Individuals looking to relocate overseas for employment or studies usually must present proof of their educational level. It goes from high school diploma to PHD and everything in between. The most common cases include the bachelor’s degree or master’s degree. While some of the countries only require a notary and apostille for the degree to be acceptable in their country, like European union or South America, others, non-Hague convention countries, such as China, UAE and most of middle east require more complicated process of authentication or attestation of the degree, which includes presenting copy of the diploma to the actual embassy in the USA for final authentication stamping, Saudi Arabia have taken the whole matter to another level.
Saudi Arabia embassy or the consulates in the USA do not work with the degree attestation process and have designated another institution on its own for any educational document questions. On the other bank of the Potomac River from Washington DC Saudi Arabian embassy lies the Saudi Arabian Culture Mission (SACM). The magnificent new building was opened in 2011 by the ideology of HRH King Abdullah and Saudi Government that education is most important for the future of the Kingdom. The mission to support the students coming to the US showed fruits of big investment right away. In the next couple of years, the student count coming to the US grew in thousands. With the scholarship support from the government the influx of Saudi Arabian students in the US reached the new heights of over 120.000 students in the year of 2015 and being the country with most foreign students in the USA.
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While the majority of the SACM work ties with the citizens of the Kingdom either coming or leaving the US, it is also capable of housing the quarters for degree attestation for American diplomas going to Saudi Arabia. To get a work visa to Saudi Arabia you must posses certain skill in the sector you are getting hired to. Most position will require you to have a minimum of bachelor’s degree or higher. Some will require you to have extensive work history and certifications in the field, it will depend on your work position.
The degree attestation process is more complex than just showing your diploma. First of all, not all universities are acceptable or accredited and it will be not by US educational associations, but by SACM own evaluation. Most commonly, online school degrees are not recognized. SACM requires that you study on campus for majority of your credits. The diploma attestation process with require you to provide forms and proof from the University that you attended classes in person on campus. Only small percentage of online classes and credits is permitted. However, the only exception is the credits received during the Covid 19 semesters, when the in-person classes were shut down due to pandemic restrictions. SACM officers will contact your school’s registrar’s office to confirm any details provided to them with the supporting paperwork with your degree. The process takes a while depending on the communication and confirmations between SACM and University office directly. In some cases an urging check up on both sides is required as oversight of details is a common cause of delay. Especially in graduation months in late May to August when the processing times increase in months due to rapid jump in graduating students, summer vacations and Saudi holiday closures.
We recommend starting the process as early as possible as the degree attestation does not expire, but it is designated for one employer. Meaning, the stamping of the diploma will have the employers name listed on it and it will be only acceptable for work visa application for that particular employer and future iqama card. If you had your diploma previously attested by SACM and you decided to change jobs and work for a different company or school, you will have to redo the process again. This only applies to the degrees and diplomas issued in the USA , other countries in the world do not have the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission and degree attestation process is handled by the Saudi Arabian embassy in the country of the diploma origin. Once degree is attested by the Saudi Arabian embassy abroad it is good for life, but original diploma and transcripts are required for every visa application.
Therefore US awarded degrees and Saudi Arabian Culture Mission have such a special relation that is not found anywhere else is the world.
We recommend that you use Travel Visa Pro as the service provider for degree authentication process with SACM to get you diploma attested as soon as possible.
