Requirement for all admissions
During the final part of the admission procedure the authenticity of your documents will be checked. If your documents (degree certificate and transcripts) are online verifiable through a platform of your home institution or a governmental platform you can contact the admission office using our international helpdesk. The URL of the verification platform and the verification codes should be mentioned on your diploma and transcripts. If that’s the case you might be exempted from sending in hard copies. Verification via a third party provider of credential exchange (Parchment, National Student Clearinghouse, My eQuals, MyCreds, Gradintelligence…) might also be considered.
If your documents are not verifiable online you’ll need to submit legalised copies.
If your documents were legalised with a digital e-legalisation, it will suffice to send the soft copies via the international helpdesk. If the legalisation was done on paper, you will need to send the legalised hard copies to the registrar's office by post or courrier. Make sure that you pay all expenses associated with the delivery. The university will reject packages if payment by the university is required. Please note that submitted documents (originals or copies) are never returned.
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What is document legalisation?
The authentication or legalisation certifies the origin of a document. During legalisation the genuineness of a signature, the capacity of the signer and, if applicable, the authenticity of the stamp or the seal on the document are verified
How to get a document legalised?
The legalisation is done in the country where the document was issued. There are different procedures to authenticate a document. The procedure to follow depends on the country where the document was issued. Please always check the website of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the most recent information. When using this website, in the field ‘document group’, always choose ‘other documents drawn up or legalised by a competent local authority’.
Traditional legalisation
This procedure consist of a chain of individual authentications of the document. Initially the verification is done by officials of the country where the document was issued, secondly by the Embassy or Consulate where the document is to be used. Check the list of the countries for which a traditional legalisation is required. An example of a traditional legalisation is shown below.
Apostille
Countries that signed the Apostille Convention use a simplified legalisation procedure. The procedure is reduced to the issuance of a standard authentication certificate (or apostille) by an authority designated by the country where the public document was issued. Check the list of the countries for which an apostille is required. Please note that an apostille can only be provided by the designated authority. More details about these authorities can be found on this website. An example of an apostille is shown below.
Exceptions
Certified copy
Countries that signed the Brussels Convention of 25 May 1987 are exempted from the requirements of legalisation. For these countries a certified copy (a copy of the degree certificate stamped and signed by the issuing university) is sufficient. Check the list of the countries for which a certified copy is sufficient.
Which documents need to be legalised?
In the final phase of the admission procedure students need to provide a hard copy of the relevant degree certificate and a hard copy of the academic transcripts. These documents need to be accompanied by a translation in case the original documents are not drawn up in Dutch, French, German or English.
All these documents, including the translations, need to be properly legalised (see above ‘how to get a document legalised’). Documents that are certified in other ways than explained above will not be accepted. The degree certificate and the academic transcripts should be the same as the copies that were uploaded earlier electronically (in Mobility Online). In case your original degree certificate was legalised (instead of a copy of it), you will not be required to send us the original certificate. An ordinary copy will suffice along with the legalised copy of the transcripts. If admitted, you’ll be asked to present the original legalised diploma upon enrolment. Please note that ordinary copies of transcripts are never accepted during the authenticity screening.
Final year students, that have not graduated yet, should send
- an original letter from their home institution mentioning the programme they are studying, their status and the expected graduation date. The letter itself needs to be originally signed and stamped by the home institution (a legalisation is not required). However, a legalised copy of the degree certificate is required before enrolment is possible.
- a copy of the provisional transcripts. These transcripts need to be legalised!
Students that have applied in recent years and want to reapply, will not be asked to submit the same documents again. Application documents are kept during a certain period of time and can be re-used when reapplying.