How to Revalidate and Recognize Foreign Diplomas in Brazil

Recognizing and validating foreign diplomas is important for immigrants who intend to come to Brazil. Likewise, it is a relevant process for Brazilians who graduated abroad.

In this article, we will provide detailed information about the process of recognition and revalidation of foreign diplomas in Brazil.

Author: Lucas Velozo de Mello Marchiori

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What are the requirements to revalidate a foreign diploma in Brazil?

For the applicant to revalidate a foreign higher education diploma, the course taken must correspond to Brazil. That is, the course must be recognized in the same level and area or equivalent in Brazilian territory.

A public education institution in Brazil must carry out the recognition of the foreign diploma. Therefore, only a public Brazilian university, regularly accredited and maintained by the Government, can revalidate diplomas.

How does the process for the revalidation and recognition of foreign diplomas work?

As mentioned, the process for revalidation of a higher education diploma must take place through a Brazilian public university. However, Brazil does not have any agreement for the revalidation and automatic recognition of higher education diplomas with any country. Therefore, the revalidation and recognition process is the same for diplomas from all countries.

The educational institution will define the procedure and the documents to be presented for the revalidation process. Educational institutions are free to establish their own revalidation and recognition processes. However, there are common aspects between these processes.

The basic documents required are a copy of the applicant’s diploma and transcript. However, these documents must be legalized to be valid in Brazil. If you want to know more about the document legalization process, visit our article dedicated to the subject.

It will be up to the university responsible for the recognition analysis to request, when deemed necessary, the translation of the foreseen documentation.

In addition, the applicant must pay a fee referring to the cost of administrative expenses for the revalidation and recognition of diplomas. However, the value of the fee is not predetermined by the National Council of Education or by the Ministry of Education, varying between institutions.

The deadline for the university to decide on the application for revalidation of undergraduate degrees depends on the type of procedure. By regular procedure, it is up to 180 days, and by simplified procedure, it is up to 60 days, counting from the date of delivery of the necessary documentation.

How is the regular procedure?

The first stage of the procedure is to contact the Brazilian public university that will revalidate the foreign diploma. In this way, the applicant will be aware of the necessary documentation that he must present.

After the applicant gathers the documentation, he must submit the documents for analysis by the educational institution. The institution has a period of 30 days after receiving the documentation to inform whether everything is adequate. Thus, the institution will generate a protocol if the documentation is correct.

From this moment on, the analysis stage will begin. The educational institution has a period of up to 180 days to complete the analysis. Thus, the educational institution will compose an evaluation committee and, in the end, issue an opinion on the request for revalidation and recognition of the diploma.

The educational institution may request additional information and also request that the applicant complete additional disciplines. In these cases, the applicant must present proof of the course taken.

After completing this stage, the educational institution discloses the result of the process. The institution provides the opinion with an analysis of approval or rejection of the process.

In case of approval, the institution will apostille the diploma within a period of up to 30 days. After that, it is enough for the applicant to carry out the withdrawal of the diploma revalidated and recognized in the national territory.

How does the simplified procedure work?

The simplified procedure applies in the following cases:

For Graduate:

• Diplomas from foreign courses or programs are indicated in the specific list produced by the Ministry of Education and made available through the Carolina Bori Portal. A list of courses or programs has already been submitted to three analyses by different revalidating institutions with positive approval. 
• Graduates in courses from foreign institutions accredited under the assessment of the MERCOSUR Regional Accreditation System for University Courses (ARCU-SUL System).
• Graduates in foreign courses or programs have received students with a scholarship granted by a Brazilian government agency within a period of five (5) years.

For Postgraduate:

• Diplomas from foreign courses or programs are indicated in the specific list produced by the Ministry of Education and made available through the Carolina Bori Portal. A list of courses or programs has already been submitted to three analyses by different revalidating institutions with positive approval.
• Postgraduates in foreign courses or programs have received students with a scholarship granted by Graduates of a Brazilian government agency within a period of five (5) years.
• Postgraduate who completed a program abroad for which there is a double degree agreement with a stricto sensu postgraduate program (master’s and/or doctorate) of the National Postgraduate System (SNPG), evaluated and recommended by Capes.

The public university must assess whether the request fits into the hypotheses of simplified processing.

The educational institution must complete the recognition process within 90 days, counting from the date of the application protocol.

Postgraduate Diploma Recognition

The regulation for the recognition of a foreign diploma only involves a stricto sensu postgraduate diploma (Master’s and Doctorate). Thus, there is still no legal provision for the recognition of lato sensu graduate degrees.

Master’s and Doctorate diplomas issued by foreign universities must go through the same procedure as graduation diplomas. Thus, universities that have recognized and evaluated postgraduate courses in the same area of knowledge will be able to recognize the diplomas.

The higher education institution will also define the necessary documents.

The regular analysis period on the application for recognition of Master’s or Doctorate diplomas of up to 180 days. However, the deadline for simplified procedures is up to 60 days, counted from the date of delivery of the necessary documentation.