Apostilled diploma/degree certificates

Everyone..... I am struggling here with a little problem regarding diplomas/degree certificates that have been apostilled. I understand very well that universities in the US that are accredited now apostille or validate diplomas/degrees themselves. However, if an individual sends a diploma/degree certificate to one of the online apostille services, how do these companies or indeed the legitimate government office in the State to which the document is being sent to provide the apostille, check to establish that the document is from a valid (not necessarily accredited) university. Or, do they just not bother about whether it is a fake certificate or not. I cannot seem to get this question answered by using the online apostille companies, they just seem to issue generalized statements of "no we check to ensure that all diplomas are from certified universities"..... However, I am dealing with an applicant at the moment who states she has a degree from a university which was an online course and who has obtained an apostille on it? I am not convinced it is genuine at all, so do government offices check these things or just take the money and stamp them anyway and if it is the latter, is this legal or legitimate.......? Your help would be gratefully appreciated.

 

Search "apostille" on degreeinfo.com, there are a bunch of threads about it.

In short, the apostille is completely worthless. It basically says "This is a document, and we have verified that it is a document, and that the person who says they signed it is actually the person they claim to be."

Nowhere does anyone investigate, know, or care about what is *on* the document. I could get an Apostille on a document I'd signed, stating that I am the Queen of England, and it would go through fine and I'd get my Apostille attesting that I'd signed a document that I'm the Queen. But nobody would know or care that what's in the document isn't truthful.

Also, all of the "online apostille companies" are basically frauds. You can get your own (completely worthless) apostille by going directly to the state where the document is notarized, for a lot less money than the online apostille providers will charge. But it's throwing money away.


Pretty much, if you have an applicant who has a degree with an apostille on it, you can nearly guarantee that the degree is from a fake or unwonderful school. If you search the degreeinfo archives with the name of the school, likely as not, you'll find a thread or two with info on the school. If not, start a new thread and some of the regulars here will poke around and get some info for you

 

Can you call the school and ask to verify whether the person graduated from there or not? That would seem to be the simplest way ...

 

This conflates "apostille" with "validate," and nothing could be further from the truth. "Apostille" is more like "notarize." It has nothing to do with the validity of the degree-issuing institution. It means the document is real, not valid.

An apostille is, IIRC, a government document. Thus, others issuing it would be issuing a fake. But it doesn't matter, because real or not, the apostille has nothing to do with the degree being real, legitimate, recognized, etc.

You have two issues: did she really earn the degree--or is the diploma a fake? And is the school itself recognized as a university? The apostille has almost nothing to do with the first, and absolutely nothing to do with the second.

Asked and answered. You're looking in the wrong place. First, verify that the school is real and recognized. Then determine if the degree she earned is equivalent to one here (foreign degree evaluators do that). Finally, verify that she indeed graduated from that school.

The apostille won't help. It's a red herring.

Good luck.

 

Wonder why is every 1 post wonders asking for the same question? What is the worth of a certified true copy of a fake cert?

 

just have the school and degree verified...

There is a degree and transcript clearinghouse that will provide you proof that a school is legitimate and the person graduated.

National Student Clearinghouse: Degree verification & enrollment verification

Pretty simple.