3 Key Steps to Validate a Diploma for International Recognition

Thais came to live in Orlando with her aunt and uncle for her last two years of High School. Being with her family in Orlando was a lot of fun, Thais was able to make friends, visit the theme parks and improve her English. 

After graduation, she planned to return to Brazil to go to University there since it would be less expensive than studying in Florida under a student visa. In order to submit her high school grades to the University, Thais will need to do the following:

1. Request a school transcript.

The transcript will be a record of the classes Thais attended, along with her grades for the class. This is very important to remember: The transcript will need to be signed by the registrar in the presence of a notary because it will need to be notarized.

• Why does it need to be notarized? The Notary verifies that the document has the authentic signature of the person authorized to release the school transcript, which validates the transcript's content.

2. Request an Apostille

The notarized document must be apostilled by the Department of State where the school is located. In this case, it would be sent to Tallahassee (the capital of Florida). There, the Department of State validates the Notary's signature and seal as having the authority to witness the registrar's signing of the school transcript. Thais will send the apostilled copy of the school transcript to the University's registrar's office in Brazil.

There is one more thing left to do: get the apostilled document translated from English into Portuguese by a sworn translator.

3. Request a Sworn Translation

The apostilled copy of the high school transcript must be translated in Brazil by a sworn translator. It can not be translated outside of Brazil. Sworn translators have the authority to make official documents created in one country valid for use in Brazil.

For Thais and her family, this was a difficult and confusing process to navigate because every step had to be done in the correct order to make it work. She went to Google to look for help. Fortunately, she found just who she needed at SCG Law and Language: a notary public who spoke Portuguese, was an apostille agent and had the translation network to handle sworn translations in Brazil. She contacted Sonia, who delivered the whole process.

Sonia went to the High School where Thais studied, received a transcript, and notified the registrar's signature. Next, she sent the notarized high school transcript to Tallahassee for the Apostille. Once she received the Apostilled document, she scanned a copy and emailed it to her sworn translator located in Brazil, and the original apostilled document was sent by DHL to be attached to the sworn translation and later sent by SEDEX to Thais' parents who lived in Belo Horizonte, MG.

Exciting news!

Thais has been accepted to the University and is all set to kick off classes next semester! 🎉