Are you allowed to work in the USA?

As a newcomer to the United States you need to be sure that you are allowed to work in the country.  See EasywayUSA – “Immigration”.

Are your qualifications recognized in the USA?

Your qualifications.  It is very important that you contact a credential evaluation service to see whether your degree is recognized in the USA.

See www.naces.org for a comprehensive listing of credential evaluation services.

Credential Evaluation Services

By converting your educational qualifications into their US equivalent, the evaluation allows academic institutions or employers in the US to understand them.  It also gives you an indication of what to expect when you present your educational credentials for study or employment in the US. 

An evaluation may be necessary when applying for certain US immigration visa categories that require a Bachelors or Masters Degree.  Evaluations are generally made from a transcript of your studies from the college or university you attended.  Credential Evaluators will tell you which specific documents you need to submit in order to meet the standards for evaluation.

For admission into universities in the United States, applicants to the first year of university or college should submit details of their high schooling.  Transfer applicants to a US university should submit secondary, upper secondary and all post secondary (university) academic records.  Graduate applicants should submit all university records. 

For other purposes requiring a course-by-course evaluation (such as teacher certification and professional licensing) all post-secondary records are required including diplomas or titles.  This type of report evaluates each subject taken in the foreign country, states its US equivalent, and states the US equivalent grade achieved in that course.  These reports usually only evaluate courses above the high school level.  This type of evaluation is recommended if you are seeking employment or professional licensing.  It is also recommended if you are transferring credits from a foreign university to a US university.  In order to obtain a course-by-course evaluation the evaluator would need all of your degrees, diplomas, certificates, transcripts, grade reports, titles, and any other documents that indicate which subjects were taken and how many hours were spent in each class.

Generally a course-by-course evaluation is more expensive than a document-by-document evaluation.

The document-by-document evaluation will evaluate each degree or credential you received.  It will provide the US equivalent of such a degree and the approximate grade point average achieved when obtaining this degree.  This type of report is recommended when seeking employment, seeking immigration visas, or in educational situations where transfer credit will not be accepted.  In order to obtain this sort of evaluation the evaluator would need all of your past degrees, diplomas, transcripts, exam results, and grade reports.  Reevaluations are treated as new evaluations and can carry the same fees.