Source Credit: Gulf News
Abu Dhabi: The UAE Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has announced updates to its policies on recognizing foreign university degrees, particularly for distance learning and online education.
Under the new guidelines, degrees obtained through distance learning, open education, and correspondence courses will receive conditional recognition if they meet specific criteria set by a ministerial committee. However, vocational certificates, short-term training programs, and specialized degrees for select student groups will not be recognized.
To streamline the process, the ministry has appointed Dataflow and QuadraBay as official verification partners. Applicants must first authenticate their degrees through these agencies before seeking formal recognition from the ministry. The recognition process, conducted entirely online, typically takes 30 working days.
The ministry emphasized that foreign degrees must come from accredited institutions in their home countries and meet official study requirements. It has also introduced a fee structure for degree recognition: Dh100 for a bachelor's degree, Dh150 for postgraduate degrees, and Dh200 for doctoral degrees.
Additionally, five key conditions must be met for degree recognition, including compliance with study requirements, adherence to accreditation standards, and limitations on online study hours.
For medical and engineering degrees, postgraduate applicants must hold a bachelor's degree in the same field.
