Educational qualification attested in the UK

Mike

There are two ways of doing it.

Using the Saudi Cultural attaché can take 2-3 weeks and lots of paperwork.

The other is via the Foreign office and Solicitor 1-2 days but your certificate must have been issued by a British Uni or College my mate had a degree from the Bahamas and they wouldn't attest them It is also more expensive about £140 against £80 depends on your rush.

Hi
I also tried to call the Saudi attache & never received an answer. You are better going through a registered person to get it sorted. Harley St have a number of agencies who deal with this. Dr Sadrudin 129, Harley St is the chap I used for medicals, visas; the whole job lot, but it can be expensive.

Mine and my husband's documents has in the attache in the London for more than a month. Do not dare ask as the guy might just decide to take it a little bit longer.

I went through the Attache route and it took 5 weeks for the whole process (including from the Saudi Embassy as it is part of the degree attestation process).

Would not take much longer in Mine case takes around 2-3 days for saudi  i did degree attestation from Kuwait embassy, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi and UAE also

agent47 wrote:

I went through the Attache route and it took 5 weeks for the whole process (including from the Saudi Embassy as it is part of the degree attestation process).

My employer has asked me to attest the degree from the Attache. They did not ask to attest it also from the Saudi Embassy.

Should I get it done from the Saudi Embassy?

cheers
mike

There is two stamps they put on the back side of the degree cultural office attache and embassy also after cultural office embassy also stamp on it also.

mikesharp wrote:

agent47 wrote:

I went through the Attache route and it took 5 weeks for the whole process (including from the Saudi Embassy as it is part of the degree attestation process).

My employer has asked me to attest the degree from the Attache. They did not ask to attest it also from the Saudi Embassy.

Should I get it done from the Saudi Embassy?

cheers
mike

hey mike,

Yes you need to get it attested from the Saudi Embassy. If the employer has not asked you, it could be that he is unaware of the procedure OR it is likely he know a way around without a Saudi Embassy Stamp. you can ask your employer to clarify.

The below is just your information.

Attestation of the degree means the verification of the genuineness of the Degree. This verification comes from the Saudi Cultural Attache in the UK in the form of a stamp at the back of the degree validating that the presented document is genuine.

Next step is to verify the authenticity of the Saudi Cultural Attache stamp itself. This is done by the Saudi Embassy because the Attache comes under the regulation of the Saudi Embassy in UK. So you need to get the stamp from the Saudi Embassy on the back of your degree, which actually authenticates the stamp of the Attache (they dont bother about the degree as long as it has the Attache stamp). So this stamp from Saudi Embassy verifies that any document attested (stamped) by any Official Saudi authenticating body, outside the Jurisdiction of Saudi Arabia, is legal and under the regulation of the Saudi Embassy (the prime body responsible for representing and dealing with matters relating to Saudi Arabia in UK).

You will also need to get it attested from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs AFTER you arrive in KSA. MoFA only attest any degree issued from an international institution once they see the stamp of Cultural Attache in the UK stamp authenticated with the Saudi Embassy in UK stamp at the back of the degree.

hope this helps.

I got mine done in Saudi, first by the British council, this was a bit of a mare due to new on line system most of the universities are using to validate the degree cert as this is not included in the councils charge, but once on line it is a simple process and you get a reply usually within 3 working days, then once the council has stamped it, go to the British embassy and they will attest it there and then. I am about to start the Iqama process so we will see if it is ok. but an attested document as far as I am concerned is an attested document and should be acceptable in any country.

Hi mike, everyone is giving their own experiences however things seem to change from week to week so take all advice with a pinch of salt.

When I did my degree it was first notorized by a uk solicitor which only took couple of days and was fine for my work visa / iqama. However when I did my family visas it was NOT acceptable and so it had to be sent to the uk for attestation by the Saudi culture bureau; in my case this took 3 months despite daily phone calls and 2 work colleagues getting theirs done within 3-4 weeks. Note I'd read it had to be also sent to the Saudi embassy and so I blasted for agent for not doing this, however this was wrong information and my degree was never sent to the embassy and did not need to be (however in past people I worked with had done this).

My advice is to get a decent agent and pay the stupid fees to reduce your hassle / heartache factor.

Good luck.

I will be going through degree attestation process soon. One of my degrees is FRCS from Ireland. Can i get that attested in UK.I am currently living and working in London.

Hi Asim,

I am not sure about If Irish degree get attested in UK. I believed get a decent agent pay suitable amount get this done quickly i did same i attached my degree from few other embassies also such as Kuwait, UAE and Bahrain just in any case if i need to change job i don't need to fly back to UK again.

not sure about that, just check with the Irish embassy and they will let you know

Thanks BoroGraham & James.

How much a good agent charges inclusive of VAT? for degree attestation. How much it costs for visa medical.

there are so many in UK you can google it mine just cost for saudi arabia around 80 pounds for attestation of culture you must have contract letter from company plus company state to saudi embassy and cultural office to attest your degree without that it is not possible for saudi arabia and for UAE you need just degree get done your attestation from embassy urself or through agent

Does any one know how much Saudi Embassy charges to authenticate a UK issued degree.  I live in US and am trying to get the answer from the London office of Saudi Cultural mission. No one is responding.

Do I really have to get the UK degree authenticated by the Saudi Consulate in Mumbai?

Will appreciate your help.

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Hi - yes i have had this done - i worked in the UAE and it was a beaurocratic process to say the least AND expensive !!!!!
It depends where you are to be honest - if your in the UAE then im happy to help.
If abroad it usually means taking your certs to the British Council, then to the British Embassey who post it off to Milton Keynes - eventually you get it back all stamped up ( meaninglessly tbh ) - then off to the Ministry of the Interior to get a further stamp.
Expect to pay close to a grand for 3 !!!!! when allcocts are included - again this is UAE system therefore as corrupt as it can be.

Good luck,
Ted

Well it took me one 200 pounds not 3 grand and gulf visa helped a pretty straight method

Hi Graham,

I saw your post regarding you getting your degree attested from the British Council in Riyadh and then by the British Embassy.

I want to ask is that were you able to successfully transfer your iqama with using the above?

Also did you have to get your Degree further attested from the Ministry Of Foreign Affairs in Riyadh after getting it attested from British Council and British Embassy?

I have done a Bachelors from the University of Greenwich in London and now I have to get my degree attested too to get my Iqama transferred.

I would really appreciate your help.

I am going through qualification attestation process through saudi cultural and education attache'in London. The person handling my case informed me that only copy of original certificates will be stamped and attested. I had impression the original education certificates needs attesting. Can some one guide about correct procedure. Thanks

yes it is correct method and make attestation in photo copy also

james donaldson wrote:

yes it is correct method and make attestation in photo copy also

Thanks James, Does it mean i need stamp and signature on originals and copies. I have been told by person dealing with my paper work that only copies will be certified and attested which will be considered as verification of original qualification. Does it sound right?

I have not yet started the process of attesting my qualifications but it looks like it can be a drawn out process.  My UK qualifications are professionally framed and hanging on the wall in my office.  It seems the certificates have to be physically inspected and stamped.

Is this the case?

Has anyone else had framed certificates?  If so how did you deal with this?

I am trying to shorten the process when I start.

Better to go UAE then coming here in KSA once you come here you can find other better job but again company wont let you; that is crap i am suffering for all this

MancDoc wrote:

I have not yet started the process of attesting my qualifications but it looks like it can be a drawn out process.  My UK qualifications are professionally framed and hanging on the wall in my office.  It seems the certificates have to be physically inspected and stamped.

Is this the case?

Has anyone else had framed certificates?  If so how did you deal with this?

I am trying to shorten the process when I start.

james donaldson wrote:

Better to go UAE then coming here in KSA once you come here you can find other better job but again company wont let you; that is crap i am suffering for all this

I am not sure I understand your post.

I have a job offer in KSA.  No job offer in UAE.

Easy to understand:

people look for jobs which pay them better and better here you just stick in;

once you arrived and you feel oh this job is not right for you or the salary you comue here market pay twice you feel here we go then

then it comes to NOC they wont give you that quickly you will stick in limbo situation

Better to seek in UAE and turn down your this offer

Hi,Re attesting your degrees, you should make copies of your degrees and stamp it by the foreign ministry of your country that's what I did when I submitted my papers to the Saudi embassy in Ottawa Canada to apply for my visa.All was accepted.

Unfortunately only the original certificate will do, but they are generally careful when they stamp them.

The change in visa rules it is now best all though a little expensive to have everything done by an agent

Most British universities are on an electronic verification system which makes the process reasonably quick and painless

BoroGraham wrote:

Unfortunately only the original certificate will do

This is worrying.  Surely some people still frame their degree certificates.  Has anyone had to deal with this situation?  How do you present a framed certificate for verification?  How can you stamp it?

I am also going through same process. Fortunately only copies of certificates will be verified and attested. Originals won't be stamped. I have checked with few more doctors who were employed from UK. All had copies certified and originals were spared. But originals will need to be submitted for copy and verification.

I read your blog about UK degree attestation by British council in Riyadh. Can you please let me know how it works. I am in jeddah and my son has to transfer his Iquama for which he will require his UK degree to be attested.

Hi fmotiin,

Welcome to expat-blog!

Please note that this thread is a year old.

I suggest you to create a new post on the Riyadh forum, where this might help you get more information.

Regards,

David.