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Recognition of foreign degrees

With the ratification of the Lisbon Convention, as determined by Law n. 148 of 11 July, 2002, the concept of recognition according to the purpose was introduced in Italy.

If you hold a foreign degree and would like to apply for its recognition, first it is indeed necessary to clarify the objective for which a recognition is requested by the Italian system before beginning any evaluation procedure, taking into account the different existing procedures in our legislation and the different bodies responsible for such implementations. In order to start the correct procedure depending on your objective (work, public competition, study, etc.), please visit the dedicated webpage on CIMEA's website.

 

If you hold a foreign diploma and wish to enrol in an undergraduate degree program or 5-6-year postgraduate degree program, or if you hold a foreign degree and wish to enrol in a postgraduate degree program, please follow the application procedure for international students

If you hold a foreign degree and wish to apply to obtain the corresponding Italian degree, please refer to the instructions below.

Where and when to apply

Italian citizens, EU citizens and non-EU citizen legally residing in Italy holding a valid residence permit can apply for the recognition of their foreign degrees at the International Students Desk by submitting a recognition request via the dedicated online procedure. The application window for the 2023-2024 academic year closed on 5th May 2023.

 

Non-EU citizens residing abroad can apply for the recognition in the same period of time through the competent Italian Embassy/Consulate in the country where the foreign degree was obtained.

How to apply
Italian citizens, EU citizens and Non-EU citizens legally residing in Italy

Before applying for the recognition, first look at the degree programs offered by the University of Turin in order to choose the degree program whose study plan and syllabus are similar to the degree program you attended abroad. The study plan of each degree program is available on the degree program website.

The choice of the degree program is your sole responsibility and the International Students Desk cannot interfere nor give specific suggestions on which program to choose. If you think that more than one degree program offered by UniTO may be suitable to apply for, you may submit more than one recognition request, by paying the required fee for each request.

 

The necessary documents to apply for the recognition are the following. 

  1. ID card or passport, Italian tax code (“codice fiscale”) and residence permit
  2. high school diploma provided with a certified translation into Italian or English and consular legalization. Candidates holding an Italian diploma may provide a self-declaration of the diploma
    • if you obtained your high school diploma after less than 12 years of schooling, the missing years of studying will be filled with the first years of university
    • if you apply for the recognition of a degree program in Medicina e chirurgia, Medicine and surgery or Odontoiatria e protesi dentaria you have to upload also the declaration of equal value of your high school diploma (as requested by the call for application to the second year onward published yearly in the website of the School of Medicine). We will not accept recognition requests of candidates that don’t have at least 12 years of schooling + 6 years of university. In this case you can directly apply to the above mentioned call.
  3. foreign degree, provided with certified translation into Italian or English and: 
    • declaration of equal value ("dichiarazione di valore") issued by the competent Italian Embassy/Consulate in the country where the foreign degree was obtained ​​​​or statement of comparability issued by CIMEA
    • consular legalization or statement of verification issued by one ENIC-NARIC center, such as CIMEA.

      If you apply for the recognition of a postgraduate degree program, please upload also your undergraduate degree, provided with certified translation into Italian or English and consular legalization 

  4. degree program transcript of records issued by the foreign Institution/University, including marks and ECTS assigned to each exam, provided with certified translation into Italian or English and consular legalization  
    or
    certified copy of the Diploma Supplement, provided with consular legalization.
    If you apply for the recognition of a postgraduate degree, please upload also your certified copy of the undergraduate degree transcript of records issued by the foreign Institution/University, including marks and ECTS assigned to each exam, provided with certified translation into Italian or English and consular legalization
  5. degree program syllabus issued by the foreign Institution/University, provided with translation into Italian or English. 
    If your foreign university does not issue this kind of document, as an alternative you can:
    • upload into your recognition request the degree program syllabus available on your University website and include in your application the links where the International Students Desk may verify the attached syllabus
    • ask your foreign University to provide you with the syllabus by email and attach to the recognition application the email certifying that the syllabus was officially received by your university.
  6. if you apply for the recognition of a postgraduate degree and the postgraduate degree program you attended abroad included a final thesis, a copy of your degree thesis, translated into Italian or English, has to be added to the application
  7. a document explaining the grading system of your foreign university provided with translation into Italian or English. If the grading system is clearly explained in your transcript of records or in another document already attached in the online procedure, you don’t need a separate document

  8. recognition of foreign careers form (either in Word or Open Office format) duly filled in and signed

Study documents issued in Italian, English, French or Spanish don’t need to be translated.

The University reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to request further documents if necessary for evaluating your educational background.

Once your application has been received and checked by the International Students Desk.If the recognition request is complete, you will receive instructions to pay the required € 300 non-refundable fixed fee (excluding any bank charges) and € 16 stamp duty for each recognition request, as stated in the Tuition fee regulation. If you hold international protection you have to pay only the € 16 stamp duty for each recognition request.

Upon payment of the required fee the recognition request is accepted and the International Students Desk submit it to the evaluation of the competent Board of Professors and then will notify you of the recognition outcome as soon as available. If the recognition request is not complete, the International Students Desk will ask you to upload all missing documents within a given deadline. Upon provision of all missing documents within the deadline, you will receive instructions for the payment.

Once your recognition request has been submitted, please regularly check your inbox since the offices or the Professors who manage your recognition request may contact you by email for further information or clarifications.

Non-EU citizens residing abroad

Non-EU citizens residing abroad can apply for the recognition through the competent Italian Embassy/Consulate in the country where the foreign degree was obtained.

The necessary documents to apply for the recognition, the application period and the guidelines to follow are the same as the ones stated for Italian citizens, EU citizens and Non-EU citizens legally residing in Italy.

Outcome of the recognition

The application for recognition of a foreign degree may result either in a total or in a partial recognition:

  •  if you obtain total recognition of your foreign degree, you will be awarded the equivalent Italian degree upon payment of a € 200 fixed fee
  • if you obtain a partial recognition of your foreign degree, you will be informed of the additional exams that would be necessary to obtain the equivalent Italian degree. If you wish to enrol at the University of Turin to obtain the equivalent Italian degree, you should enrol a career shortening (“abbreviazione di carriera") and take the admission exam, if required by the degree program you chose. 
    The recognition outcome is valid for the academic year you asked the recognition for only, therefore you will have to enrol in the same academic year as your request and no validity extension to future academic years can be granted. 

    Under some specific conditions, such as substancial differences between your foreign study plan and syllabus and the chosen degree program offered by UniTo or for other reasons, the evaluation of your request may result in a recognition denial, which will be detailed in the competent Department resolution that will be sent to you by the International Students Desk.

 

As determined by Law n. 148 of 11 July, 2002, you will be informed by email of the recognition outcome within 90 days.