Not a degree of ease
Getting a higher education is a big step in anyone's life, but getting that achievement recognised, especially in Pakistan, is another feat to be accomplished. To work or continue further education overseas, Pakistani professionals and students must obtain degree authentication from the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Inter Board Committee of Chairman (IBCC). Even though this procedure is necessary for confirming educational credentials, it is frequently criticised for being unduly difficult, time-consuming, and full of inefficiencies. The degree verification procedure is a hassle for students who are already struggling to get jobs or admissions for further studies.
The significance of attesting Degrees
It is critical to comprehend the necessity of degree attestation. Verifying the legitimacy of degrees and transcripts from accredited Pakistani universities is the main goal of HEC attestation and from IBCC. All the matriculation and intermediate marksheets and certificates that are awarded are verified by the same boards before attestation from IBCC.
By verifying the legitimacy of degrees offered for employment, immigration, or further education overseas, this process protects against fraud. These attested documents are a requirement for many overseas colleges, businesses, and immigration offices during the application process. “The reason why these degrees are attested and required for two verifications, first from universities and then from such bodies like HEC and IBCC, is to check fake degrees which unfortunately is not difficult to attain in the country,” said Azeem Ahmed, an assistant professor at a private university. He also pointed out that even though attestation is important, getting it is a difficult process.
The digital obstacles
To save time and eliminate the need for in-person visits, HEC has put in place an online degree attestation system. Although this appears to be a forward step, a lot of applicants have complained that the system is difficult to use and full of glitches.
Although the online application procedure is meant to be convenient and is started through the HEC e-portal, many people find it to be anything but user-friendly. System crashes, login issues, sluggish page loads, and trouble uploading documents are all frequent complaints. Students often experience mysterious delays without receiving any information on their application process, even after they have successfully submitted it.
Yumna Khan, who graduated from University of Karachi in 2014, shared the stressful experience of degree attestation with The Express Tribune. “I applied for attestation on the HEC portal and uploaded all of my documents believing it would be a simple process. A few weeks later I called their landline number and luckily the person on the other side of the phone was helpful and asked for my application number to send my documents for approval. But that was only the start of it. I got an email informing me that there was a problem with my application and I needed to submit my marriage certificate for degree attestation,” Khan shared. She couldn't believe the email at first and thought it must have been sent by mistake. Why would a marriage certificate be a requirement?
She had a friend who knew someone in HEC who helped her get in contact with the relevant official. When she called they explained that because Khan got married after completing her degree, it could not be attested without the certificate. So she submitted the certificate and then waited for one week for the reply. When no call came, she again asked the contact to help in processing it. After 1.5 months, Khan’s documents were approved and she was asked to send them via TCS for attestation.
“The process of sending via TCS and receiving back the attested documents took a total of 15 days. The cost is minimal but the degree attestation fee was 1,000 per page for the original and 700 per page for photocopies,” she said.
Many applicants are left in a state of uncertainty by these digital inefficiencies, lacking clear guidance on how to address problems or who to ask for assistance.
Absence of support and clear communication
A prevalent complaint among applicants regarding the HEC attestation procedure is the absence of basic information from the commission. Frequently, applicants must interpret rejection emails or deal with objections and hold ups in the approval process. Many people complain that it's difficult or useless to contact customer support for assistance as they hardly assist.
Zainab Qadir, who graduated from NUST, 1just registered for HEC attestation shared that she waited for over three months after uploading her paperwork, only to receive an email stating that her documents were incomplete. “When I tried to phone the HEC office, no one picked up. The email was confusing as it didn't say which document was missing. I had to go to the HEC office several times simply to check what was wrong,” she added.
For applicants from rural areas, who frequently have to travel great distances to see HEC offices in person, this lack of help is particularly difficult. Instead of receiving assistance, they are generally instructed to revisit the portal or suffer additional delays. The sense of powerlessness that many applicants feel during the attestation process is made worse by the absence of timely and trustworthy communication.
Disparities in geography
In large cities such as Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad, the physical attestation process is reasonably accessible, which eventually help professionals and students. But things are worse for people who live in Pakistan's more isolated regions.
There are currently very few regional centres in HEC where degree attestation is possible and similarly for IBCC, board offices are there district-wise but getting documents to IBCC personally and then later collecting them when attestation is done is another issue. This implies that candidates residing in rural or smaller towns must travel great distances to reach these centres. This trip not only costs a lot of money, but it also makes waiting in a queue and dealing with delays more frustrating.
Shahbaz Khalid from Khairpur is an engineering graduate who had to traveĺ hundreds of kilometres to Karachi to submit his degree to be attested. After hours of waiting in queue, he was informed that his application was not complete. “I had to rely on emails that were hardly ever answered because the closest HEC office was too far away for me to visit regularly. The process was a nightmare,” said Khalid.
Processing delays are often caused by overcrowding at the actual attestation centres. The inadequacies at these centres only serve to the discontent of candidates who are already burdened with travel fees. “My matric and intermediate was from Karachi and for even IBCC I had to go separately and submit fees at BSEK and BIEK offices while for IBCC I had to ma,e another three or four visits,” he added.
A systemic issue
The underlying structure of the degree attestation procedure has been criticised for being slow, rigid, and out-of-date, in addition to technical problems and geographical difficulties. Even when applicants have degrees from reputable universities, many are unfairly rejected or given undue scrutiny. Many applicants have said that they were required to submit documents again that they had already submitted, or that they had to deal with attestation officers who seemed to follow different criteria.
“My application was turned down twice for unclear reasons. Later on, I found out that my degree was discontinued from the university which is why HEC was not approving my documents. I had to request and write letters to the university to resolve this. It took another two months from the university to resolve my issue,” said Muhammad Usman who got his degree attested after four years of graduation.
The cost burden
Attesting a degree can come with hefty financial charges for students and fresh graduates. Although the cost of attestation for each document may not appear high at first, it quickly mounts when you include in additional expenses such as travel expenses, the requirement for several trips, and even courier fees. For recent graduates from lower-class households or those looking for work overseas, where time and resources are already scarce, this can be especially difficult.
Occasionally, candidates turn to outside agents in an attempt to speed up the attestation procedure. These agents take advantage of the flaws in the system, charging outrageous fees and frequently operating in a grey area of the law. The fact that these agents exist while not being formally approved by HEC highlights the structural deficiencies make students to bride agents and get into trouble.
The problem students face is the cost of the verification fee that the universities charge for attesting to the degree they have conferred. “In 2016, my university charged 1,000 rupees per page while the current charges when my sister got her degree attested it is 3,500 rupees and takes two months while it is 7,000 for urgent basis and takes 15 days,” Usman mentioned.
Many private universities do not charge for verifications but public universities do and with out verifications from the universities themselves HEC doesn’t approve of the documents.
Similar is the case of verifications from IBCC, where first a student has to get the photocopies approved from secondary and intermediate boards and then it can be verified by the IBCC. “At first you have to go matric board office the fee was nominal but the marksheet and certificate both are submitted for verification then they give a date of around 15 days later and then they hand you over two enveloped sealed only to be open by IBCC, with those two envelopes having mark sheet and certificate you have to submit original documents to the IBCC office, they keep your documents and ask you to come after a few days to collect the attested documents, the same procedure is done with inter-board as well,” shared Fardeen Saleem who was required the verification for further studies.
Long-term effects on education and career
In addition to causing stress right away, the attestation process's bottlenecks and delays may have a lasting negative impact on Pakistani graduates' ability to pursue higher education and professions. Because their degrees are delayed in the attestation pipeline, many applicants miss deadlines for job applications, visa applications, or admissions to foreign universities. “I lost my spot in a graduate program even though I was accepted and had a partial scholarship. I had to wait to get my degree attested, and it took almost four months in the whole procedure from matric to university level, the university had moved on to other applicants by the time my paperwork was ready,” said Qadir.
Reform is required
Despite its importance, the HEC degree attestation procedure is obviously in need of extensive change. While the majority of international institutions have embraced digital-first approaches to increase productivity and transparency, Pakistani graduates are being prevented from realising their full potential by HEC's antiquated procedures and systems.
A source in the HEC confirmed that a project is underway for the complete digitalisation of degree verifications. They promise that soon the process will be made easy for students, specifically for those who have to travel from different cities.
HEC must make an investment in a reliable, user-friendly online system that can manage heavy traffic, guarantee seamless document uploads, and give applicants real-time progress updates. The site should have alternatives for troubleshooting and clear guidance. “HEC needs to digitize it where a student can upload their documents, and the verification can be done online, e-receipt or digital stamp can be done because even when we send documents to universities abroad, we send scan copies, it will save time and money both of the students,” suggested Saleem.
The HEC should provide more open and reachable customer service, such as manned helplines and email platforms that are quick to reply. Giving concise justifications for denials or hold-ups ought to be a primary concern.
Cost of degree attestation
HEC is in charge of verifying degrees from accredited Pakistani universities. As of 2024, these are the costs for degree attestation, Original documents are worth 1,000 each and the cost for photocopies is 700 per copy. Additionally, if applicants utilize a courier service (like TCS) to transmit or receive their attested documents, they may be charged a fee for the service. Within Pakistan, courier fees normally run between 300 and 500. This cost is greater for applicants from outside the country depending on the destination country.
At the university level, attestation entails the university where the degree was earned verifying degrees and transcripts. Universities charge different amounts for attestation, but mostly it ranges from 500 to 2,500 for each document. The cost of photocopying ranges from 300 to 1,500 for each document. Urgent services are provided by several colleges; however, there is an additional charge.
Attestation of the Inter Board Committee of Chairmen, or IBCC
Matriculation (SSC) and intermediate (HSSC) certificate attestation is handled by the IBCC. Original documents cost 400 rupees apiece. Each document photocopied will cost 200, if the applicant chooses to submit or receive the documents using a courier service, there can be fees associated with it.