Equivalence / Migration for Foreign Study 2026

Reviewed on 2026-06-20 by Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak.

People search for “equivalence certificate” wanting two very different things, so let us separate them before you spend a rupee.

• Equivalence certificate (AIU). This says your foreign qualification is equal to an Indian one. You need it when a foreign school, college or university award has to be accepted by an Indian board, university or employer. Direction: from abroad, into India.
• Apostille (MEA). This legalises an Indian document so a foreign country accepts it. Direction: from India, out to the world.

A foreign degree is never apostilled by India's Ministry of External Affairs. It is apostilled in the country that issued it. So if your award is foreign and you are coming to India, the AIU route below is the one you want.

The Evaluation Division of AIU is the body empowered to grant academic equivalence to qualifications from accredited foreign boards and universities. This part of the process is the same everywhere in India.

AIU only certifies awards from accredited foreign institutions. Before you apply, check the foreign school board list on the AIU portal. If your institution is not listed, the application will not move forward, so fix this first.

Go to evaluation.aiu.ac.in and create an account. Applications for equivalence of a foreign degree or certificate are accepted by AIU through online mode only, so do not post paper files to Delhi.

You will fill in your personal details and your full education history, then upload your documents.

Keep clear scans ready: your foreign mark sheets and transcripts, the degree or pass certificate, and proof of the duration and level of the programme. School cases also need a transfer certificate from the head of the foreign school confirming the last examination passed.

The equivalence application fee is paid online and varies by the level and type of qualification being evaluated. AIU does not publish a single flat figure, and it may revise charges each year, so check the current fee for your category on evaluation.aiu.ac.in before you pay.

One special category: PGDM programmes carry a much higher processing fee, Rs 59,000 for a new application and Rs 5,900 for a renewal. Do not let this alarm you. Ordinary school and degree equivalence is far cheaper than the PGDM slab.

Once AIU issues the certificate, download it. Each certificate carries an equivalence certificate number that an Indian admission desk or employer can verify online on the AIU portal, so keep the number handy.

If your award is a foreign degree and you also need an Indian board or college document for your file, our guides on the college migration certificate and the school transfer certificate explain those separate papers.

Figure: step-by-step flow. If a step stalls, use the grievance or RTI route shown.

The AIU certificate is a single national document, so its fee and portal do not change between Maharashtra and Manipur. What does change is the last desk that has to accept it.

The CBSE accepts the equivalence determined by AIU, and most central institutions follow suit. State boards and state universities also rely on the AIU certificate, but each runs its own admission desk with its own intake calendar and its own short checklist. So treat the AIU certificate as your passport and the state education department or university registrar as the immigration officer who stamps you in. Always confirm the admission requirements on your own state board or state university portal before the cut-off date.

This is the reverse case, and here the state really matters. To apostille an Indian degree for use abroad:

1. Your educational document is first pre-authenticated by your State Home or Education department, or by the local Sub-Divisional Magistrate. Which office does this varies by state, so search your own state HRD or general administration portal for “document attestation”.
2. The Ministry of External Affairs then puts the apostille on it. MEA works through authorised collection agencies rather than a public counter, and you can track verification through the central e-Sanad service at esanad.nic.in.
3. Because India is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, an apostilled document is accepted directly in member countries with no further embassy legalisation.

Fees and timelines for the pre-authentication step differ from state to state, so never rely on one state's figure as if it were national. Check your own state portal.

Equivalence and apostille files do stall, usually over a missing transcript or an unverified institution. Do not keep re-submitting blindly.

• AIU delay or rejection. Write to the Evaluation Division at [email protected] quoting your application number and ask for the exact reason. If there is no movement, you can file an RTI to ask the current status and the reason for any rejection.
• Apostille delay. Raise it first with the authorised agency that took your document, then with MEA. For the state pre-authentication step, an RTI to your State Education or Home department asking the status of your file often unblocks it.

If you are an Indian student abroad whose home university is slow to release records, our guide on degree verification by RTI shows how to push that loose.

The Evaluation Division of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) issues it. You apply online at evaluation.aiu.ac.in. No private agent can issue this certificate, even if they offer to handle the paperwork for you.

The application fee is paid online only and varies by the level of qualification, so AIU does not publish one flat figure. PGDM programmes are a separate, much higher slab. AIU can revise fees yearly, so confirm the current amount for your category on evaluation.aiu.ac.in before paying.

No. A migration certificate lets you move between Indian boards or universities. An equivalence certificate tells an Indian institution that a foreign award equals an Indian one. They are different documents from different authorities.

Usually no, not from India. A foreign degree is apostilled in the country that issued it. India's MEA apostille is for taking an Indian document abroad, not for bringing a foreign one in.

The AIU equivalence step is national and identical everywhere. The state difference appears at the admission desk that accepts the certificate, and in the pre-authentication office for an Indian degree going abroad. Check your own state portal.

State boards and universities generally accept AIU equivalence, and CBSE explicitly does. Even so, each admission desk keeps its own checklist and deadline, so confirm with your specific board or university before the intake closes.

Email [email protected] with your application number and ask for the reason. If there is still no response, file an RTI asking for the status and grounds. Fix the gap they name, usually a missing transcript or an unrecognised institution, and re-apply.

• https://aiu.ac.in/frontpage/equivalence-of-degree/
• https://evaluation.aiu.ac.in/
• https://evaluation.aiu.ac.in/ForeignSchoolBoard
• https://www.mea.gov.in/apostille.htm
• https://esanad.nic.in/