Declaration of Value ( Dichiarazione Di Valore )

Master’s Degree

Declaration of Value (“Dichiarazione di Valore “)

List of documents required to obtain the
Declaration of Value (“Dichiarazione di Valore”) to enroll in Italian schools and universities.

NB: All documents must be original. Copies will NOT be accepted. All original diplomas will be returned to the student along with the Declaration of Value.

The consular jurisdiction of the Embassy of Italy in Washingtoncomprises the following areas:
District of Columbia;
Maryland: Prince George’s and Montgomery counties;
Virginia: Arlington and Fairfax counties and the city of Alexandria;

All others must contact the Consulate with jurisdiction over the place where the school is located:

Foreign degrees do not have legal value in Italy (art. 170 of R.D. n.1592/1933). However, articles 170 and 332 of the same Decree allow those who hold foreign degrees to ask for their equivalency with the corresponding Italian degree. In view of the autonomy granted to the Italian universities, complete authority is given to the academic Authorities to assess whether or not the foreign degrees correspond to those issued by the Italian education system.

The student must submit this request to the RETTORE (university president) of the Italian university of his/her choice, that currently includes an academic program compatible with the course of studies previously done by the student in the United States. This request, however, may only be submitted AFTER the student has obtained the Declaration of Value (“Dichirazione di Valore”) from the corresponding Italian consulate.

NOTE:Students who have attended High School outside of the United States, must obtain a Dichiarazione di Valore from the Italian Consular Office in the country where the school is located.

1. “Application form for verification of academic degrees and documents” properly filled out with the student’s information and signature;
2. Original graduate Diploma + Apostille;
3. Original graduate Transcripts + Apostille;
4. Graduate course catalog (translation is optional);
5. Original Bachelor’s degree + Apostille;
6. Original Undergraduate Transcripts + Apostille;
7. Declaration of Value for the Bachelor’s degree issued by the corresponding Consular office;
8. Original High School Diploma;
9. OriginalHigh SchoolTranscripts;
10. Declaration of Value for the High School diploma issued by the corresponding Consular office;
11. A copy of the student’s passport or Italian national i.d. card.
12. A pre-paid DHL, FedEx or UPS envelope to return the original documents back to the applicant once they’ve been processed. Please be advised that we cannot accept pre-paid envelopes from the U.S. postal service.
13. All originaldiplomas, degrees and transcripts must be declared as “official” by the Registrar of the academic institution. This signature must be notarized. Subsequently, the academic document must be submitted to the office of the Secretary of State where the academic institution is located in order to obtain the required “Apostille” (in accordance with the Convention of The Hague of October 5, 1961);
14. The aforementioned documents (front and back) must be accompanied by a translation into Italian. Translations must be literal and typewritten. The only documents that do NOT need to be translated are the apostille pages.

Please be advised that a fee is due for documents that are not for academic purposes.

Students are advised to submit copies of all necessary documents to the Italian university in order to pre-enroll while the finalized documents are being processed by the corresponding Consular Office.

IMPORTANT:Please note that all Declaration of Value applications will be processed in no less than 1 month. Therefore, please submit all the required documents with sufficient advanced notice so that they can be processed on time.

For further information, and to make an appointment, please contact:

Ms. Martina Rizzo

Student Office
Embassy of Italy
3000 Whitehaven St., N.W.
Washington, DC 20008-3612
United States of America
Tel.: (202) 612-4435
Fax: (202) 518-2142
E-mail:
Homepage:

CERTIFICATION OF ORIGINAL SCHOOL/ACADEMIC DOCUMENTS
(“APOSTILLE”)

IMPORTANT: Please DO NOT detach the documents from the Apostille for any reason. Removing the staple from the Apostille will make the document null and void.

The Italian Government and its agencies comply with the Hague Convention of October 5, 1961 (approved by the United States of America on October 15, 1981) that requires documents originated in other countries to be accompanied by the Apostille of the Secretary of State to satisfy the requirement of authenticity. The Apostille actually certifies that the signatures of Officials appearing on the original document are true and legitimate. In this manner all documents issued in the United States, if accompanied by the Apostille of the Secretary of State, are recognized as authentic in Italy.

ORIGINALschool/academic documents (i.e.: Final Report Card, High School Graduation Diploma, High School Transcript, Bachelor of Art Diploma, Bachelor of Science Diploma, Master Diploma, Ph.D. Diploma, Academic Transcripts) should bear the signature by hand (no ink or raised stamps accepted) of the Registrar or any other School/University authority in charge of students records and the signature authentication by a Notary Public.

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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA:
Office of the Secretary of the District of Columbia
Office of Notary Commissions and Authentications
441 4th Street, NW, Room 810S
Washington, DC20001
Tel.: (202) 727-3117
Website:
PUBLIC OFFICE HOURS: Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm

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MARYLAND: Once the original document has been authenticated by a Notary Public in the state of Maryland, it must be submitted to the CountyClerk of the Circuit Court of the County in which the notary is commissioned. The Clerk’s office will certify that the person who acted as notary was in fact a notary on the day the document was signed.

• for MontgomeryCounty: Loretta E. Knight, County Clerk
  Montgomery County Circuit Court
  Judicial Center
  50 Maryland Avenue
  Rockville, MD 20850
  Tel. (240) 777-9460
  Website:
  
• for Prince George’s County: Marilynn M. Bland, County Clerk
  Prince George’s County Circuit Court
  14735 Main St.
  Upper Marlboro, MD 20772-3051
  Tel. (301) 952-3318 / 3330 / 3335
  Website:

After this procedure, the document can be mailed (or taken personally) to the appropriate office of the Secretary of State for the Apostille.

BY MAIL - along with the school document with notarized statement and clerk’s certification attached, the student submits:

• a cover letter indicating the country of destination of the document;
• a stamped, self-addressed envelope and
• a check or money order in the amount of $5.00 per document made payable to Secretary of State. The address is:
  Certification Desk
  Office of the Secretary of State
  16 Francis Street,
  JeffreyBuilding, 1st Floor,
  AnnapolisMD21401

WALK-IN SERVICE – 8.30 a.m. – 4.00 p.m. (including some State holidays)

16 Francis Street,
AnnapolisMD21401
Telephone: (410) 974-5521
E-mail:
Website:

Payment of $5.00 per document by check, money order or exact amount in cash, and the name of the country of destination is required at the time of certification.

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VIRGINIA:
Before you apply for an apostille, all original transcripts and diplomas must be notarized by any notary public in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

After this step, you may go to Richmond to apply for an apostille. You must specify that the apostille is for Italy. If you decide to do this by mail, you must include a brief letter explaining the reason for requesting the apostille as well as a self-addressed stamped envelope along with the appropriate fee and all other required documents.

You may obtain the apostille at the following address:
Ms. Betsy Anderson
Director of Authentications
Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth
1111 East Broad Street, 4th Floor
Richmond, VA23219
Tel.: (804) 786-2441
Website:

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