Moldova

This is the editors' opinion, not an extract from a document. We keep it apart from verified figures on purpose — so that one cannot be mistaken for the other.

• Opinion

  Get the apostille on every document before leaving, even where it is not yet required

  The apostille is issued by a Moldovan authority, and from abroad you obtain it through a power of attorney, postage and waiting. The cost of that delay is measured not in money but in a missed application deadline. We advise apostilling the whole set at once, including documents that look unnecessary: recognition often asks for more papers than a university's initial list.

  Rests on:Apostille authorityApostille hague 1961

• Opinion

  Close the military register at home before leaving — it has nothing to do with studying

  Registration starts at a certain age, and leaving for a long period without being removed from it is penalised — a separate procedure, done in Moldova and only there. It has no bearing on admission, which is exactly why it drops off the list: you gather the diploma, the translation and the visa, and remember this paper at the border. We advise keeping it on the same list as the apostille: both are done at home, both are impossible from abroad, and neither concerns the university.

  Rests on:Military registration age 16Penalty leaving without deregistration

• Opinion

  One Moldovan school qualification needs a different recognition paper in every country

  Italy requires a declaration of value, France a statement of comparability, Poland a statement from the relevant agency. These are not three names for one procedure: different bodies, different timelines, and one cannot be obtained in place of another. From which follows something that changes the plan: the country must be chosen before the papers are gathered, not after. We advise settling the destination first — otherwise part of the work has to be thrown away, and precisely the part that took longest.

  Rests on:Italy needs dovFrance needs attestationPoland needs nawa letter

Some answers are not on this page and cannot be: recognition of your certificate and the apostille are done at home, while the visa code, processing deadlines and Erasmus+ are the same in all five countries.