Certificate equivalency in Qatar: university degrees and school certificates

Equivalency (mu'adala) is the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MOEHE) officially deciding what your foreign certificate is worth in Qatar's system. It is a different step from attestation: attestation only proves the stamps and signatures are genuine, while equivalency judges the qualification itself. Most expats working in the private sector never need it; they need an attested degree, which our degree attestation guide covers. You are most likely to need equivalency if you finished secondary school abroad or at a private international or community school in Qatar and want a job or university place that asks for it, or if you work for a government or semi-government employer that asks MOEHE to check your university degree. The order is always the same: attest the certificate first, check it meets MOEHE's rules, then apply online and wait for an electronic decision.

Before you start

• The original certificate, fully attested: education ministry, foreign ministry and Qatar embassy in the issuing country (GCC certificates follow a shorter chain)
• Certified transcripts or year-end grade reports (for a secondary certificate, normally the last three school years)
• Passport copy and a valid QID (Qatar ID) copy
• A mobile number registered in your own name, to receive the SMS activation code
• A travel movement report from the Metrash app covering the academic year the certificate was issued
• An official letter asking for the equivalency from a Qatari ministry, government body, or university, if you are a non-Qatari with a foreign certificate
• For a university degree: your employer's request letter, all transcripts (including transferred credits and foundation year), language certificate and study visa copies
• Clear PDF scans of every page, one document per file, named so you can find them

Step by step

1. Check whether you need equivalency at all

   Ask the employer, university or ministry exactly what they want: an attested certificate, an MOEHE equivalency, or both. Most private-sector work permits only need an attested degree. University degree equivalency is mainly a service for Qatari citizens and children of Qatari mothers; non-Qatari residents working for a government or semi-government employer use the same system to have their degree authenticated when the employer asks. Secondary certificate equivalency is needed by graduates of private schools in Qatar that do not follow the national curriculum, by people with secondary certificates from abroad who want a job, scholarship or further study that requires it, and by children moving from abroad into government schools. Children moving between schools inside Qatar do not need it.

2. Attest the certificate first

   MOEHE will not look at a foreign certificate until the stamps are complete. A certificate from outside the GCC needs the issuing country's education ministry, its foreign ministry and the Qatar embassy there; GCC certificates need the issuing institution, that country's education ministry and the education authority. Many employers and universities also want the final stamp from Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in Doha. Do this before anything else, because the home-country steps are slow and much harder to arrange once you have left. Our degree attestation guide walks through the full chain.

   Read guide: Attesting your degree for Qatar: the full chain →

3. Make sure the school or university is recognised

   The school or university must be officially recognised in its home country. For degrees, MOEHE keeps a list of recognised universities for each country, shown when you choose the country in the online form, and the degree must come from the parent university named on that list. Top-up programmes, professional bachelor's degrees and diplomas, professional doctorates such as a DBA, and training courses of any length are not equated. If you studied by distance or online learning, check MOEHE's published list of approved distance-learning institutions; study outside the list is reviewed case by case. Check this before you pay for a course, not after.

4. Check your school certificate meets the curriculum rules

   Every secondary certificate must come from 12 years of schooling with at least 50% in each subject. British-system students need one of four set combinations, such as 7 IGCSEs plus 3 AS levels or 5 IGCSEs plus 4 AS levels. An American diploma needs an accredited school plus two external test results such as SAT (at least 400 in each of English and Maths), ACT or AP. The IB Diploma needs at least 24 points with TOK, the Extended Essay and CAS completed. National-board certificates, such as those taken at community schools in Qatar, must be the final pre-university certificate from the home ministry or a recognised examination council. Muslim and Arab students in private schools also need Islamic Education and Arabic passed in grades 10 to 12.

   Read guide: University in Qatar for resident expats: options, admissions and fees →

5. Get your travel report and official letter

   MOEHE asks for a travel movement report showing where you were during the academic year your certificate was issued. Download it from the Metrash app, and make sure it covers the whole school year. This matters because a certificate earned abroad while you were actually living in Qatar is not accepted, and exams taken through embassies or by distance are not accepted either. If you are a non-Qatari with a certificate from abroad, you also need an official letter asking for the equivalency from a Qatari ministry, government body, or university in Qatar; wives and daughters of Qatari citizens are exempt from this letter.

   Read guide: Metrash: registering and using Qatar's Ministry of Interior app →

6. Create your account on the e-service

   Go to certificate.edu.gov.qa (you can also reach it from MOEHE's e-services portal, eduservices.edu.gov.qa, or the Maarif app). Choose the option for new users and fill in the form; fields with a red asterisk are compulsory. MOEHE sends an activation code by SMS, then a second SMS with your username and password. Applicants aged 18 or over must open their own account; younger students can apply through a parent's account. The mobile number must be registered in the account holder's own name.

7. Fill in the request and upload your documents

   Log in, choose the service from the drop-down on the dashboard (school certificate equivalency or university certificate equivalency), and click to create a new request. Accept the terms, enter contact and student details, then the certificate details: the number of years completed, the certificate type, and each subject and grade, for example your IGCSE and AS subjects or your IB HL and SL subjects. Upload each document in its own field: QID and passport, the attested certificate, transcripts, travel report, the signed declaration that the certificate is genuine, and the signed authorisation for MOEHE to check it with the issuer. Wrong or blurry files are the most common reason a request is sent back.

8. For a degree, use your employer's request letter

   A university degree request starts with an official letter from a government or semi-government body. If you work there, it is your employer's letter asking MOEHE to equate or authenticate your degree; Qataris who are not working use a letter from the Ministry of Labour confirming they are not employed. Upload all transcripts, including transferred credit hours and any foundation year, the graduation certificate with its attestations, a language certificate if you studied in a language other than your mother tongue, and copies of your study visas (and the CAS letter if you studied in the UK). You also download, sign and upload an authorisation form for each university you attended and a study-sequence declaration. Qataris who started a degree after 1 January 2015 need MOEHE's prior approval letter.

9. Pay and track the request

   School certificate equivalency is listed as free. MOEHE's service listing gives QAR 300 for equivalency of a university degree issued abroad; any fee is paid online by bank card. After you submit, the request shows as under process on your dashboard and MOEHE sends SMS updates. If MOEHE asks for more documents, upload them promptly, because the file is not complete until everything is in. Simple cases for private-school graduates in Qatar can be decided within days; foreign certificates take longer, and MOEHE's own estimates run from about a month to several months, so do not leave it until the week of a deadline.

10. Download and use the decision

    The equivalency decision is issued electronically. You can download and print it from the site at any time, so there is no need to collect anything in person. Keep the PDF with your attested certificate, because universities, scholarship offices and government employers may ask for both. If you are applying to university, note that MOEHE told universities in December 2025 that equivalency is not compulsory for undergraduate admission of international students unless the institution or the student wants it; some universities, such as Lusail University, still list it, so check each university's admission page.

    Read guide: University in Qatar for resident expats: options, admissions and fees →

11. If you are outside Qatar or refused

    Non-Qataris without a Qatari residence permit cannot use the online system. If a Qatari employer or university needs your equivalency, it sends an official letter and the request is handled manually by MOEHE's Equivalency and Attestation Section. If your request is refused, read the reason carefully: missing stamps, a school or university not on the list, or a missing subject are common causes. Fix the issue and apply again, or contact MOEHE on 155 or info@edu.gov.qa to ask how your case can be reviewed.

What it costs

Official fees at the time of review. Fees change, so confirm before paying.

Common mistakes

• Applying for equivalency before the certificate is fully attested. MOEHE will send it back, and you lose weeks.
• Assuming every expat job needs equivalency. Most private-sector work permits only need an attested degree, so ask before you start.
• Studying with a university that is not on MOEHE's list, or by distance learning outside the approved list, and only finding out afterwards.
• Taking a top-up or professional degree and expecting it to be equated like a standard bachelor's.
• Uploading a travel report that does not cover the full academic year of the certificate.
• Using a parent's account for a student aged 18 or over, or a mobile number registered to someone else.
• Leaving the application until days before a university or job deadline.

Questions people ask

Official sources

• Sharek (Government services): Equivalency of a university degree issued abroad ↗
• Sharek (Government services): Equivalency of secondary school certificate for non-Qatari holders ↗
• MOEHE e-services: university certificate equivalency and authentication ↗
• MOEHE: school certificate equivalency guide 2025/2026 (Arabic PDF) ↗
• Al Sharq (Dec 2025): MOEHE to review equivalency decisions ↗
• MOFA Qatar: academic certificate attestation ↗

Always check the official source before acting. QatarSteps is independent and not a government website.

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