What is needed for diploma verification?

[cdemundo]

I will be looking for a teaching job next year, 2022 in Thailand.

My degree is from a university in the US.

I was advised to do the following by a TEFL school.

These steps are from the US State department website.

 

"Official documents requiring authentication will need to be certified first by the entity that issued them,

then by the state in which that entity is located,

and then by the federal government (the U.S. State Department). 

Once the document has been authenticated by the U.S. State Department,

the foreign embassy in the United States of the country requesting the document will perform a final authentication. 

Following is a brief outline of what will be required (though the actual requirements will vary greatly from state to state).

 

To authenticate and legalize official documents issued in the United States, please follow the steps below.

1. Obtain from the registrar of the University an official true copy of the credentials. The registrar should then execute an affidavit attesting to the validity of the document before a notary public. Frequently the business offices of colleges and universities have notaries public.
2. If the country is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, the state Notary Public Administrator will affix a state authentication certificate. You should then send the document to the Authentications Office of the Department of State, following the instruction on that office’s web page.
3. If necessary, obtain authentication of the U.S. Department of State seal at the foreign embassy in Washington, D.C. The embassy in Washington, DC of the country in which the document is to be used can tell you if this is required."

 

I have my original diplomas and I don't want to do the above as an exercise.

I can't imagine this is necessary or even intelligible to a Thai official to interpret. 

 

Is this really what is required?

The guy is telling me that 

"The concern with getting this right is more to do with the regional office of the Ministry of Education. In Chonburi province it’s the Chonburi Provincial Education (CPE) authority and how militant the authority is with the schools.  In Chonburi for instance, they are very strict "

 

He has said when I asked for clarification that the certification by the Royal Thai Consulate is the main thing.

I will contact the consulate for verification of what is necessary.

Has anyone from the US recently gone through the process of verifying diplomas?

What did you do?

 

thanks,

CdeMundo

Edited November 3, 2021 by cdemundo
edit out redundancy

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

1) Upon arriving in Thailand, make an appt with the US Embassy in BKK for notary services.

2) Fill out an affidavit form, it's on their website. Write something to the effect of "I possess a legitimate degree in....from..."

3) On your appt day, stand in front of the officer and sware to this. They don't actually want to see the degree. Pay something like 40 bucks.

4) Take the signed and stamped affidavit to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Khlong Toei MRT. There they'll give you the stamps Thai authorities will be satisfied with. Pay another fee for this. Agencies outside will offer to help for an addl small fee, wouldn't hurt to save you some pain.

5) Yes, only the "strict" provinces in and around BKK want this nonsense. They may also want you to get fingerprinted at the BKK police headquarters. Don't do anything until your school tells you to. The police HQ will want to see a letter from your school. Out here in Issan, there's none of this. Cheers.

[Chad3000]

Often Americans need not get their degrees attested or whatever. I never did and changed schools 5x but I'm also on an O visa.

 

See you arrive with half dozen copies of your sealed transcript.

 

Same number or a few more letters from university certifying your degree. Embossed. Mine were all open and flat btw.

 

If you graduated from a decent school and have a nice diploma get an extra.

 

In nearly ten years photocopies have always been taken but never the originals.

 

No idea about the attestation and stamping of diploma. I'd just wait and see if the school wants it or you really need it.

 

Don't go by what Brits say they almost always need to. Same with police check.

 

BTW start studying now about aspects of teaching and forget the very expensive TEFL especially if you have confidence and public speaking skills.

 

Bangkok

Edited November 4, 2021 by Chad3000

[thaitom]

This may be an older post.  I just wanted to add that I did all that, 1. Authentication at state dept.  @. Authentication at dept. of state 3. Legalization at the Thai Embassy in DC.     I obtained my 3 month non-b visa in Thailand (changed from visa exempt).   Applied for a teacher's waiver and was denied, so no work permit.  Reason for denial given … the school is non-accredited, meaning it is not on their list.   From what I have read, Thailand uses the world almanac for US schools.  I have been teaching for close to 17 years in Asia, and this was the first time I thought I would give Thailand a try.  I have worked in Taiwan, South Korea and China, never had a problem like this before.

[cdemundo]

11 hours ago, thaitom said:

This may be an older post.  I just wanted to add that I did all that, 1. Authentication at state dept.  @. Authentication at dept. of state 3. Legalization at the Thai Embassy in DC.     I obtained my 3 month non-b visa in Thailand (changed from visa exempt).   Applied for a teacher's waiver and was denied, so no work permit.  Reason for denial given … the school is non-accredited, meaning it is not on their list.   From what I have read, Thailand uses the world almanac for US schools.  I have been teaching for close to 17 years in Asia, and this was the first time I thought I would give Thailand a try.  I have worked in Taiwan, South Korea and China, never had a problem like this before.

What is your school, seems strange.

[JayClay]

38 minutes ago, cdemundo said:

What is your school, seems strange.

(edit... Never mind. I misread. I shouldn't post so early in the morning!)

Edited February 13, 2022 by JayClay

[cdemundo]

20 hours ago, cdemundo said:

What is your school, seems strange.

"the school is non-accredited, meaning it is not on their list."

 

That's the part that seems strange to me.