Convocation Degree Certificate Missing: First Five Actions

Reviewed on: 2026-06-12.

1. Confirm whether your degree was ever printed and dispatched. Write to the university examination or degree section quoting your enrolment number, course, year of passing and convocation year. Ask one question: was the original convocation certificate printed, and if so, on what date and to which address was it dispatched.
2. Pull the digital copy now. Check the National Academic Depository (nad.gov.in) and your DigiLocker account. Many public universities upload degrees there. A verified digital degree is legally valid and gets you past most employer and visa checks while you chase the paper original.
3. If it was dispatched but never reached you, apply for a duplicate under the university's lost-in-transit or duplicate degree procedure. Keep the dispatch detail you got in step one, because it shifts the fault to the post or courier.
4. If it was never printed or your name is missing from the convocation list, ask the registrar in writing why, and request inclusion in the next convocation or issuance in absentia.
5. File an RTI with the university for the dispatch register entry, the convocation list and the reason recorded for non-issue. A public university is a public authority.

This guide is for a graduate of a public university whose original convocation degree never arrived or cannot be found in records. If your degree carries a spelling error, see degree certificate spelling correction. If you paid the convocation fee but nothing came, see convocation fee paid but degree not received.

The University Grants Commission has repeatedly directed that institutions must not withhold a student's original degree, mark sheets or other certificates. A demand for an unrelated payment, a no-dues quarrel or an administrative excuse is not a lawful reason to keep your degree from you. If the only reason for non-issue is leverage, say so in writing and quote this position. Your degree is your record of qualification, and you are entitled to it.

The word “missing” hides three very different problems. Identify yours before you apply for anything.

• Printed and dispatched, lost in transit. The university did its part; the post or courier failed. You apply for a duplicate and, if the dispatch was insured or by registered post, the loss can be traced or compensated. The university's dispatch register is the proof you need.
• Printed but lying undelivered at the university. Common when the address on record was old or the convocation was held in your absence. Often the degree is simply waiting to be collected. A written query usually surfaces it.
• Never printed or name omitted. The convocation list missed you, fees were unreconciled, or a result was held back. This needs the registrar to fix the list and issue the degree, not a duplicate application.

When the original is genuinely lost, the usual process runs like this. Exact steps and fees vary by university, so confirm on the university website.

1. Lodge a police complaint or general diary entry for the lost original, if the university asks for one.
2. Publish a newspaper notice of loss, where required.
3. Submit a duplicate degree application with an affidavit, the loss proof, your mark sheets and the prescribed fee.
4. Quote the original dispatch detail if you have it, so the file shows the university issued it once already.
5. Track the application by its acknowledgement number and ask for an issue date in writing.

A public university holds a dispatch register, a convocation list and file notings. These are records under the RTI Act, 2005. Ask narrow questions.

To: The Public Information Officer, [University name]
[Examination / Degree Section]

Subject: Application under the RTI Act, 2005 regarding my convocation
degree certificate

For Enrolment No. [number], [course], passed in [year], convocation of
[year]:

1. Please state whether my original convocation degree was printed, and
   the date of printing.
2. Please provide the dispatch register entry showing the date, mode
   (registered post / courier), tracking or registration number and the
   address to which it was sent.
3. If not dispatched, please state the present location of the
   certificate and the reason it was not issued.
4. If my name is not in the convocation list, please provide the reason
   recorded and the procedure to be included or issued in absentia.
5. Please provide the rule and fee for issue of a duplicate degree.

I enclose the application fee of Rs 10 by [mode].

[Name, address, mobile, email, date]

The dispatch register entry is decisive. If it names a registered post number, you can trace the article with India Post or claim for a lost registered article. If there is no entry at all, the degree was never sent, and your demand becomes “issue it now”, not “give me a duplicate”.

Many universities issue degrees in absentia for graduates who did not attend the convocation ceremony. You do not have to be present to receive your degree. If the certificate is being held because you skipped the ceremony, apply for issue in absentia. If a university insists on physical attendance at a future convocation as the only route, that often delays a working graduate unfairly. Raise the in-absentia option in writing and, if refused, seek the rule by RTI.

• Applying for a duplicate before checking whether the original is simply lying undelivered at the university.
• Ignoring NAD and DigiLocker, where a valid digital degree may already exist.
• Accepting an unlawful withholding for an unrelated dues dispute.
• Failing to get the dispatch detail, which is what turns a “lost” degree into a traceable or claimable one.
• Assuming you must attend a future convocation when issue in absentia is available.

• Convocation fee paid but degree not received
• Degree certificate damaged in dispatch
• Degree verification delayed
• Practical Guides hub

See how to file RTI online and the state RTI portal directory.

The UGC has directed institutions not to withhold original certificates. An unrelated dues dispute is not a lawful reason to keep your degree. Put your demand in writing and quote this position.

A degree uploaded to the National Academic Depository or DigiLocker by the university is legally valid for verification. Use it for jobs and visas while you obtain or replace the paper original.

First get the dispatch detail by RTI or a written query. If it was dispatched and lost, apply for a duplicate and use the dispatch proof. If it was never sent, ask for the original to be issued now.

Yes. Most universities issue degrees in absentia. You do not have to attend a ceremony. Apply for issue in absentia in writing.

Ask the registrar in writing for the reason and for inclusion or issuance. File an RTI for the recorded reason and the convocation list. This is a list-correction problem, not a duplicate one.

Get the registration number from the dispatch register through your RTI, then trace the article with India Post. A lost registered article can be the subject of a claim.

Download the missing convocation degree checklist (PDF).