Hey guys!
I'm putting together the final few pieces of my masters application to UAF.
I have to send a certified copy of my degree and an official translation of it. I translated the degree, but after certifying the copy, I saw that the official stamp is in Arabic and French (my country's official languages). I don't know if University Admissions Finland accept only english stamps (it is not mentionned anywhere on their website). Unfortunately, I do not live in an english speaking country, so this is merely impossible for me to provide.
I don't know if anyone had a similar problem, it would be a huge help for me.
ps: Yes, I tried sending an email to UAF but there is a 13 days delay in their customer service. If I wait for their answer, the application deadline might pass me by.
Certified copy of degree
Re: Certified copy of degree
They give the country specific instructions ( http://universityadmissions.fi/?page_id=24 ) regarding the documents. If you follow them, you should be OK. French still has certain position in international diplomacy, anyway.
Re: Certified copy of degree
None of the countries in the list have Arabic and French as their official languages. I *think* OP is either from Chad or Djibouti.Rip wrote:They give the country specific instructions ( http://universityadmissions.fi/?page_id=24 ) regarding the documents. If you follow them, you should be OK. French still has certain position in international diplomacy, anyway.
OP, don't worry about the stamp's language. If they're gonna ask you about it, it will happen after you've already been accepted and actually started studying there. By that time, you can take the certificate to any translator and in Finland and get an official paper saying translating the stamp.
They're not gonna ask you about any of that before that.
Every case is unique. You can't measure the result of your application based on arbitrary anecdotes online.
Re: Certified copy of degree
Well that's a relief! Thanks a lot! There is no mention of my country indeed. I'm from Morocco. Wrong guess but a very helpful answer! Thank you again Adnan! 
Re: Certified copy of degree
Ahhh.. Well, you gave wrong input, of course you'll get a wrong guess. French is NOT an official language in Morocco. Morocco has two official languages; Berber and Arabic.
French is a widely spoken language, and it's THE de facto second language for a lot of Moroccans, but still not an official language by law. It's just a very commonly spoken language.
It's the same case in Lebanon, by the way.
French is a widely spoken language, and it's THE de facto second language for a lot of Moroccans, but still not an official language by law. It's just a very commonly spoken language.
It's the same case in Lebanon, by the way.
Every case is unique. You can't measure the result of your application based on arbitrary anecdotes online.
Re: Certified copy of degree
So how did this go?
I didn't see this post earlier, but am commenting now in case someone in the future has similar questions.
There are two things to consider here, one is the certified translation and the other is the recognition of a certificate in a different country.
Certified translations are done differently in different countries. I think in Finland there is a list of translators that can do them. In my home country, they can be certified at the notary... That's not the main problem. The main problem is that if a translation is certified somewhere else, Finland may not recognize the validity of such documents. And if, done in Finland, they will recognize that the papers have been translated, but may not know if the originals have any value at all. How do they know they are originals and something of value?
So in both cases, what's needed is an Apostille http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostille_Convention
Of course that as a convention, it is only valid among the countries which have signed it. And in this case, Morocco has not. So it's a tricky situation.
Since this is for legal documents, and that's what I did when I translated documents to bring here just to be on the safe side, I wonder if for the purpose of education they don't require such formalities...
I didn't see this post earlier, but am commenting now in case someone in the future has similar questions.
There are two things to consider here, one is the certified translation and the other is the recognition of a certificate in a different country.
Certified translations are done differently in different countries. I think in Finland there is a list of translators that can do them. In my home country, they can be certified at the notary... That's not the main problem. The main problem is that if a translation is certified somewhere else, Finland may not recognize the validity of such documents. And if, done in Finland, they will recognize that the papers have been translated, but may not know if the originals have any value at all. How do they know they are originals and something of value?
So in both cases, what's needed is an Apostille http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostille_Convention
Of course that as a convention, it is only valid among the countries which have signed it. And in this case, Morocco has not. So it's a tricky situation.
Since this is for legal documents, and that's what I did when I translated documents to bring here just to be on the safe side, I wonder if for the purpose of education they don't require such formalities...