How to verify your educational documents

All educational documents you use in your application must be verified. On this page we explain what verification is and how you can verify your documents.

What is verification and how do i verify my educational documents?

All educational documents (transcripts and degree certificates) must be verified before your study place is final. If you do not verify your educational documents by the deadline, your study place will be cancelled!

What does verification mean?

It means that we need to see more than just copies of your educational documents on your electronic application. We must be able to make sure that your educational documents are official and can be verified. Depending on your country of education, level of your degree, and other things, verification is done in a few different ways (electronic systems, stamps on your documents, apostilles, etc.). Please read the following information carefully and find out how you must verify your documents.

Please note that we do not return documents used in verification to the applicant/student!

Requirements for Master's Degrees: Applicants who receive a study offer need to verify the educational documents according to given instructions and send them to University of Oulu by 28 April, 2023 at 15:00 / 3pm (EET).

Requirements for Bachelor's Degrees: Applicants who receive a study offer need to verify the educational documents according to given instructions and send them to University of Oulu by 28 April 2023, at 15:00 / 3pm (EET).

Please note the following exception: Applicants and ONLY applicants who are applying to the following programmes with an SAT test score OR in the certificate based selection must verify their educational documents by June 7, 2023 at 15:00 / 3pm (GMT+3):

  • International Business Management, Bachelor's Programme in International Business Management, Bachelor of Science (Economics and Business Administration) (3+2 y)
  • Information Processing Science, Degree Programme in Digitalisation, Computing and Electronics, Bachelor and Master of Science (3y+2y)
  • Electronics and Communications Engineering, Degree Programme in Digitalisation, Computing and Electronics, Bachelor and Master of Science (Technology) (3y+2y)
  • Computer Science and Engineering, Degree Programme in Digitalisation, Computing and Electronics, Bachelor and Master of Science (Technology) (3y+2y)

There are three main ways of verifying your documents:

  1. Electronic verification services: If you are able to use one of the electronic verification services listed below to verify your educational documents, please use them as your first option for verification!
  2. Country-specific requirements: For certain countries listed below on this web page, there are country-specific requirements that must be followed.
    1. Please note: If one of the electronic verifying systems we have listed below is at use in your country/institute of education, you can use those services to verify your documents instead of country-specific requirements.
  3. General verification requirements: If your country of education is not on the list of country-specific requirements, your educational documents must be either:
      • officially certified (attested) by the awarding institution
      • OR carry an apostille
      • OR be otherwise legalised (see more information on Apostille and Legalisation below)
    1. Please note: If one of the electronic verifying systems we have listed below is at use in your country/institute of education, you can use those services to verify your documents instead of general verification requirements.

NB! Please note that officially certified copies issued by notaries public in countries other than Finland are not accepted without legalisation.

Electronic verification services

We also accept verified educational documents electronically through certain international transcript services. When submitting your electronic educational documents through one of these services, please remember to direct the document to the University of Oulu. Please refer to the services’ own instructions for more details on how to use each service.

Please note that if your educational documents are required in a sealed envelope according to a country-specific requirement, it is acceptable to submit the documents through an electronic transcript service instead.

List of accepted electronic document verification services:

In some cases we may accept new electronic document services suggested by the applicant, if they meet our verification criteria. University of Oulu will uphold the right to make the final decision on whether we accept the new service or not.

What are country-specific documents?

Applicants, whose higher secondary qualifications or higher education degrees have been awarded in certain countries, need to pay special attention to the documentation before submitting it. The country-specific requirements must always be followed first and foremost, before any other requirements for attesting documents.

Please note that if your country-specific requirements only refer to the verification of one document (for example only mentions sending your transcript to us by post), you still must verify your other educational documents (for example your degree certificate) according to the general verification requirements.

If your country is not available on the list, you have to follow the general document requirements. An English, Finnish or Swedish translation (or an English-language Diploma Supplement concerning graduates from European universities) is also required if the document is not written in one of aforementioned languages.

If you are required to provide the educational documents directly from the awarding institution, please provide the University of Oulu Registry Office address to your university.

Requirements for Bachelor's Degrees: If you are admitted to a Bachelor's Degree at University of Oulu, please see country-specific information under "Requirements for Bachelor's Degrees".

Requirements for Master's Degrees:If you have been admitted to a Master's Degree at Universtiy of Oulu please see country-specific informaton under "Requirements for Master's Degrees".

OFFSHORE CAMPUSES

If your academic qualification was completed at an offshore campus, please follow the country-specific instructions for the country where the main university is located or accredited.

General verification requirements

If your country of education is not on the list of country-specific requirements, please follow these general verification requirements and choose one of the following options:

If you cannot obtain officially certified copies of your academic documents from the awarding institution, you may submit legalised copies of your academic documents. Please note that some country-specific requirements also require apostille/legalisation.

Legalisation of documents takes place by two different means either by Apostille Certificate or legalisation of documents:

Where to send your paper documents?

If you send us documents by post, please use the following address:

Registry Office
University of Oulu
P.O.Box 8000
90014 University of Oulu
FINLAND

If the courier service does not accept a P.O.Box address, please use the following:

Registry Office
University of Oulu
Pentti Kaiteran katu 1
90570 Oulu
FINLAND

Contact number for courier services when sending your documents: +358 294 484 108.

Please note that this number is for courier services only and that there is no admissions guidance available in this number.

When you send a consignment of documents to Finland:

  • Send the consignment of documents as a letter. Do not send it as a parcel.
  • Do not determine a value for the letter, when sending it. Do not indicate even the amount paid for a passport to the authorities, such as the amount of stamp duty, or the value of the concluded insurance for the consignment.
  • If the country of dispatch requires the consignor to determine a value for the consignment of documents, the value is zero (euros or other currency).
  • The goods description for the consignment should be, for example, documents.

For further information regarding the consignment of documents to Finland, please contact Finnish Customs directly.