Dichiarazione Di Valore

Bachelor’s & Associate’s Degree Declaration of Value (“Dichiarazione di Valore “)

List of documents required to obtain the Declaration of Value (“Dichiarazione di Valore”) to enroll in Italian schools and universities.

NB: All documents must be original. Copies will NOT be accepted. All original diplomas will be returned to the student along with the Declaration of Value.

The consular jurisdiction of the Embassy of Italy in Washington comprises the following areas:

District of Columbia; Maryland: Prince George’s and Montgomery counties; Virginia: Arlington and Fairfax counties and the city of Alexandria;

All others must contact the Consulate with jurisdiction over the place where the school is located: http://www.ambwashingtondc.esteri.it/Ambasciata_Washington/Menu/Informazioni_e_servizi/La_rete_consolare/

Foreign degrees do not have legal value in Italy (art. 170 of R.D. n.1592/1933). However, articles 170 and 332 of the same Decree allow those who hold foreign degrees to ask for their equivalency with the corresponding Italian degree. In view of the autonomy granted to the Italian universities, complete authority is given to the academic Authorities to assess whether or not the foreign degrees correspond to those issued by the Italian education system.

1. “Application form for verification of academic degrees and documents” properly filled out with the student’s information and signature; 2. Original college Diploma + Apostille; 3. Original college Transcripts + Apostille; 4. College course catalog (translation is optional). A photocopy of the pages with the description of the courses may be accepted only if it bears the “seal” of the College. In any case, all courses must be highlighted and must correspond to the courses listed in the Transcripts. 5. Original high school Transcripts 6. Original high school Diploma; 7. Dichiarazione di Valore for the high school diploma issued by the corresponding Consular Office. 8. A copy of the student’s passport or Italian national i.d. card.

1 9. A pre-paid DHL, FedEx or UPS envelope to return the original documents back to the applicant once they’ve been processed. Please be advised that we cannot accept pre-paid envelopes from the U.S. postal service.

NOTE: Students who have attended High School outside of the United States, must obtain a Dichiarazione di Valore from the Italian Consular Office in the country where the school is located.

All documents (front and back) must be translated into Italian. They must be literal and typewritten and must be authenticated by the corresponding Consular office.

NB: Please DO NOT staple the translation to the documents and DO NOT detach the original documents from the Apostille for any reason. Removing the staple from the Apostille will make the document null and void.

Please be advised that a fee is due for documents that are not for academic purposes.

Students are advised to submit copies of all necessary documents to the Italian university in order to pre- enroll while the finalized documents are being processed by the corresponding Consular Office.

IMPORTANT: Please note that all Declaration of Value applications will be processed in no less than 1 month. Therefore, please submit all the required documents with sufficient advanced notice so that they can be processed on time.

For further information, and to make an appointment, please contact: Ms. Martina Rizzo Student Office Embassy of Italy 3000 Whitehaven St., N.W. Washington, DC 20008-3612 United States of America Tel.: (202) 612-4435 Fax: (202) 518-2142 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.ambwashingtondc.esteri.it

2 CERTIFICATION OF ORIGINAL SCHOOL/ACADEMIC DOCUMENTS (“APOSTILLE”)

IMPORTANT: Please DO NOT detach the documents from the Apostille for any reason. Removing the staple from the Apostille will make the document null and void.

The Italian Government and its agencies comply with the Hague Convention of October 5, 1961 (approved by the United States of America on October 15, 1981) that requires documents originated in other countries to be accompanied by the Apostille of the Secretary of State to satisfy the requirement of authenticity. The Apostille actually certifies that the signatures of Officials appearing on the original document are true and legitimate. In this manner all documents issued in the United States, if accompanied by the Apostille of the Secretary of State, are recognized as authentic in Italy.

ORIGINAL school/academic documents (i.e.: Final Report Card, High School Graduation Diploma, High School Transcript, Bachelor of Art Diploma, Bachelor of Science Diploma, Master Diploma, Ph.D. Diploma, Academic Transcripts) should bear the signature by hand (no ink or raised stamps accepted) of the Registrar or any other School/University authority in charge of students records and the signature authentication by a Notary Public.

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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA:

Office of the Secretary of the District of Columbia Office of Notary Commissions and Authentications 441 4th Street, NW, Room 810S Washington, DC 20001 Tel.: (202) 727-3117 Website: http://os.dc.gov/os/cwp/view,a,1207,q,522462.asp

PUBLIC OFFICE HOURS: Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm

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MARYLAND : Once the original document has been authenticated by a Notary Public in the state of Maryland, it must be submitted to the County Clerk of the Circuit Court of the County in which the notary is commissioned. The Clerk’s office will certify that the person who acted as notary was in fact a notary on the day the document was signed.

 for Montgomery County: Loretta E. Knight, County Clerk Montgomery County Circuit Court Judicial Center 50 Maryland Avenue Rockville, MD 20850 Tel. (240) 777-9460

3 Website: http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/

 for Prince George’s County: Marilynn M. Bland, County Clerk Prince George’s County Circuit Court 14735 Main St. Upper Marlboro, MD 20772-3051 Tel. (301) 952-3318 / 3330 / 3335 Website: www.princegeorgescountymd.gov

After this procedure, the document can be mailed (or taken personally) to the appropriate office of the Secretary of State for the Apostille.

BY MAIL - along with the school document with notarized statement and clerk’s certification attached, the student submits:  a cover letter indicating the country of destination of the document;  a stamped, self-addressed envelope and  a check or money order in the amount of $5.00 per document made payable to Secretary of State. The address is:

Certification Desk Office of the Secretary of State 16 Francis Street, Jeffrey Building, 1st Floor, Annapolis MD 21401

WALK-IN SERVICE – 8.30 a.m. – 4.00 p.m. (including some State holidays) 16 Francis Street, Annapolis MD 21401 Telephone: (410) 974-5521 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.sos.state.md.us/Certifications/Certifications.aspx

Payment of $5.00 per document by check, money order or exact amount in cash, and the name of the country of destination is required at the time of certification.

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4 VIRGINIA:

Before you apply for an apostille, all original transcripts and diplomas must be notarized by any notary public in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

After this step, you may go to Richmond to apply for an apostille. You must specify that the apostille is for Italy. If you decide to do this by mail, you must include a brief letter explaining the reason for requesting the apostille as well as a self-addressed stamped envelope along with the appropriate fee and all other required documents.

You may obtain the apostille at the following address:

Ms. Betsy Anderson Director of Authentications Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth 1111 East Broad Street, 4th Floor Richmond, VA 23219 Tel.: (804) 786-2441 Website: http://www.commonwealth.virginia.gov/OfficialDocuments/Authentications/authentications.cfm