does not expire on its own, but some receiving offices ask for a document issued within a set recent window, particularly for work permit or visa applications. Keep your legalised originals safe, and reorder a fresh apostille only when a specific request calls for a recent one rather than reordering by default.