Nostrification for applicants for bachelor programmes of study

The following documents may be used to prove compliance with the requirement of obtainment of secondary education:

a) a document proving general recognition of the equivalence or validity of a foreign document (so-called “nostrification”). Only if you have obtained “Osvědčení o uznání rovnocennosti zahraničního vysvědčení“ or “Rozhodnutí o uznání rovnocennosti zahraničního vysvědčení“ or you plan to obtain one in the near future.

The applicant must submit:

• Printed, filled and signed Accompanying letter.

• An authenticated copy of a document obtained in accordance with Act No. 561/2004 Sb., to regulate pre-school, basic, secondary, tertiary professional and other education (the Education Act), as amended, or in accordance with prior legal regulations, proving that a foreign document concerning the obtainment of secondary education is generally recognised as equivalent or valid in the Czech Republic.

It is issued by Regional Authorities (“krajský úřad”), the Metropolitan Authority of the Capital City of Prague (“Magistrát hlavního města Prahy”), or by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.

For more information see: https://skoly.praha.eu/86754_Uznavani-rovnocennosti-a-nostrifikace-vysvedceni-vydanych-zahranicnimi-skolami

Free of charge (a fee of CZK 1,000 is paid to the Regional Authority or the Metropolitan Authority within the framework of the procedure on recognition of the equivalence or validity of a foreign secondary education)

b) a document proving the awarding of a European Baccalaureate

The applicant must submit:

• Printed, filled and signed Accompanying letter.

• An authenticated copy of the European Baccalaureate diploma

This applies only to the European Baccalaureate.

Free of charge.

This does not apply to the International Baccalaureate (IB Diploma), which is considered a document under section 48 (4) (d) of the Higher Education Act, and in this case the procedure described under letter (d) is applicable. If the applicant submits, in addition to the IB Diploma, a “maturita” certificate of the “maturita” examination in Czech language and literature passed in the common part of the “maturita” examination, then these two documents are considered equivalent to the Czech “maturita” certificate and the applicant does not have to prove foreign education.

c) a document deemed automatically equivalent without any further administrative procedure

A foreign document concerning a foreign secondary education completed with the “maturita” examination, if it is deemed automatically equivalent in the Czech Republic in accordance with its international agreements without any further administrative procedures – these are documents proving obtainment of the equivalent of Czech “maturita” in Slovakia, Poland (“swiadectwo dojrzalosci”), Hungary (“érettségi bizonyítvány”), and Slovenia.

The applicant must submit:

• Printed, filled and signed Accompanying letter.

• An authenticated copy of the foreign certificate or a similar document proving foreign secondary education obtained by completing a secondary educational programme at a foreign secondary school operating under the legal regulations of another state.

If needed the faculty will request the applicant to also submit the following documents:

• Original or an authenticated copy of a document describing the content and scope of education completed at a foreign school (an overview of subjects completed during period of study)

Free of charge.

d) a foreign document concerning a foreign secondary education

The applicant must submit:

• Accompanying letter to Recognition of Foreign Education, downloaded from the Study information system CU (section Proof of education in the module Admission)
• An authenticated copy of the foreign certificate or a similar document proving foreign secondary education obtained by completing a secondary educational programme at a foreign secondary school operating under the legal regulations of another state;
• Original or an authenticated copy of a document describing the content and scope of education completed at a foreign school (an overview of subjects including the number of hours of instruction for individual years of study).

If needed the faculty will request the applicant to also submit the following documents:

• Additional information on the content and scope of foreign secondary education;
• Additional information confirming that the programme of study was offered by an institution authorised to provide an education comparable to a secondary education under the Education Act;
• A confirmation from the relevant foreign secondary school or other relevant foreign body (e.g., a Ministry of Education) certifying that a graduate of a secondary educational programme at the relevant foreign secondary school is entitled to apply for admission to study in a bachelor’s or a long-cycle master’s programme of study in the given foreign state.

This concerns documents to which the procedure under letter (c) cannot be applied.

THE DOCUMENT IS ASSESSED – in the case of a positive assessment, the document is accepted; in the case of a negative assessment the applicant is required to submit a document under letter (a) (a general “nostrification”).

The assessment is valid only for the admissions procedure at one faculty.

The hard copies of the documents listed below should be delivered by post (the documents cannot be sent electronically by email) to the following address of the faculty no later than five prior to the date of registration.

We recommend that you submit your evaluation documents by the end of July so that we can evaluate them in time for enrollment.

Address of the faculty:
Přírodovědecká fakulta UK
Studijní odbor
Albertov 6
128 00  Praha 2

It is also possible to deliver the documents in person to Mgr. Valerie Havrdová in her office (address Na Slupi 16, Prague 2) during the office hours.

A FEE OF CZK 930 APPLIES, it can be paid:

1) by card online via the information system (after submission of the request „Recognition of foreign education“ electronically)

2) via bank transfer to the Faculty of Science

Payment instructions from a domestic account
Account name: Univerzita Karlova
Account No.: 19-2764980247/0100
Variable symbol: 988018
Please include the name of the applicant in the message to the recipient.

Payment instructions from a foreign account
All bank charges must be paid.
Account name: Univerzita Karlova
IBAN: CZ8701000000192764980247
SWIFT/BIC: KOMBCZPPXXX
Please include the name of the applicant in the message to the recipient.
Bank: Komerční banka a.s.
Bank address: Na Příkopě 33, 114 07 Praha 1, P.O. BOX 839, Česká republika

3) in cash at the cash desk of the Faculty of Science

• Form for paying at the cash desk
• Office hours of the cash desk of the Faculty of Science (Albertov 6, ground floor, right corridor, room no. P23)

Translations     

Documents which are not originally issued in the Czech, English, or Slovak languages must be officially translated into the Czech or English languages.

If the official translation is made by other than a Czech certified translator, the sheets with translations must be attached to the authenticated copies of the documents they relate to in such a way that makes it impossible to subsequently change or replace the sheets containing the translation. Translations attached unauthenticated copies of documents shall not be accepted.

Forms of Authentication

For fast identification of the form of authentication – see Guidance document on methodology 1_Forms of authentication – an alphabetical list of states.

All documents submitted by the applicant to the faculty must be duly authenticated in accordance with the relevant international agreements (a list valid as of 1 May 2018):

a. States which have entered into a legal aid agreement with the Czech Republic – original documents are valid in the contracting states without any further authentication. If the applicant submits copies of such documents they must be authenticated copies made by a Czech or foreign notary, at a Czech embassy abroad or made by means of Czech Point service.

List of states which have entered into a legal aid agreement with the Czech Republic: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, France, Georgia, Yemen, Croatia, People’s Republic of Korea, Cuba, Cyprus, Kyrgyzstan, Hungary, Macedonia/FYROM, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, the Russian Federation, Greece, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Syria, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam.

b. States which are signatories of a multilateral convention to simplify the authentication of foreign official documents – Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (The Hague, 5 October 1961, published under no. 45/1999 Sb.m.s. (the Collection of International Agreements)), “The Hague Convention”.

For these states a uniform authentication of documents is stipulated, the so-called Apostille, issued by a competent authority of the state in which the diploma was issued (the so-called Apostille authorities). The list of Apostille authorities is available from the website of the Hague Conference at http://hcch.e-vision.nl (Authorities, per Convention, Convention No. 12 - direct link).

Documents from the following states must be authenticated in the form of Apostille: Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, the Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Burundi, Cook Islands, China – only Hong Kong and Macao (legalisation is required in the case of other territories of China), Denmark, Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe (from 15 July 2008), Dominica, Dominican Republic (authentication by Apostille clause from 30 August 2009), Ecuador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, French territories (i.e., French Polynesia, the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Komodo Islands, Martinique, New Caledonia, Réunion, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Wallis and Futuna), Grenada  (from 7 April 2002 – up to this date it was covered under Great Britain), Guatemala, Honduras, India, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Israel, Japan, Republic of South Africa, Kazakhstan, Colombia, Republic of Korea (South Korea), Kosovo, Costa Rica, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malta, Morocco, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Namibia, Germany, Niue, the Netherlands and its territories (i.e., the Netherlands Antilles, Aruba), Norway, New Zealand, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Salvador, Samoa, San Marino, the Seychelles, Suriname, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Swaziland, Sweden, Tajikistan, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uruguay, the United States of America and its territories (i.e., American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands of the United States), Great Britain and its territories (i.e., Jersey, the Bailiwick of Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Anguilla, Bermudas, British Antarctic Territory, British Virgins Islands, British Solomon Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Saint Helena, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands), Vanuatu, and Venezuela.

In the case of documents from the member states of the European Union, Norway, the United States of America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand it is possible to replace the Apostille (in the case of Canada with superlegalisation) with an authenticated copy of the documents (similarly to option (a)), providing that at the same time at least one of the following conditions is met:

• The foreign secondary school or higher education institution, based on a request sent by the applicant, confirms by e-mail to the faculty that the applicant is a graduate of this foreign secondary school or higher education institution;
• The foreign higher education institution sends the faculty a transcript or diploma supplement of the applicant in a sealed envelope, or the applicant submits a transcript in a sealed envelope as part of the documents; or
• The official website of the foreign secondary school or higher education institution enables verification as to whether the applicant is one of its graduates (e.g., the possibility to download, after entering a password, the transcript of the applicant from the official website of the foreign higher education institution).

c. Other states – documents on the completion of study must be superlegalised. In the case of superlegalisation, the authenticity of signatures and stamps on the original documents is verified:

• By the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the state where the secondary school or higher education institution which issued the document has a registered address, or by the relevant foreign body;
• And also by the relevant embassy of the Czech Republic.

The requirements for the submission of duly authenticated documents are also considered fulfilled if the applicant submits authenticated copies of documents that were previously authenticated by the method listed above that applies to the documents submitted by him (e.g., in the case of a diploma from Kenya, the applicant submits an authenticated copy of the superlegalised documents).

Other documents

If the situation of the applicant calls for it, the applicant also submits the following documents:

a) A power of attorney, if the applicant is represented by an attorney for the purposes of proving compliance with the requirement for admission under section 48 (4) and (5) of the Higher Education Act;

b) If the applicant’s name changes,  an authenticated copy of a document proving such change (e.g., a marriage certificate);

c) An authenticated copy of the decision to award international protection, if the assessment is requested by a person listed in section 90 (4) of the Higher Education Act and if this person wishes to use the possibility of substituting a document with an affirmation.