RECOGNITION OF FOREIGN EDUCATIONAL CREDENTIALS - PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

Legal basis:

•    Law on the Recognition of Foreign Educational Credentials and Qualifications Equivalence

•    Rulebook on content of the application form and mandatory documentation in the recognition procedure 

Procedure of the recognition of foreign educational credentials comprises the following steps: 

1. COMPLETING THE APPLICATION FORM 

2. SUBMITTING THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS, ACCOMPANIED BY THE PROPERLY COMPLTETED APPLICATION FORM 

3. COLLECTING IN-PERSON THE DECISION ON THE RECOGNITION OF A FOREIGN EDUCATIONAL CREDENTIAL 

Explanation:

•    An interested party first completes the application for the recognition of a credential on the prescribed form (referred to in point 1), and then he/she submits the required documentation (referred to in point 2);

•    If the submitted documentation is incomplete, the applicant will be duly informed about the need for submitting the missing documents. If the applicant fails to provide the missing documents within the set deadline, the application will be rejected, in compliance with the Article 60 paragraph 3 of the Law on Administrative Procedure.

•    Upon completion of the procedure, the applicant will be contacted and asked to pick up the Decision on the Recognition. 

Note:

•    Educational credentials issued in the republics of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) are not subject to the recognition procedure if these were obtained by prior to the day of the international recognition of the abovementioned republics.  

•    Educational credentials obtained in the Republic of Serbia before 25 January 2008 are not subject to the recognition procedure. 

•    The submitted documentation shall not be returned to the applicant. 

Deadlines for keeping the documents of the Ministry are determined by the List of registry materials categories, in accordance with the Law on Archival Material, and in compliance with the abovementioned, the documentation referring to the recognition of a foreign educational credentials is kept for five years from the day the Decision on the recognition was issued. 

•    Decision on the recognition and the clause written on the back of a foreign educational credential have the status of a public document and, for this reeason, we recommend that you copy the Decision and the clause, have these copies verified by the notary public, a court or municipality, and submit them to the employer while keeping the original for yourself. 

•    In case an applicant wants to submit applications for different level of studies, he/she will be required to complete a separate application form for every level of study, submit the necessary documentation and pay a tax for each level of study. 

1. COMPLETING THE APPLICATION FORM 

The applicant shall fill in the application for the recognition of a foreign educational credential on the prescribed form by inserting the data requested in the application and while assuming responsibility for the accuracy thereof.  

2. SUBMISSION OF THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION ACCOMPANIED BY PROPERLY COMPLETED APPLICATION FORM 

Application for the recognition of a foreign educational credential is submitted by the document holder in person, his/her parent or guardian, or any other person authorized by the document holder (only with the authorization provided by competent authority). 

The following documentation shall be submitted, together with the application for the recognition of foreign educational credential of the completed primary, secondary (general or vocational) and post-secondary non-tertiary education: 

•    Three verified copies of a credential (credentials obtained in the Republic of Serbia, Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina);

•    One copy of a credential and three copies of certified translations (provided by a certified translator/court interpreter in Montenegro (credentials obtained in other countries) 

•    One copy of a credential on the acquired and/or initiated education or part of education in Montenegro, if the applicant attended the school in Montenegro before education abroad. 

•    Receipt of the payment of administrative tax, in compliance with the Law on Administrative Taxes:

•    For the recognition of educational credential on the acquired primary education - 30,00 EUR;

•    For the recognition of a foreign edcuational credential on the acquired secondary (general or vocational) and post-secondary non-tertiary education – 50,00 EUR  

The administrative tax should be paid to the account number: 

832-3161080-65; 

Purpose of payment: recognition of a foreign educational credential 

3. COLLECTING IN-PERSON THE DECISION ON THE RECOGNITION OF A FOREIGN EDUCATIONAL CREDENTIAL 

Upon the completion of the recognition procedure, the applicant will be contacted and asked to pick up his/her Decision on the Recognition. Decision on the recognition of a foreign educational credential can be collected by the document holder, his/her parent or guardian or any other person authorized by the applicant (with the authorization provided by the competent authority) within 30 days on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

CERTIFICATION AND TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENTS: 

•    Translation of foreign documents is done by a court interpereter in Montenegro certified for the foreign language in which the education credential was issued. 

•    Copies of educational credentials translated by a court interpreter do not need to be certified by notary public since a court interpreter had already done so by his/her seal. 

•    List of certified court interpereters can be found on the Internet page of the Ministry of Justice of Montenegro https://www.gov.me/mpa/tumaci. 

•    Copies of public documents in Montenegro shall be verified/certified in a court, in the municipality or in the notary public office. 

List of notary public offices in Montenegro can be found on the following link https://notarskakomora.me/notari/. 

Application form - elementary and secondary education - English language (www.gov.me)

Instructions on the submission of application - primary and secondary education