Anglo-American University in Prague Undergraduate Nostrification Instructions
Recognition of High School Education
All undergraduate and graduate degree programs at Anglo-American
University are accredited by the local accrediting body the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic or the National Accreditation Bureau for Higher Education in the Czech Republic (with the exception of the Law program).
Nostrification is a state-administered process which compares your foreign* education to Czech education on the same level in order to validate that your education is equal to it. Your education will be compared to a one of the standard programs of Czech secondary education and matched if equivalent. Please note that only students who do not meet all the criteria for diploma recognition, must complete the nostrification process through the city hall.
Additional official nostrification information can be obtained from: the Multicultural Center, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, and the Department of Education (Prague).
Advantages of a Czech- and US-accredited Degree
- International recognition: A diploma that is both Czech and US-accredited will be recognized in the European Union, the United States, and beyond.
- For foreign citizens: If the student is a visa-seeker, it allows the student to apply for a study visa. (Citizens of EU and EFTA do not require a visa for the Czech Republic.)
- For Czech citizens: Czech students will hold official full-time student status in the Czech Republic, qualifying for social and health insurance coverage provided by the Czech government.
- Erasmus participation: Students in Czech-accredited programs may participate in the Erasmus study exchange program.
- Work opportunities during studies and after graduation:
- For visa-seeking students: Students in Czech-accredited programs with visa type ‘Study’ may apply for a 9-month job-searching visa after graduation and automatically have access to the Czech labor market.
- For Czech citizens and others: A degree from a Czech-accredited program facilitates easier transition into the local job market, as it will be automatically accepted in the Czech Republic.
- Accommodation scholarship: Available for students enrolled in a Czech-accredited program who meet the requirements. This scholarship is awarded automatically.
Nostrification Steps
- Collection of documents
- Legalization of documents
- Official translation to Czech (except for documents in Slovakian)
- Submitting the application to the deciding authority (relevant Department of Education)
- Receiving the decision
- Taking an exam if so ordered
- Obtaining the nostrification certificate
1. Collection of Required Documents
This is a general list of documents required for nostrification. Please note that not everyone needs to submit everything on the list. It always depends on a number of factors.
- High School Diploma or an equivalent of the diploma that is a proof of the applicant’s successful completion of studies and that enables the applicant to pursue further higher education – original hardcopy or notary-made copy, legalized*, and translated to Czech afterwards.
- High School Transcript – original hardcopy or notary-made copy, legalized*, and translated to Czech afterwards (the transcript can be sometimes omitted if fully substituted by the following document).
- A document proving the content and scope of education completed in a foreign school = instructional study hours document – a list of courses taken during high school, divided into academic years, with the number of hours of instruction. Original hardcopy or notary-made copy, translated to Czech. This document is generally not issued by High Schools; therefore, you have to request it directly from them. The template they can use to create this document can be found here. Examples are here.
- A document proving that the school or institution that issued your diploma is recognised by the country according to whose legal framework the foreign diploma was issued as a part of the education system, if this is not clearly indicated on the diploma (if the diploma is issued directly, or signed by, the state’s Education Office, then no further proof if necessary). In case that it is not clear from the diploma, please ask the Ministry of Education in your country for a certificate, letter, statement etc. to confirm the school/institution is authorized to operate as a high school and/or to issue a diploma that is taken as a true high school diploma that allows you to enter university. In case of private or international high schools you will need the school’s license. Original signed hardcopy or notary-made copy (alternatively school-made copy), translated to Czech. Examples are here.
- Proof of address in the Czech Republic – original or notary-made copy of a housing confirmation, lease agreement, or a copy of ID with a Czech address. Your Czech address determines the office (regional Department of Education) to submit your application. If you are submitting your application before coming to the Czech Republic, this document is not necessary and you can submit your application to whichever office. If not issued in Czech language, then it must be translated to Czech.
- Application form – to be found on the website of the Department of Education you apply at. If you give power of attorney to someone, they will fill in the application form on your behalf.
- Payment confirmation – administrative fee for nostrification is 1000 CZK, to be paid before submitting the application, payable to the Department of Education.
*Legalized document = original document authenticated by a notary, by an
apostille, or by a super legalization verification. The type depends on the
country that issued your document. See more below.
2. Legalization of Documents
Public documents (such as diplomas and transcripts) must be legalized in order to be valid for official purposes in the Czech Republic. Other documents can be used as originals or notary-made copies.
Legalization type always depends on the country that issued the document and the agreement it has (or doesn’t) with the Czech Republic. Unless there is an agreement on automatic acceptance of public documents between the country that issued the document and the Czech Republic, the original document will not suffice without legalization.
See the list of countries and the required legalization type here. Look up the country in which your document was issued, not your citizenship.
Types of legalization:
- Notary-made copy (= no further legalization necessary, you need to submit the notary-made copy, so you can keep the original)
- Apostille – higher form of legalization for selected countries. Apostille is an authentication certificate verifying signatures and stamps on the original document, and attached to the original document.
- Superlegalization – highest form of verification for countries with no agreement with Czech Republic. Several steps:
1) verification of the original document by Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2) afterwards verification of the original document by a Czech Embassy in the state where the document comes from
In order not to lose original documents, AAU recommends submitting notary verified copies of legalized originals to the Czech authorities. We recommend making a notarized copy of all documents you do not want to lose, in the Czech Republic before they are translated. The translation can be attached to the notary-made copies instead. Documents submitted for nostrification will not be returned to you if it’s successful.
3. Official Translation to Czech
All documents submitted for nostrification must either be in Czech, or translated to Czech by a certified translator (except for documents in Slovakian).
Acceptable certified translations are made by:
- a registered Czech court-certified translator (in Czech “soudní překladatel”) with a stamp, or a registered certified translator to English in the country the document comes from
- a translator whose translation was verified by a Czech Embassy by a “verification of the correctness of the translation of a public document” sticker and stamp
Court-certified translators are mostly found in the Czech Republic. You can search for them here. Below are the step-by-step instructions on how to use the portal.
- Please select the option “Tlumočníci a překladatelé” (interpreters and translators)
- You can then specify only translators by checking “soudní překladatel”
- Choose “Jazyk” (language) – selecting the language from which they need to be translated
- Choose “Praha” under “Soudní kraj” (region) to be able to see the certified court translators only in the Prague region
- Confirm with “Vyhledat” to search through available records
We recommend using Právní překlady who have a network of certified translators. There is also a possibility to translate and verify the translation of the legalized documents via a representative office of the Czech Republic (an Embassy or a Consulate).
Below you will find the instructions for the process:
- For the purpose of foreign education recognition, the authorities in the Czech Republic will be accepting translations to Czech made abroad only if they are verified via an appropriate representative office of the Czech Republic – this process is called Verification of the correctness of the translation of a public document.
- Do not perform any translation before you consult this matter with the representative office and are sure they can verify your translation.
- There are different types of representative offices abroad:
- Embassies
- General consulates
- Honorary consulates
- To get information about the translation of your authenticated documents and the verification of the translation you have to identify the appropriate office for you, a list of all the representatives offices of the Czech Republic can be found here.
- Steps to follow:
- Identify the appropriate representative office
- Get in touch with the office and ask them to provide you with information on whether they can perform the Verification of the correctness of the translation of a public document, if they confirm it is possible inquire about where should you get the translation to Czech (some embassies have a translator on site some have external translators)
- Example of the verified translation sticker that the representative office should stamp your documents with can be found here
- In case the representative office cannot perform the verification of the translation, you will not translate the documents abroad because such translation would not be valid for official purposes in the Czech Republic.
4. Submitting the application to the deciding authority (relevant Department of Education)
When all required documents are collected, relevant documents are legalized and everything is translated to Czech, an application for nostrification can be submitted.
The authority to accept applications for nostrification of high school education is the Department of Education in the region where the applicant resides. It can be the Department of Education at the City Hall of Prague. If you reside in a different region of the Czech Republic, or have a permanent address in a different region, you apply at the respective Department of Education in the region. You are asked to provide a proof of address for this reason. Only if you do not reside in the Czech Republic yet, you can submit your application to whichever Department of Education you choose.
Application form is always to be found on the website of the Department of Education where you will be applying for nostrification. If you are applying yourself, you will fill it in and sign it, if you gave power of attorney to another person, they can fill it in and sign it on your behalf. The application form will generally require you to state your name, date of birth, contact information, your education data and information.
The application is submitted in person, in some cases it is possible to submit it via mail. Before submitting the application, you must pay the administrative fee of 1000 CZK.
5. Receiving the decision
After you submit the application, the deciding authority has usually 30-60 days to review your application and the accompanying documents. When they make a decision, an official decision is mailed to you, or your power of attorney representative, if you authorized one. The deciding authority makes a decision based on the submitted documents and how much your education compares to a similar program of Czech secondary education. Based on their review, the decision can be the following:
a) Decision that you need to take a nostrification exam within a certain period of time – in case your education only partially compares to Czech education on the secondary level. See point 6 for details.
b) Temporary suspension because of a missing or faulty document, unclear information, or another problem, with a certain deadline – the application is restarted after you submit the requested/additional documentation, otherwise the application is terminated, or exams are ordered, depending on the nature of the issue.
c) Information the application is going to be rejected due to incomparability – this decision can sometimes be reversed in case you are able to provide additional documents. Otherwise application is rejected.
d) Nostrification certificate straight away – this means the process is completed.
6. Taking an exam if so ordered
The most common outcome of a nostrification application is a decision that you need to take a nostrification exam.
The purpose of the nostrification exam is to verify that you have knowledge and profile similar to a Czech high school graduate, if the content and scope of your education is partially different. The decision is made by comparing the subjects, their instructional study hours, years of instruction and the educational systems. In most cases, it is difficult to predict in advance if and what subjects in the exam will be ordered. Exams are very common, so it is best to be prepared for the outcome.
The minimum number of subjects in an exam is one, the maximum is five. There is no grade to achieve, the exam is taken on a pass/fail basis.
The student needs to pass all subjects to complete the exam and the nostrification process.
The exam is in Czech, non-Czech speaking students are allowed to have a court-certified interpreter to accompany them (the interpreter will charge you for the service). You need to arrange for the interpreter yourself.
Exams are mostly spoken, taken in person at high schools around Prague or in the region where you applied. The testing school is randomly assigned to you by the Department of Education. Depending on the regional Department, you either are given an exam period during which you have to take the exam (in that case the exact date is set by the testing school), or you are assigned a date straight away.
Each school publishes a list of topics for each subject, so you will know in advance what to prepare for.
The nostrification exam is part of the official process, rescheduling the date is possible only in case of a health emergency or an appointment at the foreign police.
7. Obtaining the nostrification certificate
The nostrification process is completed only when you have received the nostrification certificate. The certificate will come via registered mail to the address specified in your application, or to your power of attorney representative. If you applied yourself and receive the certificate in the mail yourself, you need to bring and submit it to AAU in order to be enrolled into the Czech-accredited program. AAU has to see the certificate (either the original or a notary-made copy) to be able to make the enrollment.
Example of a nostrification certificate
