How to certify your attachments 2025
Table of contents
Higher education degrees
How to go about acquiring the necessary documents concerning a higher education degree depends on the degree-awarding country. Therefore, you should first check whether there are any country-specific requirements that apply to you. JYU does not have country-specific requirements for educational documents concerning secondary education.
If the country in which the degree-awarding institution is located is not listed, please submit the necessary documents either physically or electronically, following the instructions listed below.
If your educational documents were issued to you in a language other than English, Finnish, or Swedish, please also read How to acquire official translations below.
Physical documents
To be accepted, a paper copy must be certified in one of the following ways:
We accept photocopies that bear the original stamp of the awarding institution (e.g., a university, the Finnish Matriculation Examination Board, the International Baccalaureate (IB) Organization) and the original signature of the certifying official. Scanned stamps and signatures do not suffice.
Please check that the document meets the following requirements before sending it:
- The copy is taken directly from the original document.
- It includes every page of the original.
- Each page bears the original official stamp of the awarding institution. A scanned stamp or a generic “certified true copy” stamp is not accepted.
- Each page bears the original signature of the certifying officer. A scanned signature does not suffice.
- If the document is double-sided, both sides include the original stamp and signature.
Please also note that an educational institution cannot certify a diploma certificate issued by another institution (e.g., the Finnish Matriculation Examination Board or the IB Organization).
The process of having a photocopy legalised varies depending on whether.
Legalisation
If the awarding country has ratified the Hague Convention, the copies can be legalised with an apostille. Please visit the HCCH website for the list of the member countries and competent authorities that issue Apostille Certificates.
Please note that the document you sent us must bear the original apostille (unless a country-specific requirement dictates otherwise). The apostille must be placed directly on the document itself or on an extension attached to the document in a way that certifies all pages.
Double legalisation
If the the country in question is not party to the Apostille Convention, the copies must first be legalised by the foreign ministry (or, in some cases, by another relevant ministry) of the issuing country. Afterwards, a competent Finnish Embassy or Finnish Consulate of that country must legalise the document, certifying the competence of the foreign ministry official. Please make sure to follow this exact order as it is critical.
We accept certified copies issued by .
Please note that certified copies issued by notaries public of other countries are not accepted (unless a country-specific requirement dictates otherwise).
Electronic documents
We may be able to accept electronic documents if they have been submitted either through a recognised verification service or via email by the issuing institution. Electronic documents may be accepted only if there is no country-specific requirement or if the requirement specifically permits electronic documents.
We reserve the right not to accept any electronic documents if there is any doubt about the legitimacy of the service or the identity of the sender. We will not pay any fees that may be charged for verification.
We accept official electronic transcripts and degree certificates from the following recognised sources:
- Digitary
- Gradintelligence
- My eQuals
- National Student Clearinghouse
- Parchment Exchange
- Truecopy
- some other legitimate verification service*
If the issuing institution has a contract with one of the service providers, please request for your documents to be submitted to admissions@jyu.fi through the service. Please make sure that the full contents of the documents are verifiable.
*If your institution uses a service not listed above, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to accept your documents. Nonetheless, you can ask the awarding institution to submit the documents to us through the service. We may also be able to accept electronically signed documents and documents accessible through national databases, provided that all the necessary information is included. In all these cases, the verifiability of the documents will be assessed case by case. We may not be able to verify the documents if, for example, the service is not available in English.
You can request for the issuing institution to email your educational documents directly to idp-attachments@jyu.fi. We recommend using our secure email service.
The email must be sent from an official email address of the issuing institution, and we must be able to verify the address from their official website. If the website is not available in English, Finnish or Swedish, or if the address is not listed on the website, we may not be able to verify the sender.
Please note that submitting your documents through one of the recognised verification services or as certified physical copies is more reliable. This is because we cannot guarantee that we will be able to accept documents delivered by email due to the reasons explained above.
If your educational documents are issued in a language other than English, Finnish, or Swedish, an official translation to one of these languages is required. Please notice that you are required to submit a certified copy of the original language version as well. But however, if the degree-awarding institution customarily issues official educational documents in several languages, the English language version will suffice by itself. For example, if your educational documents were issued to you in Spanish and English, the English version will suffice by itself.
To be accepted, the translation must be exact and done either by the awarding institution or an official translator. It cannot be done by you, the applicant.
The document can be either the original official translation or a certified copy of the original translation. The document must bear the original stamp and signature of the awarding institution, official translator, or the certifying officer. If the translation has more than one page, there must be a stamp or signature on each page. If the page(s) are double-sided (i.e., there is text on both sides of the page), each side must be stamped and signed. Please also note that some country-specific requirements apply to translations.
If the translation has been issued by the degree-awarding institution, the document can be submitted electronically (see Electronic documents).
Mailing instructions
If you are shipping from a non-EU country, your parcel may be held up by customs for an extended period of time. To avoid this, we strongly recommend using an international courier service, such as DHL or FedEx.
If you opt to use a postal service instead, please be prepared to clear your parcel through customs in accordance with the instructions of the Finnish Customs.
As the applicant, it is your responsibility to ensure that the parcel is released for delivery and that all the necessary documents reach JYU in time, even if they are being sent to us by the issuing institution directly or through a courier service.
| Address for courier services | Address for postal services |
|---|---|
|
Ģֱ Bachelor's programme admission/ If requested, please give the following phone number to the courier service: Please note that the Registry office is open from Mon to Fri from 9.00-14.00 (EET/EEST) |
Bachelor's programme admission/ Master’s programme admission Admission Services P.O. Box 35 (Building T) FI-40014 Ģֱ, Finland |
If you wish to drop off your documents in person, you (or your friend or family member) can bring them to our Registry Office. However, please note that the documents need to stay with us for archival purposes, and we will not comment on the documents when you bring them.
The visiting address of the Registry Office:
Seminaarinkatu 15
Building C (i.e., the main building), the 1st floor, Room C140.
Mon-Fri from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (EET/EEST)