Documentation required to study Abroad

At MERIT, our documentation specialists will ensure that you have the proper documents and guide you through the process of preparing them at the beginning of the application process.

In almost all countries the documents to be submitted are similar and should be sent to the universities in a particular format prescribed in their standards.

1. Degree certificate/ Provisional Certificate;

The student has to either submit his degree or provisional degree certificate to the university. The Xerox copies of the certificates have to be attested by the Registrar/ Assistant Registrar/ Controller of Examinations of the university where the student has studied.

2. Transcript:

All universities issue transcripts to students in sealed envelopes. It is a single sheet containing all the semester marks in it. The student will have to submit the same for each university. For most Universities in the UK, Malaysia, and NZ transcripts are not required.

3. Semester mark sheets:

Apart from the transcripts the university will also ask for each semester marks card which the student can get attested by the principal of his college and send it to the university.

4. 10+2 and 10:

The Xerox copies of these mark sheets should be attested by the Principal of their schools in which they studied.

5. Recommendation letters:

Recommendation letters should be got from at least 2/3 people. These should be from either teachers or employers. The content of the letter should be different for each person. The same recommendation cannot be given by different people. They should be typed on the official letterhead of the concerned person and put into envelopes which must be sealed.

6. TOEFL/ GRE/ GMAT/ SAT/ IELTS:

Xerox copies of the score reports must be collected from the students.

7. Statement of Purpose:

This is a personal essay to be written by the student which has to describe his goals and what he has done so far and what are his future plans. It has to be typed and the length should be around 1000 words.

Apart from this the student will also have to submit:

1. Copy of his passport

2. Photographs

3. Resume

4. Any other relevant certificates if required.

Documentation is similar for most countries but UK does not require attestations, Xerox copies of all documents are acceptable.

For USA financial documents are required and they are:

1. Bank statement:

This is a statement from the bank showing that a student has enough money to fund his education. This is required by all universities before the admission is given to the student. It has to be on the letterhead of the bank with the signature and seal of the bank manager.

2. Affidavit of Support:

This is a document from the parents expressing their support to fund the education of their children. These two documents are required only by US universities and not for any other country for the admission process. For other countries the financial documentation is required only for the visa process.