Does my degree need to be notarized by TECO before I arrive?

Work Teaching English in Taiwan
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A bit of a complicated situation here. I am from the United States and now living here, but received my B.A. degree from a university in Canada.

Do I need to have my degree authenticated by the TECO office in Ottawa? I live in New York and there’s a TECO office here, but I don’t know if they will authenticate a Canadian document. Can I at the very least mail it to the TECO office in Ottawa or does it need to be dropped off in person?

Thanks!

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In which part of Canada is your university located? If it’s in the area for which the Ottawa office is responsible, then yes that’s the office you should be dealing with.

One question though: who in Taiwan wants your BA to be authenticated? I’ve heard about PhDs needing this—but it’s the first time I’ve heard of authenticating BAs!

Guy

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Montreal, there’s no TECO office. And no one’s told me that so far - I was just wondering if it’s commonplace to need to have it authenticated, like in South Korea.

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you will need to have it authenticated in Canada.
unless there is a specific requirement for an authenticated bachelor’s degree (e.g. if you are applying for a master’s program ) authentication is not needed.

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So the answer it seems is that no one in Taiwan is asking you to authenticate that degree. If, however, someone does require it, then yes the Ottawa TECO office would be the one to contact.

Good luck with your plans!

Guy

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This can happen. I had to get mine notarized in London to study at Taipei Medical University and again at National Taiwan University (both graduate programs). One time I did it in person, but the last time, and the poster may wish to consider this option, is to have the institution which awarded the degree send a copy directly to the TECO office in question, because transmitting the document in this way proves its authenticity.

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Yes, to advance into a further degree program in Taiwan, degrees received abroad do need to be authenticated.

One wonders at the amount of fraud occurring to lead to such a policy, as opposed to simply presented an official academic transcript, which is the usual route in the west.

Guy

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