The Slovak Republic has its own legal regulations governing the recognition of educational qualifications awarded abroad. It is also bound by international agreements (especially those of European Union and European Economic Area) and bilateral agreements to which is has acceded or which it has concluded with regard to qualifications acquired in another state.

 

Legislation

The recognition of qualifications in the SR is regulated by the Act on State administration in education and school self-government  (Act No. 596/2003 of Law Code) for primary and secondary schools and by the Higher Education Act (Act No. 131/2002 of Law Code). The legal framework is also provided by the Act No. 477/2002 on Recognition of professional qualifications, as amended by the Act No. 5/2005 of Law Code, concerning the pursuit of regulated professions by nationals of European Economic Area and Switzerland. Further, in case of recognition of qualifications issued by primary or secondary schools, the Decree No. 207/1993 of Law Code of the Ministry of Education of the SR applies, in case of recognition of higher education diplomas the Decree No. 238/2005 of Law Code of the Ministry of Education of the SR applies. The Decrees specify administration procedures of recognition.

 

University degrees

The term of recognition of diplomas means recognition of a diploma, issued by a foreign higher education institution or other authorised body according to regulations of the respective State as equivalent to a diploma issued by a higher education institution in the Slovak Republic.

The key points when arranging recognition of a diploma are the type of the activity to be carried out in the SR (academic studies including PhD studies or employment purposes) and the state where the diploma was issued (states of the EEA and Switzerland – Member states, states with which the Slovak Republic has concluded a bilateral treaty on the mutual recognition of the equivalence of educational documents or other states).

 

Academic purposes – study

The recognition of degrees of the 1^st and 2^nd level (Bachelor and Master) issued by the foreign higher education institutions (of Member states or other states except for the states with which there exist the bilateral treaty) falls within the competence of the appropriate higher education institutions in Slovakia which provide the same or similar study programme. If the contents of the studies are only partly identical, the higher education institution may invite the applicant to take additional examinations or to complete and defend his Bachelor thesis, diploma thesis, examina rigorosa or dissertation thesis.

 

In case that there is no higher education institution to carry out the study programmes identical or related to those stated in the submitted certificate in Slovakia, the recognition of equivalence is issued by the Ministry of Education, Centre for Recognition of Diplomas.

 

The diplomas issued by a foreign higher education institution or other authorised bodies of the State that has concluded an agreement with the Slovak Republic on mutual recognition of diplomas are equivalent with those issued by a higher education institution in the Slovak Republic, provided that these credentials are covered by the agreement. Decisions on equivalence of diplomas shall be issued by the Ministry of Education, Centre for Recognition of Diplomas. The decisions made under this Clause refer to recognition for academic purposes only. (The bilateral treaty has been concluded with the following states: Croatia, Germany, Romania, Hungary, Austria – memorandum, the Czech Republic, Poland)

 

In all cases the application is submitted to the Centre for Recognition of Diplomas, which either decides on the recognition of equivalence itself or issues the recommendation/assessment for the appropriate higher education institution in the SR.

 

Documents to be submitted:

·          application form

·          verified copy of the diploma translated into Slovak language, transcript or other credentials on completed examinations or subjects

·          stamp duty of 200 Sk (in case of a Member state)

 

The appropriate higher education institution or the Ministry of Education decides on recognition within 30 days from the date of the receipt of the application.

 

Employment (professional) purposes

Recognition of qualifications acquired in Member States by nationals of Member States and their family members for the purposes of employment distinguishes between the recognition for the pursuit of a regulated or a non-regulated profession.

 

A credential on award of academic degree based on the defence of a dissertation thesis (after the higher education of the 3^rd level, PhD study, doctoral study) issued by a foreign higher education institution is automatically recognised by the Ministry of Education of the SR as equivalent to the credential on award of academic degree of PhD issued by a higher education institution in the Slovak Republic.

a) Pursuit of a regulated profession by a national of a Member State or a family member of such national, diploma issued in a Member State

A regulated profession is according to the Act on Recognition of professional qualifications, a professional activity or a set of professional activities that can be carried out on condition of the appropriate qualification defined by legal regulations. The qualification is understood as education or work experience, possibly other special conditions like confirmation on blamelessness, membership in the particular professional chamber, etc. (Regulovaným povolaním je podľa zákona o uznávaní dokladov o vzdelaní povolanie, odborná činnosť alebo skupina odborných činností, ktorých výkon je podmienený kvalifikáciou upravenou právnymi predpismi. Pod kvalifikáciou sa rozumie vzdelanie a prax, prípadne aj ďalšie osobitné podmienky, ako napr. osvedčenie o bezúhonnosti, členstvo v príslušnej stavovskej komore a pod.)

The list of regulated professions in the SR can be found at the website of the Ministry of Education, Centre for Recognition of Diplomas, www.minedu.sk/SUDV/UDV/udv.htm (“Zoznam regulovaných povolaní” in Slovak and English within one document) together with particular authorities competent to receive applications and make final decisions on recognition.

The regulated professions list among others: university professor, senior lecturer at a university, assistant lecturer at a university, lecturer, lector, secondary-school teacher, primary-school teacher, medical workers of different categories, archeologist, different professions in nuclear facilities, chartered geodesist and cartographer, forest planner, landscape architect, civil engineer, etc.

 

The application is submitted to the Centre for Recognition of Diplomas or the competent authority. The application shall contain:

·          application form with particular regulated profession clearly stated

·          ID card/passport

·          verified copy of the education credentials, verified translation into Slovak language

·          transcript of the completed subjects and examinations or the diploma supplement

·          confirmation on the professional work experience

·          stamp duty of 3000 Sk

·          other documents if necessary

 

In this case the administration of the recognition can last up to 4 months from the date of the delivery of the application.

               

b) Pursuit of a non-regulated profession by a national of a Member state or a family member of such national, diploma issued in a Member State

If a national of a Member state intends to carry-out a non-regulated profession in the SR, the recognition of his/her credentials is not necessary. The national of a Member state can pursue the non-regulated profession under same conditions as if he/she were the national of the SR.

However, if an employer requires a prove from his/her potential employee of his/her acquired qualifications the procedure is similar to recognition of diplomas for academic purposes:

 

The recognition of degrees of the 1^st and 2^nd level (Bachelor and Master) issued by the foreign higher education institutions falls within the competence of the appropriate higher education institutions in Slovakia which provide the same or similar study programme.

 

In case that there is no such higher education institution in Slovakia, the recognition of equivalence is issued by the Ministry of Education, Centre for Recognition of Diplomas.

 

c) Pursuit of a profession by neither a national of a Member state, nor a family member of such national

The recognition of qualifications of nationals of states other than Member states with no family relationship to a national of Member states is governed by the same regulations as the recognition of credentials of MS nationals for the purpose of the pursuit of non-regulated profession.

 

The appropriate higher education institution or the Ministry of Education usually decides on recognition within 30 days from the date of the receipt of the application.

Recognition of primary and secondary education

According to the legislation in force, the foreign qualifications giving access to higher education are recognised by departments of education and culture of regional authorities as a part of the general State administration in Slovakia. At present, there are eight regional authorities.

The regional school authority in competence of the decision on recognition of education is given according to the place of the stay.

 

In most cases the recognition of qualifications is carried out by nostrification, i.e. recognition of validity of a final certificate issued by foreign school in the Slovak Republic. Only the certificates on completed education (final certificates) are a subject to nostrification. The subject of nostrification is a document on education issued by the foreign school, which is comparable by its concentration and content of teaching to the primary school or corresponds to the study of equal or relative subject in secondary school.

The appropriate regional school authority decides also in matters of decision-making on equivalence of documents on education of nationals of the European Union member states for purposes of regulated professions and regulated professional activities after assessment by the Ministry.

 

1.                   The application for recognition is submitted to the Centre for Recognition of Diplomas. The holder of a foreign certificate should attach to the application for nostrification:

a.       a verified copy of certificate,

b.       unless the certificate directly shows successful completion of the entire study, a verified list of subjects with the number of teaching hours in individual years of study (transcript of the curricula),

c.       a document of the foreign school on the extent of practical training in the case it is a profiling component of education and training, and is not shown in curricula.

Also, a verified translation of a certificate issued by the foreign school and other above-mentioned documents into Slovak language is required.

The authenticity of signatures and stamp of the school on original documents should be verified by the State authority responsible for its verification or by notary in the appropriate State with an imprint of the seal of the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in that State, unless stated otherwise by the international agreement.

2.             The Centre for recognition issues the recommendation/assesment to the applicant.

3.             The applicant delivers the recommendation of the Centre together with the appropriate documents to the Department of education and culture of the appropriate regional authority for the applicant’s place of  residence..

 

In case that the study in the foreign school only partially corresponds to the curricula of secondary schools in Slovakia or the graduate did not attach all the required documents mentioned above, the responsible authority could lay down the obligation to take a supplementary examination. The supplementary examination is meant to verify the knowledge and skills of the graduate in subjects, or in their parts, which were not studied by the applicant in a foreign school and which have a direct relation to the graduate’s profile or the field of study pursued. The graduate who is not a Slovak national, does not take a supplementary examination in Slovak Language and Literature.

The regional authority determines the secondary school in which the graduate shall take the supplementary examination, the content and the date of examination.

 

A different procedure could apply when credentials were issued by a foreign school of the State with which an agreement has been concluded on mutual recognition of documents on education by which the Slovak Republic is bound. In case the recognition is necessary for academic purposes (continuing in higher education in the SR) the credentials are considered as equal without nostrification. The regional school authority shall issue within 15 days from delivery of the application a statement, in which it indicates the document on education with which the submitted document is equivalent.

 

Further information is available on website of the Centre for Recognition of Diplomas: www.minedu.sk/SUDV/sudv.htm in Slovak only.

 

Ministry of Education of the SR

Centre for Recognition of Diplomas

Correspondence address:

Stromová 1

813 30 Bratislava

 

Office:

Dostojevského rad 7

811 09 Bratislava

Building of the Theatre Malá scéna, 2^nd floor

Office hours:

Wednesday: 8.30 – 12.00 and 13.00 – 15.00