MENA Diplomas

[Tunisia216 2]

Maybe this isn't the right place to put this? I suppose it's more of a general question, but I'm most curious about those of you from MENA countries and what you have done in regards to this.

Hubby asked me the other day about his diplomas - He has his highschool diploma, a 2 year (Associates) diploma and a 4 year (BA) diploma from the University of Legal Sciences at Jendouba. He's asked me what he has to do to make them "valid" here - He seemed to think that he should have them all translated and then asked me if the embassy will sign off on them after they are translated. I told him that I don't know anything about this and I've never heard of it before.

Do any of you know if the embassy will do that for him? What have you all done in this situation? We are very aware that this diplomas might not amount to a hill of beans once he is here - especially as he's studied law very intensely, but more Tunisian and international than anything America. Going to a 4 year law school or sitting for the bar here is not going to happen.. However we were thinking it could just be a boost, extra credentials when he goes to apply for jobs here, something to attach to his resume, etc.

Also I was curious about transcripts from the college. A Tunisian friend here in Delaware told me he better get them and translate them before he leaves - He told us that once he comes here it is almost impossible to get them - That the University gives a very hard time (being lazy) and they never get sent, either to hubby or to another school he's applying at. So he said it's better to get a certified transcript in French and have it translated before he ever leaves Tunisia.

I'm just a little unsure and confused on what the best advice is to give to hubby. He speaks, reads, and writes Arabic, French, and English - Also some Italian and Spanish but more speaking than reading or writing. I really think all of those languages could open up an enormous amount of doors for him here - Delaware is the number one "incorporated state" in the country. Even Disney is incorporated here because of our tax breaks and such - So most of those companies keep large corporate headquarters here with call centers and the like - The need for someone who can speak that many languages for customers calling in could be huge... (Then again I'm likely being overly optimistic here and I do realize the hardships we will face getting a job for him)

So anywooo how did you guys deal with the diploma/transcript issue? And at this point, more for the purpose of proof to a potential employer than for the purpose of enrolling in a University here.

Thank you !!

[sereia 0]

i agree. get them done BEFORE he comes!

[Meriem_DZ 37]

I would definetly have his diplomas translated. I see no need for the embassy signing off on them. Just get them certified by the translator. It may be worth getting his transripts also translated just for your benifit. You will probably need to use a creditialing service to get his transripts evaluated for professional or educational purposes. The service will request that the transripts come straight from the university to them (translated). They will in no way accept transcripts from you. It took several months for the University in Algeria to send Hachemi's transripts. Hachemi needed it because he was going back to school. The college he attends only uses World Education Service so we had to go with them. They did creditial 90 hours of his college credits from Algeria. There are many services like this, but here is the link to WES. It cost us about 160 dollars to do it. They will request that you send copies of his translated diplomas. It is ok to send those by yourself. Good luck.

Meriem

[SaadBell 0]

I will ask my husband, he has worked in America before, not sure what you need to do. He is an english teacher, so that helps a lot, english degree, and it did work when he was here last time. Now he wants to open a business, he is not sure he wants to teach American kids Chicken lol

[Tunisia216 2]

Now who wouldn't want to teach those sweet, well behaved, American angels?

I will ask my husband, he has worked in America before, not sure what you need to do. He is an english teacher, so that helps a lot, english degree, and it did work when he was here last time. Now he wants to open a business, he is not sure he wants to teach American kids Chicken lol

Edited May 1, 2008 by Ash * Habibati

[Tunisia216 2]

I apparently do not have a good understanding of this quote and reply thing as I think this threat ate my post!

Here we go again (maybe someone should blonde proof this place! hehe )

From everything that I have read here I'm going to tell him to take the diplomas and have them all translated. But it seems like anything he would need the transcripts for (studying here) is going to require those transcripts coming directly from the University, so going through the drama and trama of getting and translating them before he leaves is pointless.

He already told me it could take some time to get them from the University for personal use ( fingers crossed again he's here before long) so I'm going to have him put the request in and just let his family grab the transcripts for him if he's already gone. (Again inshallah) That way in the future at least we'll have fast access to them if we need them and they could snail mail or email them and or translate for him.

I'll have to do battle with him later regarding the Embassy some how singing and sealing it for him - Tunisian hardheadedness at it's finest!!

[Nasturtium 500]

It depends on what all he wants to do. He should get sealed, ENGLISH transcripts-- maybe bring 3 or so official transcripts like this. if he's applying to a school, he'll either need his original transcripts or official transcripts. They will recognize that foreign countries give out "official" transcripts sometimes.

If he wants to use his degrees for employment, he will have to have them translated AND evaluated like Meriem said. ETA-- sometimes some countries do not have accreditation (Egypt is bad for this) or their degrees do not match the US standards... so they require this evaluation in order to see what exactly the person has in accordance with our system and their GPA, etc.

Edited May 1, 2008 by julianna

[doodlebugg 10]

I guess we'll have to do this. Most of the jobs he's looking at now require that he provide his high school diploma. He never brought that with him but I do have a scanned copy of his Associate's Degree so hopefully once we get that translated it will suffice.

[doodlebugg 10]

I would definetly have his diplomas translated. I see no need for the embassy signing off on them. Just get them certified by the translator. It may be worth getting his transripts also translated just for your benifit. You will probably need to use a creditialing service to get his transripts evaluated for professional or educational purposes. The service will request that the transripts come straight from the university to them (translated). They will in no way accept transcripts from you. It took several months for the University in Algeria to send Hachemi's transripts. Hachemi needed it because he was going back to school. The college he attends only uses World Education Service so we had to go with them. They did creditial 90 hours of his college credits from Algeria. There are many services like this, but here is the link to WES. It cost us about 160 dollars to do it. They will request that you send copies of his translated diplomas. It is ok to send those by yourself. Good luck.

Meriem

I just looked on that site and it doesn't give you info for anything less than a bachelor's degree. Any ideas for sites that do HS diplomas and Associates Degrees?

[Nasturtium 500]

I would definetly have his diplomas translated. I see no need for the embassy signing off on them. Just get them certified by the translator. It may be worth getting his transripts also translated just for your benifit. You will probably need to use a creditialing service to get his transripts evaluated for professional or educational purposes. The service will request that the transripts come straight from the university to them (translated). They will in no way accept transcripts from you. It took several months for the University in Algeria to send Hachemi's transripts. Hachemi needed it because he was going back to school. The college he attends only uses World Education Service so we had to go with them. They did creditial 90 hours of his college credits from Algeria. There are many services like this, but here is the link to WES. It cost us about 160 dollars to do it. They will request that you send copies of his translated diplomas. It is ok to send those by yourself. Good luck.

Meriem

I just looked on that site and it doesn't give you info for anything less than a bachelor's degree. Any ideas for sites that do HS diplomas and Associates Degrees?

I don't know that anyone would bother to authenticate one of those diplomas. You may just be looking for a translator. You can usually find one in the yellow pages. I used Arkansas Spanish Interpreters http://www.arspanish.com/ which was way cheaper than anyone else I found. Your husband may want to translate his own and then send it to them. Academic courses have several arbitrary meanings and only your husband knows exactly WHICH course he took-- such as the difference between the "principles of philosophy" and "the foundations of philosophy" which are two different courses but the word is the same in Arabic.

[ya falaha! 0]

I agree with Julianna. An Associate's Degree from Egypt is really worthless here.

[morocco4ever 63]

I agree with Julianna. An Associate's Degree from Egypt is really worthless here.

I think their associates degree is equivelent to our high school diploma. I think their HS diploma is equivelent to our JR High graduation. My husband was bragging about how many of the people there get their associates, but after some grilling I realized that from their kindergarten to associate degree is the same amount of years to our HS diploma. This is just my opinion however, I could be wrong.

[ya falaha! 0]

No, you're pretty much right on the money there. All the bragging about education seems to be much ado about nothing. I hear the same bragging.

I agree with Julianna. An Associate's Degree from Egypt is really worthless here.

I think their associates degree is equivelent to our high school diploma. I think their HS diploma is equivelent to our JR High graduation. My husband was bragging about how many of the people there get their associates, but after some grilling I realized that from their kindergarten to associate degree is the same amount of years to our HS diploma. This is just my opinion however, I could be wrong.

[Nasturtium 500]

I think their associates degree is equivelent to our high school diploma. I think their HS diploma is equivelent to our JR High graduation. My husband was bragging about how many of the people there get their associates, but after some grilling I realized that from their kindergarten to associate degree is the same amount of years to our HS diploma. This is just my opinion however, I could be wrong.

It *is* possible to have less years, the british system is done that way and they probably learn as much or more than we do But the vacation time is done differently. It's not just the USA being all high and mighty over Egyptian degrees, other Arabian nations will not accept them either, or make them redo many courses, or accept with conditions of prerequisites.

[morocco4ever 63]

So just curious, I keep hearing over and over again how much better their (MENA) education system is than ours, and how much easier our classes are. Do you hear that to?

When I watch that show "are you smarter than a fifth grader" I am blown away at what those kids know at such a young age. I consider myself somewhat intelligent, but I wouldn't want to make a fool of myself on that show... Those kids are good!