FOR many people who come to work and study in France, securing formal recognition of foreign qualifications is crucial.
While EU directives and even some French laws place most British educational and professional qualifications on a par with their French counterparts, in practice the news has yet to filter down to many companies.
For example, a UK accounting qualification will not qualify you as an accountant in France, as the systems differ. It can be difficult for a qualified and experienced hairdresser to open a salon without a brevet professionnel certificate, despite there being no obvious difference between French and English hair.
You will need to research whether you can simply transfer your UK qualification, or must attain a French qualification, or undergo a retraining course to be able to work legally in France.
Exact translations of qualifications are difficult, but they can be evaluated through a certificate of equivalence called an attestation de comparabilité.
This will assess how your qualification compares with the French system, allowing an employer to assess whether you are a suitable candidate or not.
The official body that delivers these certificates is Enic-Naric France. It is based in Paris and is part of the Centre International d’Etudes Pédagogiques (CIEP).
Enic-Naric director Françoise Profit said: "France is aligned with most European countries in its practice of recognising foreign qualifications, based on the Lisbon Convention of 1997.
"We cannot search for every foreign qualification and find its like-for-like equivalent in the French system. The recognition of diplomas is more flexible and looks at training as a whole."
Each application submitted is studied and researched on an individual basis. If you are looking to have a foreign qualification recognised in France, the first thing to do is to contact the prospective employer, or the school or university you are applying to, and ask them what their requirements are.
"Some higher education institutions and certain employers systematically ask for this certificate," Ms Profit said.
Certain regulated types of work are excluded from this requirement, as they specifically ask for a French diploma to be practised in France. Those are referred to as professions reglementées.
In order to obtain the certificate, you need to fill in an application form. The application is then assessed according to a system established by a board of experts including university presidents and staff from European and international development groups.
There are two key criteria: the recognition of the qualification in your home country and the status of the institution that delivered it.
Then, eight assessment components are used to evaluate the worthiness of the qualification. Those include the length of the studies, the outcome and work opportunities at the end of the studies and the admission requirements where you are applying.
The cost of the certificate is €70, but an emergency one can be issued in less than 48 hours for €200. Each application for a certificate needs to include:
1) A photocopy of an official identity document (passport).
2) An application form giving your personal details, a summary of your education and qualifications gained, which qualification you want the certificate for and your reason for applying for the certificate. This can be downloaded here
http://tinyurl.com/Enic-Naric.
3) A photocopy of the original certificate.
4) A photocopy of the translation of the qualification certificate, which must be done by a certified translator, a list of which can be found on the Enic-Naric website.
5) A photocopy of a document that shows proof of the official length of studies. This can be in the form of an information document about the diploma, certificates of attendance mark sheets etc.
6) A photocopy of the translation of the above documents, again done by a sworn translator.
Enic-Naric may refuse to deliver a certificate if the application is incomplete, if the qualification amounts to less than a semester of studies, if it is not recognised in the home country or if it is a purely linguistic qualification.
To find out more about the procedure, see the CIEP’s English-language site at www.ciep.fr/en/
