General Information on the Recognition of Foreign Higher Education
Legislation Governing the Recognition of Foreign Higher Education Qualifications
- Act No. 111/1998 Coll. on Higher Education Institutions and on Modification and Amendment of Other Acts
- Act No. 500/2004 Coll. on Administrative Procedure
- International treaties governing the recognition of prior education, binding for the Czech Republic
- International treaties governing the authentication of public documents, binding for Czech Republic
Authorities Governing the Recognition of Foreign Education
- Public higher education institution implementing accredited university degree programmes of corresponding content. Relevant universities may be found e.g. here(Czech only).
- Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports – entitled to make decisions regarding education obtained in countries with bilateral international treaties (Hungary, Germany, Poland, Slovenia); in disputable situations, the ministry determines the affiliation of a given university with respect to recognition of education or may resort to own means of granting recognition. The ministry functions as an appellative body in case of recognition rejection.
- Ministry of Defence – entitled to make decisions regarding military-related education
- Ministry of the Interior – entitled to make decisions regarding education in the area of security forces
Application Submission
Graduates of Bachelor’s and/or Master’s degree programmes at international universities wishing to obtain recognition at Masaryk University are required to submit a written Application for the recognition of foreign education to the MU Rector’s Office – Office for Studies, Žerotínovo nám. 9, 601 77 Brno. Doctoral degree programme graduates are required to submit their applications to the Academic Qualifications and Quality Office, Žerotínovo nám. 9, 601 77 Brno.
The following attachments must be submitted along with Application for the Recognition of Foreign Education:
- Certified copy of a diploma, certificate or similar proof of completion of studies issued by a foreign university
- Certified copy of the diploma supplement or the original or certified copy of a list of completed courses
- Certified translations of both documents into Czech or English (documents issued in English are exempt from this clause)
- Written power of attorney, if submitted by a person other than the graduate
- Ruling on grant refugee status, if submitted by person who has been granted this status
Verification of Signatures and Stamps in Original Educational Documents
Pursuant to conditions stipulated by existing international treaties, the verification procedure is subdivided into three groups:
1. A bilateral treaty on legal assistance concluded between two countries – documents issued by such countries are exempt from the requirements of section 90, subsection 3 of the Higher Education Act. All documents are thus considered valid with no further authentication necessary.
2. A multilateral agreement on the legalisation of foreign public documents (Hague Convention) concluded between two countries – relevant documents consequently need not be legalized by a representative body of the Czech Republic in the issuing country. Instead, an international certification, the so-called appostille, is issued. The countries in question are tasked with designating the 
authorities, charged with apostille allocation.
3. Other countries – diplomas and proofs of graduation issued in all remaining countries must be verified in accordance with the provisions of section 90, subsection 3 of the Higher Education Act; all signatures and stamps on original documents must be simultaneously authenticated by the ministry of foreign affairs of the country where the university in question is located (or relevant foreign authority) and the relevant representative body of the Czech Republic in that country.
The table includes a list of countries and authorities tasked with implementing the first stage of the recognition of foreign higher education process as well as an overview of the relevant verification groups. An up-to-date list of international agreements is also available online at http:/
/www.mzv.cz/jnp/cz/zahranicni_vztahy/mezinarodni_smlouvy/index.html.
Application Processing Time
The Recognition of Foreign Education Qualifications application will be processed within a period of 30 days (60 days in complex cases) following submission of the application form including all relevant attachments. This period does not include times during which the proceedings are adjourned.
Remedies
In the event of an applicant’s Recognition of Foreign Education Qualifications application being rejected, the applicant has a period of 15 days following the rejection to lodge an appeal – via a given higher education institution – with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports; this course of action is applicable in case the contested decision was issued by a public higher education institution. The Rector of such a higher education institution may either reconsider and amend the decision or refer the matter to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.
Recognition of the Candidate of Sciences Degree
The Higher Education Act lists no legal basis for the recognition of the Candidate of Sciences academic degree. Consequently, Masaryk University is unable to recognize the Candidate of Sciences degree as a direct equivalent of a Ph.D. Further information may be given out on demand by the Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.
Contact Information
Masaryk University
Issues associated with the recognition of foreign education qualifications at Masaryk University may be consulted both in writing and by telephone.
Bachelor’s and Master’s diplomas: Mgr. Lenka Vopálková at the Office for Studies, e-mail: vopalkova@rect
municz, tel. +420 549 494 379
Doctoral diplomas: Mgr. Markéta Burešová at the Research and Development Office (doctoral diplomas), e-mail: buresova@rectmunicz, tel. +420 549 495 365.
Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports
Department of Higher Education, Karmelitská 7, 118 12 Praha 1
tel. +420 234 811 111, fax +420 234 811 790, http://www.msmt.cz/index.php?lchan=1&lred=1
ENIC/NARIC
Centre for Higher Education Studies, U Dvou srpů 2, 150 00 Praha 5 – Smíchov
tel. +420 257 011 335, fax +420 257 531 672, e-mail: skuhrova@csvscz, http://www.csvs.cz/_en/, http://www.naric.cz/.
Ministry of Defence
Personnel Department, nám. Svobody 471, 160 01 Praha 6 – Dejvice
tel. +420 979 201 111, +420 973 212 238, http://www.army.cz
Ministry of the Interior
Education and Police Schools Administration Department, P. O. BOX 21/OV, Nad Štolou 3, 170 34 Praha 7
tel. +420 974 832 746, +420 974 832 687, fax +420 974 833 518, e-mail: ov@mvcrcz, http://www.mvcr.cz
List of Court Interpreters
The list is available at the Ministry of Justice website (Czech only) http://www.justice.cz – cf. other experts and interpreters. A list of notaries is available at the Notaries Chamber of the Czech Republic website (http://www.nkcr.cz).
