South Africa - How To Evaluate your Foreign Qualifications

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Procedure

• NOTE: The In-person procedure explained below is general i.e. during normal situation. But, due to the COVID - 19 pandemic that is prevailing all over the world, the SAQA does not encourage its clients to walk-in into the office premises and instructs that the applicants should e-mail the applications and required documents to the e-mail id [email protected]. The detailed lockdown application procedure can be found in the following document: Application procedure
• The general procedure is as follows:

Apply In-Person

1. To evaluate your foreign qualification in person, you have to visit the Head office of the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) and make an application at the Directorate of Foreign Qualifications Evaluation and Advisory Services (DFQEAS).
2. You can find the address and contacts for the SAQA in the following link: link
3. Visit the office and obtain the application form for Evaluation of your Foreign Qualifications from the concerned department as directed.
4. Please make the payment for the process before submitting the application form. Also, attach all the documents as mentioned in the “Required documents” section of this page.
5. Please make sure that all the documents are clearly readable and certified.
6. Then, submit the application form along with all the required documents at the Directorate of Foreign Qualifications Evaluation and Advisory Services (DFQEAS). Submission can be done through post or courier or in-person.
7. The application will be accepted only if the form and other documents meet the stipulations of the SAQA, as mentioned. Otherwise, the applications are deferred and the applicants are informed about the deficiencies.
8. If the applicant wishes, there is a possibility of raising a special request with separate fees for a non-compliant application. When the application is accepted, authenticity verification process of the application and attached documents will be carried out by the concerned authorities.
9. After all the necessary verifications and processes are done, the SAQA certificate of Evaluation will be issued through courier or should be collected in person after reception of intimation.

Apply Online - How To Evaluate your Foreign Qualifications Online with Images

1. To apply for Evaluation of your Foreign Qualifications online, you need to click on the following link: link
2. If you have registered already, enter your ‘Email’ and ‘Password’ under the respective fields and click on “Login” button. Otherwise register as new user by clicking on “Clicking here” button.
3. User registration page will be opened. Fill all the details like Title, Surname, Address, Contact Information, Email ID and Password for your new account under the tab “Please enter your user details”.
4. Then, fill the bank account details of your sponsor under the tab “Please enter the banking details of the sponsor” like bank name, code and account details. Then, enter the verification code and click on “Create account” button.
5. Your new account will be logged in and you will be redirected to edit your user details in the next page. If you want do any modifications and click on “Save” button. On the left side menu bar, click on “Evaluation” option under ‘New application’ menu. Application module with required tabs will open.
6. In the first tab “Overview”, you can find an overview before you proceed to file an application. Information like Purpose of Evaluation, Processing time, Documents to be submitted, Fees details, Modes of payment available will be available.
7. The applicant can make use of any option by clicking on the respective option. Read everything carefully and click on “Next” button. Under the “Qualification Holder” tab, personal details of the qualification holder such as name, surname ID/Passport number and address should be filled. After filling these, click on “Next” button.
8. In the “History of Learning” tab, click on “Add Qualification” option to add the qualification which you want evaluation for. Fill the fields with the name of the qualification, Institution name and the academic period of your qualification. Select the check box “The Qualification was completed” if you had completed your qualification.
9. Then, click on “save” button. If you want to add more qualifications that need to be evaluated, you can add it by clicking on “Add Qualification” option. After completing, click “Next” button.
10. Next tab “Purpose” will be opened. In that tab, the applicant needs to select the check box according to his/her requirement. You can select more than one check box with respect to your need. After selecting, click on “next” button.
11. In the “Results” tab, your initial fees details will be displayed and you will have provisions to specify the mode for communication of results. Select the radio button as applicable and also answer the Yes/No question about the access to third party. Then, click on “Next” button and proceed.
12. If you had selected “Yes” radio button for the question about the online access to evaluation in the “Results” tab, you will be asked to fill the “Online access to evaluation” tab. Under this tab, the applicant needs to select the no. of users that the applicant is willing to provide access to evaluation.
13. Select a number among the three that is listed when you click on the drop-down menu in ‘Number of Users’ field. You will be asked to fill the details of the users that you want to give online access. Enter the details and click “Next” button.
14. If you had selected “No” radio button, you will be redirected to “Terms and conditions” tab once you click on “Next” button in the “Results” tab. Please indicate how you would like to be notified of status changes and account details in the “Terms and conditions” tab by selecting any of the check boxes “SMS” or “Email”.
15. Then, specify if you used SAQA resources at the SAQA offices by selecting the check box available below (leave blank if you did not). Read carefully all the Terms and Conditions listed in the tab and click on “Finish” button. Before that, you can check and modify any information entered under any tab (if required) by clicking on “Back” button.
16. Now, you will be redirected to complete the further steps in the next page. In the page that opens, you can use the “View/Edit” option if you still want to recheck and make any changes in the application. This option can also be used when you leave your application partially filled and resume after some time.
17. Click on the “Print” option to print your completed application form. Write the date on which you are submitting the application and attest the printed form.
18. Click on “Print the sample deposit slip” to download the deposit slip, if you want to pay at a Standard Bank teller. Else, click on “Click here” to pay with your credit or debit card.
19. You can download and print the consent form by clicking on “Consent form” option. Then, the Qualification holder should fill the consent form and attest it. It should be submitted with the application as consent for the QH’s information to be released for the glance of SAQA’s authorities.
20. Also, enclose all the other required documents as mentioned and send the paper application pack to the Head office of the SAQA through post or courier or deliver in person. Applicants are encouraged to deliver applications to SAQA in person, or by courier, to avoid postal delays.
21. The application will be accepted only if the form and other documents meet the stipulations of the SAQA, as mentioned. Otherwise, the applications are deferred and the applicants are informed about the deficiencies.
22. If the applicant wishes, there is a possibility of raising a special request with separate fees for a non-compliant application. When the application is accepted, authenticity verification process of the application and attached documents will be carried out by the concerned authorities.
23. After all the necessary verifications and processes are done, the SAQA certificate of Evaluation will be issued. The details about issuance of results is available in detail in the following link: link

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Required Documents

1. Certified copy of Identity proof
2. Proof of payment as indicated on the application
3. Consent form or undertaking duly signed by Qualification Holder
4. Qualification Documents that should be evaluated
5. Duly signed Application form

• Requirements that the documents mentioned above should meet is explained in the document below: Requirements details

Office Locations & Contacts

South African Qualifications Authority Head Office Office
Physical Adsress:SAQA House
1067 Arcadia Street, Hatfield
Pretoria
0001
South Africa
Postal Adsress:Postnet Suite 248
Private Bag X06
Waterkloof, 0145
South Africa
Tel:012 431 5000
Tel:086 011 1673
Email: [email protected]
Website link

Eligibility

1. Any person who has any foreign qualification and in need for evaluation of that qualification can apply.
2. The person should possess at least one valid ID proof or Passport.
3. The person must possess true copies of all the required documents and the documents must meet the requirements stipulated by SAQA.

Fees

• The tariff formulated by the SAQA for Evaluation of Foreign Qualifications can be found in the following document: Tarrifs
• Payment process: Payment process

Validity

Explain the time until which the certificate/document is valid.
e.g. Birth Certificate Valid Forever

Documents to Use

• Online application procedure: application procedure
• Consent form: Contest form

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

Processing Time

• Normal application: 30 working days.
• Urgent application: 20 working days.
• Priority application: 10 working days.
• Special application: 48 hours (send a notification to [email protected])

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications. 
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Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
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sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
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e.g In the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

Instructions

• The South African Qualifications Authority does not allow any general public to visit the office unless they meet the stipulated requirements. Please refer the following document for more information: More info
• SAQA only allows the Qualification Holders to apply for an evaluation in terms of protection of private details and some other security reasons which is found in detail in the document below: More info
• Qualification certificates in foreign languages should be accompanied by certified translated documents on submission.
• If the application does not include all the required documents, or if documents do not comply with the requirements outlined, or if any other requirement as stipulated in the application information procedure is not met, SAQA regards the application as non-compliant and will not accept it.

Required Information

1. Name and contact details
2. Date of birth
3. Residential address
4. Details of Educational qualifications
5. ID number or Passport number
6. Details of users other than the applicant that is given the online access

Need for the Document

• When you have a foreign qualification and you want to work in any professional body or attend any Educational Institution in South Africa, the concerned body may ask you to submit a Certificate of Evaluation from SAQA.

Information which might help

• The evaluation consists of processes namely verification of foreign qualifications by ensuring the accreditation of issuing bodies in the national systems they are operated in, legitimacy of the Qualifications, order of the qualification documents and authenticity of awards claimed by the Qualification holders.
• The foreign qualifications are compared with South African Qualifications, considering the structure and outcomes of the foreign qualifications, to locate them within the South African NQF.

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

The purpose of the SAQA evaluation is to determine the level of the National Qualifications Framework at which foreign qualifications should be recognised.

External Links

• Guidelines regarding refunds and cancellations: Guidelines

Others

More information which might help people.