Anglo-American University in Prague Undergraduate Nostrification Instructions
Recognition of Foreign High School Diplomas
In accordance with Act. No 111/1998 Coll. on Higher Education Institutions, prospective students aiming to study the degree program at Anglo-American University in Prague also within the Czech accreditation must also provide a certificate of recognition of their secondary education completed abroad.
The recognition is the process of having previous education recognized by Czech authorities and is part of the process required for studying in the Czech Republic in a Czech-accredited program (or dual-accredited program at AAU).
This process is called nostrification and it applies to all students who want to pursue a Czech-accredited degree and who do not have one of these diplomas:
- Czech High School Diploma (“vysvědčení o maturitní zkoušce”)
- German High School Diploma (“Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife”)
- Hungarian High School Diploma (“érettségi bizonyítvány”),
- Polish High School Diploma (“swiadectwo dojrzałości”),
- Slovak High School Diploma (“vysvedčenie o maturitnej skúške”),
- Slovenian High School Diploma (“Spričevalo o Splošni/Poklicni maturi”),
- European Baccalaureate diploma
If you are a holder of one of the above listed diplomas, you may be admitted within the Czech accreditation after submitting originals or notary verified copies of the diploma and transcript. If you do not hold them, you may be admitted within the Czech accreditation only after submitting the nostrification certificate (an original or a notary verified copy).
Official Nostrification Information:
Nostrification Steps
1. Gather all required documents:
- Completed application form available here.
- Legalized diploma and transcript (notary, apostille, or superlegalization – based on the country where your diploma was issued, see the list of requirements for each country here.
- Notarized or original copy of the list of school subjects with the number of hours. This document is generally not issued by High Schools, therefore you have to request it directly from them. The template they can use to create this document can be found here.
- Proof that the school which issued your diploma/school report is integrated in the education system of your country (Generally, this is apparent from the diploma or transcript. In case that it is not clear from the document, please ask the ministry of education in your country for the certificate that your school is accredited within your country‘s educational system.).
- Proof of a place of stay in the Czech Republic (e.g. lease agreement, copy of the biometric card in case you already live in the Czech Republic. If you are applying from abroad via the power of attorney, you do not have to submit any proof of residence in the Czech Republic.
- Signed document of power of attorney if applying from abroad via an AAU representative.
2. Notarisation
AAU recommends submitting notary verified copies rather than originals to the Regional Authorities. As such, please make sure to have your legalized documents, notary-verified either in the Czech Republic or abroad.
3. Translation
If applying from the Czech Republic have your legalized and notary-verified documents translated into the Czech language by a registered court translator.
- Please select the option “Tlumočník” (translator)
- Choose “Jazyk” (language) – selecting the language from which they need to be translated
- Choose “Hlavní Město Praha” under “Kraj” (region) to be able to see the certified court translators only in the Prague region
- Confirm with “Hledat Záznamy” to search through available records
If applying from abroad via an AAU Power of attorney representative there is a possibility to translate and verify the translation of the legalized documents via a representative office of the Czech Republic.
- For the purpose of foreign education recognition, the authorities in the Czech Republic will be accepting translations to Czech made abroad only if they are verified via an appropriate representative office of the Czech Republic – this process is called Verification of the correctness of the translation of a public document.
- Do not perform any translation before you consult this matter with the representative office and are sure they can verify your translation.
- There are different types of representative offices abroad:
- Embassies
- General consulates
- Honorary consulates
- To get information about the translation of your authenticated documents and the verification of the translation you have to identify the appropriate office for you, a list of all the representatives offices of the Czech Republic can be found here.
- Steps to follow:
- Identify the appropriate representative office
- Get in touch with the office and ask them to provide you with information on whether they can perform the Verification of the correctness of the translation of a public document, if they confirm it is possible inquire about where should you get the translation to Czech (some embassies have a translator on site some have external translators)
- Example of the verified translation sticker that the representative office should stamp your documents with can be found here:
- In case the representative office cannot perform the verification of the translation, you will not translate the documents abroad because such translation would not be valid for official purposes in the Czech Republic. Instead check the possibility of the court translation at the Czech Republic with your AAU Power of attorney representative.
4. Submitting the application for nostrification.
If applying in the Czech Republic with a residence address, submit the application and relevant documents to the Regional Office, based on your residence address. The list of all Regional Offices can be found here.
Those who have a residence in Prague will be applying in Prague Regional Office, the application should be submitted in person to:
- Prague City Hall (Jungmannova 29/35, Prague 1),Main Filing Room on the ground floor, opening hours can be found here.
- Application must be submitted with a completed application form available here
- There is an administrative fee CZK 1,000 which should be paid at the Prague City Hall cash desk or a contactless machine situated on the ground floor also. Instructions on how to use the machine can be found here. You will be submitting the receipt along with your application.
NOTE: PLEASE DO NOT submit a nostrification application to more than one regional office, as this will stop the process.
If you are applying from abroad, check your necessary steps with your Power of attorney AAU representative.
5. The application evaluation
The application evaluation by the responsible regional authority usually takes 30- 60 days.
- The possible outcomes of the decisions can be:
- Successful acquisition of the Nostrification certificate proving equivalency of education
- Ordering examinations to verify the equivalence of education.
- Rejection because of substantial differences between obtained foreign education and Czech education requirements
→ Information and further guidance on the outcomes of the Nostrification application will be provided on an individual basis.
More information
In case of any questions please contact nostrification@aauni.edu.