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Anyone had their foreign qualifications NOT recognized? What did you do?

Kwame Mensah 💬 Contributor
5 Jun 2026, 12:00

Just found out my degree isn't automatically recognised for the licensing I need here, which wasn't on my radar at all when I was planning this move. For anyone who's hit this — what was the actual path forward, roughly?

2 replies

Yuki Tanaka 💬 Contributor
5 Jun 2026, 18:10

Went through a version of this on the research/academic side — there was a formal equivalency assessment process, and it took considerably longer than I expected mostly because of document translation and authentication steps, not the assessment itself. Start that process as early as humanly possible is my main takeaway.

Jimmy ⭐ Helpful member Admin Premium
6 Jun 2026, 08:50

This is more common than people expect, especially in regulated professions (health, law, engineering, teaching). Most countries have a formal recognition or equivalency body rather than a case-by-case employer decision — the Qualification Recognition section on your destination's guide should point you to the right body and process. It's rarely fast, so treat it as its own project with its own timeline, separate from your general relocation checklist.