Transcript translations are required by:
- universities;
- the USCIS;
- foreign credential evaluations.
All transcripts are required for U.S. graduate schools
The graduate admissions process for admission to a U.S. university is not always as easy as you think. There isn’t one single admissions committee that will accept or even examine an application for a graduate degree course without having cited transcripts from previous academic institutions.
Your application will not be complete until the academic institution has received all official transcripts from every undergraduate institution you have attended. It doesn’t matter if you earned the qualification in the end or not the graduate school still requires a transcript. If you attended a university in Spain for example and you have earned a B.Sc. you will need to provide a translated transcript before a university in the U.S. will even open your application. This will need to be completed by a proven professional transcript translation service.
Sometimes, undergraduates think they have earned a good degree and so don’t have to provide any transcripts outlining the content of the course and the mark they were allocated on completion. You cannot just provide a printout of your school record or an unauthorized transcript perhaps compiled by you as this will not be accepted. Usually, an official transcript is mailed from your undergraduate university or college to the school(s) of which you are applying and it has the college’s seal embedded in the transcript, so that there is proof it’s an original. If you have attended and received qualifications from more than a single educational institution, you will have to request from each of the institutions an official transcript.
Why do universities and colleges require transcripts?
The admissions committees learn a bit more about the contents of the course you have followed when they see a transcript. It provides your real GPA which may not be exactly the same as the information you filled in on your application form. It also includes the coursework you have completed in your major and the grades you have gained and specifically deals with the upper division courses. Other facts are brought up including the undergraduate institution’s quality and the breadth of the coursework covered for the qualification. Your performance patterns over the duration of the course appear on your transcript, which gives a good idea of your interest in the subject and how you achieved the qualification.
Request your transcript translation early
If you have not attended a U.S. university but you have graduated from an overseas university that only provides transcripts in a language other than English, you will have to ask your university to get your transcripts translated into English so that they will be accepted by the college in the U.S. that you wish to attend. You should ensure a good translation transcript service undertakes the translation as your future opportunities are determined by the outcome of your application.
Once you have requested your university undergraduate transcript you should get a certified translation of the unofficial transcript and include that with your graduate application. This will give a chance for the college or university admissions committee to review your status before the arrival of the official copy and translation. You can’t always guarantee that this unofficial transcript will help, but you can give it a try.
Academic transcripts for immigration purposes for EB-I and EB-2 Visas
If you have been accepted for employment in a position that requires exceptional talent you may be eligible to apply for an EB-1 or EB-2 visa through the United States Immigration and Citizenship Service (USCIS) but you have to be well-known internationally for the skills you have to offer. For the EBI-1 you have to be a foreign national who has exceptional ability in any one of the following:
- sciences;
- the Arts;
- education;
- business;
You could also be an outstanding professor or researcher with no less than 3 years of experience in research or teaching and are recognized internationally.
The EB-2 visa is not quite so strict but requires that applicants are professionals with advanced degrees, such as a Ph.D., M.A./M.Sc./MBA, or no less than 5 years of post-baccalaureate experience or a person with exceptional proven ability in arts, science or business.
Whatever visa category you fit into you will be required to provide all the back-up documentation to the USCIS. If your documents are in a language other than English you will need certified translations of each of them. You will be asked to provide academic transcripts to prove the content and attainment for any graduate degrees you have completed and you will need to hire a reputable transcription translation service whose translator will be prepared to certify the translation.
Foreign credential evaluation services
If you have studied and received qualifications outside the U.S. you will need to get a credential evaluation service to evaluate your qualifications against the equivalent qualifications in the U.S. A foreign credential evaluation report is required by the USCIS for just about all visa categories. An applicant is required to hold the equivalent of a US B.A. /B.Sc. before being accepted for a study visa on a graduate program. This generally means providing a certified copy of a translation of your academic transcripts performed by a reputable transcript translation service which details each subject you have completed, credits obtained and the grade point averages (GPA) based on a 4.0 scale.
