Must I have a legal TECO stamp for my Ph.D.?

[Roman]

I’ve signed a contract with a university a few weeks ago. All was well. My Canadian B.A. had been authentificated by the TECO Office in Ottawa. Unfortunately, my M.A. as well as my Ph.D. are from Universite de Montpellier, France. The aministration from the university now tells me, after having signed the contract, that I would need to authentificate my Ph.D. through their office in Paris. I’m going insane! My Ph.D. has been certified by the French Office here in Taipei. No problem. Also, in order to get my ARC I need that legalization from the Taipei Office in Paris. I can’t go to Paris nor can I send my original diploma anywhere. Does anybody have a solution? Thanks

[ML_McLean]

@Roman

I’ve signed a contract with a university a few weeks ago. All was well. My Canadian B.A. had been authentificated by the TECO Office in Ottawa. Unfortunately, my M.A. as well as my Ph.D. are from Universite de Montpellier, France. The aministration from the university now tells me, after having signed the contract, that I would need to authentificate my Ph.D. through their office in Paris. I’m going insane! My Ph.D. has been certified by the French Office here in Taipei. No problem. Also, in order to get my ARC I need that legalization from the Taipei Office in Paris. I can’t go to Paris nor can I send my original diploma anywhere. Does anybody have a solution? Thanks

Hi Roman,

Sorry to hear about this glitch. It’s typical for people with non North-American certifications, diplomas etc.

Your solution is to go to Paris, find a friend in Paris or find an agent in Paris who can do this legwork for you. Your French documentation must be authenticated and certified by the French TECO office. No other TECO office according to the practice of MOFA can be the relevant government authority (i.e. not even the home MOFA office in Taipei can do it even though your French Office in Taipei certifies it as an original and true French document :s).

I’m sorry for the bad news.

Good luck,

[seeker4]

[quote=“ML McLean”]No other TECO office according to the practice of MOFA can be the relevant government authority (i.e. not even the home MOFA office in Taipei can do it even though your French Office in Taipei certifies it as an original and true French document :s).
[/quote]
Even coming from the U.S., I ran into something similar. When I started investigating the reasons, some of the logic was revealed, whether or not I agree with it. It is TECRO practice to 1) assign certain geographic regions within a foreign country to a specific TECO (office), and 2) to have ONLY that region’s TECO directly contact the academic institution to verify the authenticity of the document.

That may explain why, from a Taiwanese perspective, no one else in any other office, not even the HQ in Taipei, can do this work.