I’ve read that the ARC application has pretty strict rules about having a diploma and not accepting any other forms of degree certification, but I just wanted to put this out here to see what other people have experienced lately…
Because of some financial circumstances, my university is holding my degree hostage until I pay them some exorbitant fine…long story…but here’s the relevant part: although they will not send me my diploma until I pay them, they are willing to certify through mail or fax with or without notarization that I am a graduate of my university. I’ve read that transcripts are insufficient, but if I were to provide this notarized university stamped certification would it go through? Would including both increase my chances? Am I SOL?
At my university there wasn’t a set date on which all the people in one year would graduate - the ceremony is very limited numbers and you have to book way in advance (up to a year, in some cases). I felt it was tempting fate to book my graduation ceremony before I’d passed my exams, so I delayed. After I finished up my exams (having passed, thankfully) I moved straight to Taiwan and ended up not officially graduating until two years later.
During that time the authorities in Taiwan accepted my transcript after confirming with my university that it was standard practice there not to graduate until some time after actually finishing exams. It did take a lot of to-ing and fro-ing to get this sorted out, but eventually the powers-that-be were satisfied and issued my work permit (which I then used to get my ARC). I did this for two consecutive years, the last of those being 2003, so things may have changed since then. Your situation is a little different, but the advice given by other posters here is sound - call the relevant authorities to clarify, which I guess would be the Ministry of Education if you’re applying for teaching work, or the Ministry of Economics for other jobs.
I was in the same situation in about 2003, I think. I finsihed university in November but my degree certificate was not going to be available until July the next year. So I went to the local TECO office and asked if a letter from my university would suffice. they said yes, as long as it was certified by them.
So, my university issued a letter saying I was eligible to graduate and would receive my degree certificate in July. I had it certified by both TECO and the relevant Australian Government department.
When I found teaching work and applied for a work permit in Taiwan, my application was rejected. Apparently the lack of actual degree certificate was the reason. I asked TECO about it when I returned home, and they said I was given the wrong information.
So, it might be a case-by-case thing. I hope you can have a better result. Just get as much information and documentation as you can. Maybe my problem was that the letter was not translated into Chinese??
Well even though my university was willing to certify in three distinct ways (mail, phone, web), it didn’t fly, and I had to just find a way to get my degree. Gotta love that rigid governmental bureaucracy!
