Recognition of Studies

These are the main requirements for admission to undergraduate university programs (information on the different universities can be found here).

There are two possible situations:

• Admission to first year: students who completed their high school studies abroad.
• Admission by validation of university studies completed abroad: students who have completed their university studies abroad can enter by requesting the validation of said courses and thus continue their education at one of the Uruguayan universities.

If you are a foreigner, in order to start an undergraduate degree at any of the universities, you must first complete the validation process at the Secondary Education Council of Uruguay. To do so, you will need:

• Legalized or apostilled certificate of completion of studies for countries where the Hague Convention is in force. If the apostille is not in force in that country, the certificate must be validated by the Uruguayan consulate.
• For non-Spanish speaking countries, except Brazil, certificates must be translated by a sworn public translator in Uruguay.
• As part of the validation process, the student must take a virtual "Integration Course", with elements of National History, National Geography and Social and Civic Education.

The validation process begins by submitting the original and a photocopy of required documents. After 10 working days, a confirmation is issued to be submitted to the chosen University, together with other documentation that may vary from one institution to the next:

• Universidad de la República: secondary education validation process: proof of residence in Uruguay for the past three years or having moved to Uruguay as a necessary consequence of the settlement in the country of the applicant's immediate family nucleus. However, the Central Board of Trustees of the University may, by vote of the absolute majority of its members, exceptionally admit foreign students..
• UTEC: secondary education validation process; be a Uruguayan resident for at least three years; having moved to Uruguay as a necessary consequence of the applicant's direct family nucleus settling in the country; or be covered by special admission agreements entered into by UTEC within the framework of cooperation relations with foreign entities.
• Private universities: the requirements are mainly administrative, so there are no limitations for the admission of foreign students, but in all cases they must have a high school diploma validated by Uruguay.

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In the case of postgraduate courses offered by different universities, you should directly contact the college or school offering the course you wish to take, since the admission requirements are different, but it is advised to have your undergraduate degree recognized in order to have access to academic credits.

It is possible to validate subjects from another university course taken abroad to continue studies in any Uruguayan university.

First, contact the university and college where you choose to continue your education in order to understand the specific process required (look up information on universities here).

The documents required to process the validation of studies in the public university system are:

• Authenticate documents before the Competent Authority in the country of origin (where the agreement is in force) and request an Apostille. This certificate is automatically recognized in Uruguay.
• In countries where The Hague Apostille does not apply, the current legalization procedures will continue to apply, i.e., submit the original valid document issued by the corresponding body, without alterations or tears and with the intervention of the Uruguayan Consular Officer or Foreign Ministry official in the country of origin of the document. After the legalization is carried out by the relevant Uruguayan Consulate, the applicant must go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to continue with the legalization process.
• After arriving in Uruguay with all the certified documents, the applicant must appear directly at the selected University with the originals and a letter to the Dean/Director requesting the validation of the degree.

If the documents are not in Spanish, a sworn public translator in Uruguay must translate and certify all documents.

In private universities it is possible to recognize subjects for admission, as long as the number of subjects does not exceed two thirds of the total number of subjects that make up the selected career, in order to continue with the studies.

At UTEC, the other public university, there is a mechanism of " knowledge recognition", which is intended to honor the knowledge and skills that people may have developed during their lives, in different ways, outside formal education and that are possible to associate with prerequisites of UTEC's careers. This process is not geared towards granting a degree to those whose knowledge has been evaluated, but rather to enable access to continue studies at a certain academic level.

Currently, the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC, for its acronym in Spanish) is responsible for the validation of foreign degrees. The validation is done on the basis that there is a degree of reasonable equivalence in the Universidad de la República and that the person has completed their degree at the university of origin. In exceptional cases, an incomplete degree may be considered equivalent to a completed degree in the country.

Recognition is understood as the Administrative Act issued by the competent authorities that certifies, within the regulatory framework of each State, the official character and the level and academic value of the degree, certificate, or foreign education diploma (non-university tertiary education) or of previous learning or partial studies.

Said Act generates academic and professional rights equal to Uruguayan nationals with similar studies, degrees, and diplomas. These titles are mostly technical, auxiliary, etc.

Revalidation is understood as the Administrative Act from which academic and professional recognition is granted to a degree or postgraduate degree (university tertiary education) issued by another country enabling work in field of expertise regardless of other requirements stated in the norm. The degree may or may not have an equivalent degree in Uruguay. Revalidations are for degrees such as undergraduate, postgraduate, master´s, and doctorate.

In both cases the Ministry of Education issues a resolution with one of the following statements: Denial, Conditioned Validation (must complete further training in Uruguay) or total Revalidation.

For a Recognition certificate, a resolution is issued denying or recognizing said studies.

The formalities to be carried out involve the authentication of the documentation in the country of origin or legalization in the corresponding Uruguayan consulate with subsequent legalization in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay and the pertinent translations if required, being a similar procedure to the one specified to continue university studies in the country. Private universities may validate studies carried out abroad only for educational purposes and for continuing studies, but not for the purpose of professional practice. 

The procedure is carried out through this link and has an initial cost of 25UI (twenty-five indexed units) fixed by the Ministry of Education and Culture in indexed units according to Law N°19996-2021/197, which is updated once a year.  Access the Instructions to complete the online procedure here. 

For inquiries: reconocimientosyrevalidas@mec.gub.uy