Academic and professional purposes of the Dichiarazione di valore

The Dichiarazione di valore serves two families of purposes in the recognition of foreign qualifications in Italy: academic, when the qualification is used to study or to obtain an Italian title, and professional, when it is used to work, in the public sector through a competition or in a regulated profession through registration with a professional body. The document is the same, but the authority that reads it and what it does with it change from one procedure to another. This page follows the statement through the main procedures and describes the decision it supports in each.

Admission to further studies

For academic purposes the statement is used to request the recognition, formal or informal, of a foreign qualification in order to continue studies in Italy. Universities and other higher education institutions read it to determine whether the foreign qualification is comparable with the one that gives access to the programme requested: a school leaving qualification with access to university for a bachelor’s programme, a first degree for a master’s, a second-cycle degree for a doctorate or a specialisation school. For postgraduate admission the comparison is strict, since the Italian second cycle presupposes a first cycle of a defined duration and level, and the statement, by reporting duration, credits and access rights, lets the admissions office decide without guessing. The university also uses it, with the transcript and the syllabus, to recognise credits and to decide the year of admission when the applicant has completed part of a programme abroad.

Doctoral programmes and scholarships

Doctoral programmes in Italy are largely publicly funded and their scholarships are awarded by competitive selection. A candidate with a foreign master’s degree competes with holders of Italian degrees, and the call for applications requires the foreign qualification to be recognised as suitable, that is corresponding in level to the Italian second-cycle degree, before or during the selection. The Dichiarazione di valore, or the CIMEA statements that most calls now admit, is the document on which the academic board bases that judgment of suitability, which is a recognition limited to admission to the programme and does not confer the Italian title. The page on foreign doctorates covers the opposite case, the recognition in Italy of a doctorate obtained abroad.

Equipollenza by rector’s decree

Where the applicant wants not merely to study but to hold the Italian title corresponding to the foreign degree, the university grants equipollenza by a rector’s decree, the official act that declares the foreign degree equivalent to a specific Italian one. The procedure, described on the page on the recognition of a foreign degree, relies on the statement to establish the validity, the level and the content of the foreign qualification, and the rector’s decision follows a detailed examination of the statement, of the transcript and syllabus and of the other supporting documents by the competent academic body. Where the comparison shows gaps, the university grants partial recognition with admission to a year of the programme instead of the decree, and the applicant completes the missing examinations.

Public competitions

Many positions in the Italian public sector are filled by competition, and candidates with foreign qualifications must prove that their qualification corresponds to the one required by the notice. The procedure is the equivalence under article 38 of Legislative Decree 165/2001, handled by the Department of the Civil Service of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers together with the Ministry of University or of Education, and the Dichiarazione di valore is among the documents on which the administration verifies the educational credentials of the candidate. The equivalence so obtained is limited to the competition or to competitions of the same kind and does not amount to equipollenza, as the page on public competitions explains, but without it a candidate with a foreign qualification cannot be admitted or appointed.

Regulated professions and professional registration

For professional purposes the statement supports the recognition needed to practise a regulated profession in Italy and to register with the professional body. The medical, legal, architectural, engineering and other regulated professions are governed by professional orders with strict conditions of registration, and a foreign qualification must be recognised by the competent ministry, the Ministry of Health for the health professions, the Ministry of Justice for the legal professions, the Ministry of University for architects and engineers, before the order admits the holder. For qualifications obtained outside the European Union the ministry requires the Dichiarazione di valore, which documents the training and the professional rights attached to the qualification in its country, and bases on it, with the certificate of the right to practise and the proof of experience, its comparison with the Italian training and its decision to recognise, to impose compensatory measures or to refuse. For qualifications obtained in the Union the certificate of conformity takes its place. The professional body itself does not assess the statement: it registers the holder on production of the ministerial decree.

One document, several authorities

The statement is thus filed, together with the other documents each procedure requires, with the universities for academic recognition and doctorates, with the Department of the Civil Service for competitions and with the competent ministries for professional recognition. Each authority reads in it the part that concerns its decision, the access rights for admission, the level for equivalence, the training and the professional rights for recognition, which is why a complete statement, obtained with full transcripts and syllabi, serves all of them and a thin one serves none well. MMW Traduzioni prepares the request with the purposes in view, so that one statement, where the consulate allows it, supports every procedure the client will need.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Dichiarazione di valore enough to obtain the rector’s decree of equipollenza?

No. It is one of the documents of the file. The university compares the foreign programme with the Italian one on the basis of the transcript and the syllabus, and may grant the decree, grant partial recognition with further examinations or refuse. The statement establishes the validity and level of the qualification, the comparison decides the outcome.

Who examines the Dichiarazione di valore in a public competition?

The Department of the Civil Service, with the opinion of the Ministry of University or of Education, in the equivalence procedure under article 38 of Legislative Decree 165/2001. The administration holding the competition admits the candidate subject to the outcome of that procedure, which must be requested within the deadline of the notice.

Does the professional body accept the Dichiarazione di valore for registration?

No. Registration with a professional order requires the recognition decree of the competent ministry. The statement is part of the ministry’s file, not of the registration file, and the order registers the holder once the decree is produced, within the time limit the decree sets.

For a doctoral scholarship competition, can the CIMEA statements replace the Dichiarazione di valore?

In most universities yes: the calls admit the CIMEA statements of comparability and verification as an alternative to the consular statement for the judgment of suitability of the foreign degree. The call specifies which documents are accepted and by when, and the deadline is the point to watch, since neither document is issued in a few days.