UPDATE: Implementation of the new digital system for the promotion of the automatic recognition for qualifications from the countries that adhere the Lisbon Convention
Kindly note that starting from September 2023 CIMEA will be working on the creation of a new digital system for the purpose of automatic recognition and the subsequent free release of Statements of Comparability for qualifications from the 55 countries that adhere the Lisbon Convention.
This requirement is necessary in order to align Italy with the European policies of "automatic recognition" for academic qualifications, according to the provisions of the “Council Recommendation of 26 November 2018 on promoting automatic mutual recognition of higher education and upper secondary education and training qualifications and the outcomes of learning periods abroad" and required by the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), taking into account the “Communiqué of Rome” approved during the Ministerial meeting organized by Italy in 2020.
The CIMEA - Credential Information Service - CIS comparability and verification services will therefore be temporarily interrupted until the first months of 2024.
In order to better support higher education institutions in their internal and autonomous assessments during this transitional period, CIMEA will publish in September operational guidelines on recognition and information broken down by country in order to understand the necessary documentation to be requested for such assessments.
Finally, it should be noted that all certification requests received via the Diplome platform until 29 July 2023 will be duly processed and released according to the deadlines set by each service.
The Credential Information Service - CIS is operational through CIMEA, a certification and comparability service for Italian and foreign qualifications, in order to make academic titles in the national and international context increasingly understandable and recognizable.
The CIMEA Credential Information Service – CIS uses the "Diplome" service to issue its certificates, making use of blockchain technology applied to the recognition of qualifications.
For further information on the Diplome click here
Click here to access the CIMEA Diplome page.
CIMEA services for certification and verification of qualifications:
Please note that the certification and comparison service for Italian and foreign qualifications offered by CIMEA is a support and transparency tool for the institutions and authorities responsible for the various different recognition procedures. For further details, please refer to the following page: Recognition of qualifications.
Academic recognition
If you intend to proceed with the request of a Statement of Comparability and/or Verification for academic recognition, we suggest you to check directly with the Italian higher education institution of your interest whether the Statement of Comparability and/or Verification is needed or not.
The complete list of the Italian Higher Education Institutions that have an agreement with CIMEA is available at the following link: Universities.
If the request for presentation of the Certificate of Comparability and/or Verification was received from a Higher Education Institution that is not present in the list of the Higher Education Institutions that have an agreement with CIMEA, it is possible to request the services offered by CIMEA by registering directly on the DiploMe portal.
Please note that to complete the request it is necessary to specify the purpose of the recognition (academic) and the course of study (Bachelor’s, Master’s, University Master’s, etc.) you are interested in.
Non-academic recognition
With regard to non-academic recognition procedures, kindly visit the page at the following link.
If a Statement of Comparability and/or Verification issued by an ENIC-NARIC centre is requested by the institution or authority of your interest, it will be possible to request the CIMEA Statement by registering directly on the DiploMe portal.
Please note that to complete the request, it is necessary to select the “Non-academic evaluation” option, specifying the purpose and the procedure for which the service is required.
Comparability
Through the Comparability service it is possible to ask CIMEA to evaluate Italian or foreign qualifications of the higher education system and final qualifications of secondary school courses that allow access to Higher Education. In the case of a positive evaluation, CIMEA experts will produce a Statement of Comparability relating to the qualification evaluated.
By Comparability we mean the identification of the level of the foreign degree with reference to the cycles of the Bologna Process and the levels of the European Qualifications Framework. This comparison does not guarantee in any way the formal recognition of the title within a national system, but it is a useful indication for those institutions that evaluate qualifications during different recognition procedures: the Statement of Comparability of the qualification is merely an opinion, and does not in any way bind the institutions during their assessment and recognition procedures.
CIMEA's Statement of Comparability will be uploaded to the digital "Wallet" of qualifications through the use of blockchain technology, thereby making this digital document transparent, transferable, certified and unchangeable.
To learn about the details of the service and request a Statement of Comparability, please register on https://cimea.diplo-me.eu.
Verification
Through the Verification service it is possible to ask CIMEA to certify that an Italian or foreign qualification of the Higher Education or secondary school system has actually been issued to the owner by an official body in the system of reference. In the case of positive feedback, CIMEA experts will produce a Statement of Verification referring to the qualification which has been verified.
By Verification of authenticity we mean any operation carried out by CIMEA in order to receive information on the actual award of a degree by the institution in question. This verification does not in any way guarantee the formal recognition of the qualification within a national system, but it is a useful indication for those institutions that evaluate qualifications during different recognition procedures: the Statement of Verification of the qualification does not in any way bind the institutions during their assessment and recognition procedures.
During these operations, CIMEA uses one or more of the following tools: national or individual institution databases, information requested directly from the institution that awarded the title, official certification issued by the competent authorities of the country of reference, receipt by mail of the original qualification from the institution at the CIMEA offices, verification of the presence of legalizations and stamps, verification of the qualification format and the respective signatures.
The CIMEA Statement of Verification will be uploaded to the digital "Wallet" of qualifications through the use of blockchain, thereby making this digital document, transparent, transferable, certified and unchangeable.
To learn about the details of the service and request a Statement of Verification, please register on https://cimea.diplo-me.eu.