Academic recognition of foreign credentials in Latvia

Assessment of credentials issued abroad, as well as documents certifying academic degrees obtained abroad is performed by the Academic Information Centre (Section 11.1, Paragraph 1 of the Education Law).

Academic recognition of credentials and academic degrees obtained abroad is required if a person wishes to:

• continue education in Latvia;
• work in an unregulated profession in Latvia.

If you have obtained a qualification abroad and the purpose of its recognition is to work in a regulated profession in Latvia, please see the section “Professional recognition of foreign qualifications”.

Submission of documents required for academic recognition

The application may be submitted by the owner of the education documents, education institutions, state institutions, employers, professional organisations.

Education institutions have to submit an application for academic recognition in the State Education Information System.

The application may be submitted in person at the Academic Information Centre or by sending an e-mail to aic@aic.lv, signed with a secure electronic signature, or by sending it to the official AIC e-address, attaching the following documents:

• Application (application sample);
• A copy of an identity document;
• A copy of the document certifying the change of name or surname, if the name or surname differs in the education document and the identity document.
• Education document (diploma, certificate, attestation, etc.) and its supplement(s) (transcript).

When submitting the application in person, copies of the documents listed in Paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 have to be attached thereto, presenting the originals.

Electronic documents and copies of documents must be clearly legible, derived from the originals and fully reflect the entire document.

If necessary, the Academic Information Centre may request translations of documents into Latvian or any other official language of the European Union and/or their legalization in accordance with the procedures specified in the Document Legalization Law.

The procedure for the academic recognition of credentials

The Academic Information Centre examines credentials based on the following criteria:

• Authenticity of the credential;
• The status of the education institution both in the country of registration and in the country where the education programme is implemented;
• Status of the acquired education programme (duration, degree, type, form and place of realisation, quality assurance etc.);
• The place of the obtained qualification (diploma, degree, certificate) in the education system of the specific country, in the qualification framework, quality assurance, academic and professional rights, obtained credit points etc.).

The Academic Information Centre will issue a statement as to which certificate or academic degree obtained in Latvia may (if possible) a foreign credential or academic degree be equated to.

The statement of the Academic Information Centre is prepared within a month. During the examination of the credentials, the additional information may be requested from the applicant, the issuing authority or other responsible authorities. The term for reviewing documents can be extended up to 4 months.

The Academic Information Centre will issue the statement in the form of an electronic document signed with a secure electronic signature.

Information on the evaluated foreign credential and its owner will be entered in the Register of Education Documents Issued in Foreign Countries (Education Law, Section 11²).

A statement from the Academic Information Centre may be submitted to a Latvian education institution or employer.

This procedure does not apply to higher education qualifications and qualifications ensuring access to higher education issued in Lithuania and Estonia after 7 January 2019. See more information here.

Decision-making on the recognition of credentials

Based on the statement of the Academic Information Centre, the decision on the recognition of the education documents is made by:

• Ministry of Education and Science – for continuing education at the level of primary or secondary education;
• Higher education institution – for continuing education at the higher education level;
• Employer – for work in an unregulated profession.

The decision regarding the recognition of credential may be contested in accordance with the procedures specified in the Administrative Procedure Law.

The processing fee for the academic recognition of foreign education documents

Evaluation of credentials obtained abroad is a paid service. According to the Cabinet of Ministers Regulations No 281 “Price list of paid services provided in terms of the evaluation of credentials issued abroad” (adopted on 13 May 2025), the fixed price of foreign qualification evaluation is EUR 54.60.

Payment upon confirmation of application receipt has to be made to the account specified below, indicating the name and surname of the owner of the education document in the payment order.

Foundation “Academic Information Centre”
Reg. No.: LV40003239385
Legal address: Valnu Street 2, Riga LV-1050
Bank: Valsts kase
Code: TRELLV22
Account: LV23TREL9152080000000