Certified translation of a foreign school certificate and diploma for recognition in Austria

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Degree & diploma recognition in Austria (certified translation).

Degree and diploma recognition in Austria runs through ENIC NARIC Austria, Nostrifizierung or the authority for a regulated profession — each of which wants your school certificates, diplomas and transcripts as a certified German translation by a sworn, court-certified Austrian translator. This English guide explains who does what, which documents to translate, and the apostille facts. From €59 incl. certification and shipping.

Court-sworn§ 14 SDG
Valid Austria-wideauthorities & courts
Grades mappedsystem explained
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Court-sworn translators (§ 14 SDG) · for ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA, Nostrifizierung & university admission · grades & titles kept faithful to the original · binding fixed price, EUR

DIN EN ISO 17100registered · Reg. 7U517

Court-sworn translators§ 14 SDG

Only the translationthe competent body decides recognition

Price up frontbinding fixed price, EUR

Short & clear

Do you need a certified translation for degree recognition?

Reviewed by specialists · FÜD editorial team · kept current

In one sentence: yes — whoever has a foreign school certificate, diploma or university degree assessed, nostrified or submitted for admission in Austria needs, in almost every case, a certified translation by a court-sworn and certified translator. It is the formally correct building block that universities and Fachhochschulen, ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA and recognition bodies require before they will look at the substance of your qualification.

Keep the roles apart: the court-sworn and certified translator (in German, gerichtlich beeideter und zertifizierter Übersetzer), authorised under § 14 SDG, renders grades, subjects and degree titles faithfully and certifies the translation is correct and complete. The assessment, Nostrifizierung or admission decision is made afterwards, by the competent body. FÜD supplies the translation — not the recognition outcome.

Step by step

What you translate depends on why you need recognition.

Austrian recognition looks tangled from outside because three different bodies can be involved. In practice, the purpose decides the path — and the path decides which documents need a certified translation first.

1 · Fix the purpose

University admission, an assessment for an employer, Nostrifizierung of an academic degree, or recognition of a regulated profession — each has its own body and its own document set.

2 · Get the certified translation

A court-sworn translator (§ 14 SDG) renders your certificates into German, keeps original grades and titles, and adds the confirmation note and round court seal.

3 · Authenticate if required

Some bodies want the foreign original legalised or apostilled first — obtained in the country that issued it, never from a translation office.

4 · Submit to the right body

University, ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA, the nostrifying university, or the competent chamber or Bundesministerium — you receive an advance PDF and the sealed original by post to forward.

Three roles people mix up

Assessment, Nostrifizierung, professional recognition — who does what.

These three procedures answer different questions and sit with different bodies. Knowing which one applies to you saves months — and decides which documents FÜD needs to translate first.

Expert opinion

ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA — assessment

What it is: An assessment (Bewertung) issued by ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA at the OeAD, on behalf of the Bundesministerium für Frauen, Wissenschaft und Forschung, applied for online via the AAIS portal.
Answers: "How does my foreign higher-education qualification compare, for professional purposes?" As of 2026 it costs €150 for up to two qualifications (€50 for each further one) and currently takes around eight weeks.
Note: It is a comparative classification, not a formal legal equivalence.

Formal equivalence

Nostrifizierung (§ 90 UG 2002)

What it is: A university or Fachhochschule formally equates a foreign academic degree with an Austrian one, by decree, under Section 90 of the Universities Act 2002.
Answers: "Can I use my foreign degree as if it were the equivalent Austrian one?" Fee €150; the university decides within three months of a complete application.
Note: Usually only needed for third-country degrees — for example ahead of a regulated profession or further study. School-leaving certificates go through a parallel Nostrifikation at the Bildungsdirektion (§ 75 SchUG).

Regulated profession

Professional recognition (AuBG)

What it is: Recognition of a foreign qualification for a legally regulated profession — doctor, nurse, teacher, engineer and others — under the Anerkennungs- und Bewertungsgesetz.
Answers: "Am I allowed to practise this profession in Austria?" The competent body depends on the profession and on whether the qualification was earned in the EU/EEA, Switzerland or a third country.
Note: The portal berufsanerkennung.at explains the pathway and names the responsible chamber or Bundesministerium; AMS-funded regional Anlaufstellen advise in person.

What FÜD does — and does not — do

We produce the certified translation every one of these routes needs: school certificate, diploma, degree certificate, Diploma Supplement, transcript. We do not issue ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA assessments, Nostrifizierung decrees or admission decisions — those stay with the competent bodies. Our job is that your documents arrive in German, accurate and certified, so the decision can be made without a query.

Documents you must translate

The recognition document checklist.

The exact set depends on the route and the body. These are the documents FÜD translates most often for recognition in Austria.

Documents for degree and certificate recognition in Austria and where each is handled
Document	Needed for	Handled by
Degree certificate & diploma	ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA assessment, Nostrifizierung, employment	Certified translation
Diploma Supplement & transcript of records	Assessment and Nostrifizierung — subjects, credits, grades	Certified academic translation
School-leaving certificate (Matura / Reifezeugnis)	University admission, Nostrifikation (§ 75 SchUG)	Certified translation
Professional licence / registration	Regulated profession recognition (AuBG)	Certified professional translation
Module / course descriptions	Sometimes requested to compare content for equivalence	Certified translation on request
Apostille or legalisation on the original	Authentication, obtained in the country of issue	Certified translation of the apostille
Passport / name-change document	Ties the certificates to your identity and current name	Certified translation if requested

Degree titles are kept, not "translated into" Austrian ones

A "Bachelor of Technology" or a "Diplomskiy specialist" is not silently rewritten as an Austrian "Bachelor" or "Diplom-Ingenieur". The original title stays, with an explanatory rendering where useful — the equivalence judgement belongs to ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA or the nostrifying university, not the translator. That restraint is exactly what a recognition body needs to see.

Apostille & legalisation

Authenticity is a separate step — and FÜD does not issue apostilles.

Reviewed by specialists · FÜD editorial team · kept current

The certified translation confirms the content is rendered correctly and completely — the apostille confirms the original document itself is genuine. These are two different things, and the two are often required together for a foreign diploma: ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA's own application portal, for example, asks that a foreign original be legalised as a public document by the competent authority in the issuing country before an assessment is processed.

The apostille is placed by an authority of the state that issued the certificate — for a foreign diploma that means obtaining it in the country of origin, before translation. FÜD does not issue apostilles. For an Austrian school-leaving certificate or degree going abroad, the competent Austrian authority depends on the document — the Amt der Landesregierung, the president of the Landesgericht, or the BMEIA. Whether your document needs an apostille or full legalisation, and for which body, we clarify before the work starts.

Languages & typical origin countries

Which certificates we translate most for Austrian recognition.

FÜD assigns a native-speaker, court-sworn translator for degree and certificate translations from over 70 languages. The most frequent recognition cases come from:

Eastern Europe & CIS

Middle East & Turkey

South Asia

Balkans & South-East Europe

Grading scales, module names and degree titles differ sharply by country — the point where an academic specialist matters. We keep the original terms and grades, and add explanatory notes, leaving equivalence to ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA or the nostrifying university.

Common pitfalls

Where Austrian recognition files stall — and how we prevent it.

Universities, ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA and recognition bodies are strict readers of academic documents. These are the recurring reasons a translation gets queried — and how a court-sworn translator avoids them.

Common pitfalls with degree and certificate translations for Austrian recognition and how FÜD resolves them
Pitfall	Why it goes wrong	How FÜD solves it
Grades "converted" into a scale that looks familiar	A 1.3 is rewritten as an "A" or a GPA figure — false precision that undermines the classification ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA or the university is meant to make.	The grade stays in the original, with a neutral note on the grading system. The classification is left to the assessing body.
Degree title equated with an Austrian one	A foreign diploma labelled "Master" or "Diplom-Ingenieur" suggests an equivalence only the competent body may determine.	The original title is kept, with an explanatory addition where useful — never a silent Austrian equivalent.
Name transliterated inconsistently across documents	A name in Cyrillic or another script is transliterated differently on the diploma and the transcript, and the university sees two different people.	One court-sworn translator handles the full set, applying a consistent, rule-based transliteration throughout.
Institution or module names translated too freely	A university or module name is rendered loosely and no longer matches what ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA or the nostrifying body has on file.	Established German equivalents where they exist; otherwise the original name is kept, with an explanatory addition.
Uncertified or wrongly formatted translation	A university, Fachhochschule or ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA requires a certified translation; a plain one is rejected outright.	A court-sworn and certified translator under § 14 SDG delivers the confirmation note and round court seal; we confirm the required form (original, certified copy, scan) in advance.
Apostille missing, or added after translating	The certificate is translated, but the required legalisation of the original is still pending — or was added afterwards and is itself untranslated.	We flag the authentication route before work starts and translate certificate and apostille together as one set.

The one rule behind all of this

The translator renders — the translator does not evaluate. Anything that looks like a conversion, an equivalence or a level assignment does not belong in the translation; it belongs to the assessing body. Keeping that line clean is what prevents a recognition file from being sent back.

We translate the record faithfully — the classification is the competent body's call.

Original titles kept, grades preserved, certified under § 14 SDG — so the decision can be made without a query.

Quote & price

What does a certificate or diploma translation cost?

We review the documents, the language and the route — assessment, Nostrifizierung, admission or professional recognition — then name a binding fixed price in EUR. A single certificate or diploma is usually a flat fee per document; longer records are priced per standard line.

Binding fixed price

flat fee per documentsingle certificates & diplomas · longer records from € 0.89 / standard line

Price up front · no unannounced extra costs

Certified translation by a court-sworn translator (§ 14 SDG)	✓included
Confirmation note, round court seal and signature (recognised across Austria)	✓included
Original grades, subjects & degree titles preserved	✓included
Advance PDF & postal delivery of the original	✓included
Academic-specialist revision & final quality check	✓included

A single school certificate or diploma is usually a flat fee per document; Diploma Supplements and multi-year transcripts are priced per standard line (55 characters incl. spaces), from € 0.89. We name the exact amount after a brief review. How the price is made up →

Request a quote

Sources & legal basis

Where these statements come from.

Every legal, procedural, fee and timing claim on this page is tied to a primary, verifiable source — the responsible Austrian authorities and RIS, the federal legal information system. Acceptance of any individual document, and the recognition outcome, is always decided by the receiving body.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions.

Do I need a certified translation for degree or certificate recognition in Austria?

Almost always, yes. Universities and Fachhochschulen (admission, Nostrifizierung), ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA (assessment) and recognition bodies for regulated professions require foreign-language education documents as a certified translation by a court-sworn and certified translator. FÜD produces this translation; the recognition decision itself stays with the competent body.

Does FÜD carry out the assessment or the Nostrifizierung?

No. The assessment (Bewertung) of a foreign higher-education qualification is issued by ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA at the OeAD, on behalf of the Bundesministerium für Frauen, Wissenschaft und Forschung. Nostrifizierung of academic degrees is carried out by universities and Fachhochschulen under § 90 UG 2002; Nostrifikation of school certificates is carried out by the Bildungsdirektion under § 75 SchUG. FÜD supplies only the certified translation these procedures require.

What is the difference between an ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA assessment and Nostrifizierung?

An ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA assessment is an expert opinion that classifies a foreign higher-education qualification for professional purposes — it is not a formal legal equivalence. Nostrifizierung under § 90 UG 2002 formally equates a foreign academic degree with an Austrian one; it takes place at a university and is usually needed only for third-country degrees, for example for a regulated profession or further study.

Do you convert my grades into the Austrian grading system?

No. The court-sworn and certified translator renders grades, subjects and degree titles faithfully from the original and adds a neutral note on the grading system where useful — Austrian school and university grades run from 1 (Sehr gut, best) to 5 (Nicht genügend, fail). The classification itself is made by the competent body — for higher-education qualifications, ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA or the university carrying out the Nostrifizierung.

Do I also need an apostille?

That depends on the destination country, the document and the receiving body. The apostille is issued by an authority of the state that issued the document — for a foreign diploma, that means obtaining it in the country of origin before translation. FÜD does not issue apostilles; we advise whether one is required and deliver the translation in a form the receiving body accepts.

What does a certified translation of a certificate or diploma cost?

A single certificate or diploma is usually a flat fee per document; longer records such as a Diploma Supplement or multi-year transcript are billed per standard line, from € 0.89. Certification, the confirmation note and delivery are included. We name the exact price after a brief review. How the price is made up →

My Indian diploma and transcript were translated with the title kept as awarded and the grades in the original scale. ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA issued the assessment without asking for a single correction.

★★★★★

P. Sharma · ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA assessment, Vienna