Recognition of foreign educational documents in Russia

To proceed to admission the applicant should send his documents to the email of MPEI coordinator, for Bachelor and Master studies study@mpei.ru  and for Ph.D. students and trainees to phdcourse@mpei.ru. In case if the documents are not in the European languages, please complete the primary translation.

Then the procedure of recognition is started. The recognition can be made either at MPEI or at the official State body “Main State Expert Center of Education Evaluation”. These are two independent organizations, at the Center the recognition costs a fee, at MPEI it is free of charge. Recognition at the Center is valid everywhere in Russia, recognition at MPEI is valid at MPEI only. Both require some paperwork.

The recognized documents are the original and the transcript for preceding level of education, i.e. the diploma and its grade list.

The recognition process implies the legalization of the document. That means the procedure of confirming the validity in Russia of educational document issued by the country of applicant. It is done by apostillizing or consulate legalization, depending on the applicant’s country. However, for some countries, for example, China, India, Egypt, Vietnam, it is automatic.

If the applicant needs the consulate legalization, that means he should have to authorize his documents at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of his country, and after it’s done, he should verify it at the Embassy of Russia in his country. The details of exact legalization procedure differ for different countries, so it is recommended for the applicant to contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the applicant’s native country for help.
If the applicant needs the apostille, that means he should go for this special stamp, apostille, at the State Body that gives it in his exact country, the case differs for different countries. However, there is no need to verify the apostille stamp at the Embassy of Russia in his country. In case of questions, the applicant can contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for help.
If the applicant’s country has the special agreement with Russia, the legalization is automatic.

The next necessary action for the admission paperwork is to translate the legalized documents and verify the translation at the notary. The translation of the legalized documents is better to be done upon arrival at any translation bureau and then to be verified at any notarial office. It is very important to translate all the text and all the stamps of the legalized documents.
Upon translation and notarial verification the originals should be provided to the Foreign Office of MPEI.

In senior cases like Ph.D. and Doctoral studies the Foreign Office demands to provide both Bachelor and Master Diplomas for primary recognition.

In case of any problem the applicant can contact the Recognition Department through his coordinator and receive the requested support.