The foreign credentials evaluation for H-1B applicants is required by USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) when the highest degree earned is from an institution outside of the U.S. The U.S. Department of State regulations require applicants to have earned a minimum of a bachelor's degree. 

It is the responsibility of the applicant to obtain their own evaluation. Once the evaluation is received, the applicant will upload a scan of the document to the H-1B “Educational & Employment History” e-form in iTerp or forward a copy to an assigned ISSS advisor. The applicant will be able to use this evaluation for other employment and immigration needs in the future. The University of Maryland uses the following agencies to complete these evaluations:

• Educational Credentials Evaluators, Inc.
• Arizona International Credential Evaluators (AZICE) (Instructions // Application) 

The applicant should be prepared to submit the following documents to the credentials evaluator (documentation may differ by evaluation agency):

• The applicant’s CV (Curriculum Vitae) including all tertiary level degrees awarded
• An official Bachelor’s diploma in the original language with a certified English translation  
• An official Bachelor’s transcript in the original language with a certified English translation 
• An official Master’s diploma in the original language with a certified English translation 
• An official Master’s transcript in the original language with a certified English translation 
• An official Ph.D. degree in the original language with a certified English translation 

If a translation of a document is needed, we use the services of National Capital Area Translators Association (NCATA), a dedicated group of professional translators, interpreters, language services companies, and language-related institutions.