Frequently Asked Questions

We provide comprehensive highly professional foreign credential evaluations and translations, which are widely accepted. Our evaluation fees are among the lowest of any recognized evaluation service and we complete our non-rush evaluations in at least 15 working days. In addition, we offer a variety of rush services. Our translation fees are highly competitive and the quality of our translations is truly outstanding. We pride ourselves in providing the best customer service.

Please read the information on our website carefully. Then, download our application for foreign credential evaluations and read the Application Procedures. Everything you need to know about applying for a foreign credential evaluation is explained there

We are qualified and able to evaluate any academic credential from any country in the world.

No. In order for us to provide you with an accurate professional foreign credential evaluation, we must receive a completed and signed application form, the evaluation fee, official original academic credentials and an accurate certified translation or translation fee, if the documents have not been issued in English.

This is also explained on page 1 of our application form. We require official original academic credentials including degrees or diplomas and transcripts including courses taken, credits or hours of instruction and grades. In some cases, we require that academic credentials be sent directly by the issuing institution or examination body. We do not accept photocopies, even notarized photocopies. The only photocopies we may accept are those certified, signed and sealed by the issuing institution. Academic credentials sent to us by applicants via fax or e-mail will not be accepted for evaluation purposes.

We require accurate, professional, certified English translations in addition to the original academic credentials. Our company has a highly professional Translation Department which will be pleased to provide you with an English translation. Go to Services on the home page of our website and click on Translation to read how you can obtain a free quote for translation. You have the option of having your documents translated elsewhere. In our experience, most translations done by professional translators are acceptable, but we reserve the right to review and reject them if they do not meet our standards of accuracy. We do not accept translations done by applicants or by unqualified translators. If your educational institution issues original documents in English, as well as in the national language, it is highly likely that the English version of the documents will be acceptable for use in the evaluation process. The English version must have original signatures and stamps of the educational institution. JS&A reserves the right to review and reject such original English documents if they do not meet our language standards.

Read page 2 of our application which describes in detail the types of evaluations we offer. However, the best answer to this question will come from the organization or educational institution to which you plan to submit your evaluation. We strongly recommend that you contact them to find out what type of evaluation they require.

1) High School Grade Point Average: For freshman admission, a U.S. GPA equivalent is based solely on academic high school subjects, e.g., languages, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and sciences. Non-academic subjects, i.e. physical education, religion, art, music, etc., are not included. The cost for a high school GPA is $40.00. 2) Undergraduate Grade Point Average: Colleges and universities require one overall undergraduate G.P.A. An undergraduate GPA includes all study leading to the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree. The cost for this is $40 per evaluation. If, in addition to the overall GPA required by colleges and universities, an applicant would also like a separate GPA calculation for each institution attended, we can provide this additional service at a cost of $40 per additional grade point average requested. For example, if a student attended three different institutions at the undergraduate level, we will provide one overall undergraduate grade point average for the $40 fee. If this applicant would also like to receive a separate GPA for each of the three undergraduate institutions, the cost would be an additional $120 ($40 x 3). 3) Graduate/Post-graduate Grade Point Average: one overall graduate GPA is provided for the fee of $40. A graduate GPA includes all study leading to the equivalent of a U.S. master's degree and any further graduate study, including doctoral studies. If an applicant requests separate graduate GPAs for different graduate programs, each one is $40. For example, if a client requests a GPA for the master's degree study and for doctoral study, the cost would be an additional $80.

You need to specify in our application that you need the course-by-course evaluation for sitting for the CPA examination and indicate the state whose Board of Accountancy examination you will be taking. Each evaluation costs $250 and can be used only for the one State Board of Accountancy named in the evaluation report. If you need evaluations for more than one State Board of Accountancy, a $250 fee must be paid for each state.

Read the last page of our application which has a partial listing of organizations that accept our evaluations. However, hundreds of colleges and universities and other organizations which also accept our evaluations do not appear on this list. You are advised to check with the agency, organization or educational institution to which you intend to submit your evaluation to make certain that the evaluation will be accepted.

Most non-rush evaluations are completed in at least 15 business days from the time we receive the application, fee, and academic credentials. We also offer rush services which are described on page 2 of our application

Please see page 2 of our application for the Cost of Evaluations. All of our fees are listed there.

Translation pricing is determined by the language, length and complexity of the text; therefore, we must see copies of your documents in order to determine the price. To receive a free quote, please send us a copy of the documents you’d like translated by e-mail: Translation@jsilny.org or by fax to 305-273-1984 and we will provide the price within 24 hours or before.

You may pay in U.S. dollars by cashier's check, money order, or a check issued by a U.S. bank. If the check is issued by a foreign bank, the bank check must list the counterpart U.S. bank. We also accept payment by travelers' check and by credit card (Visa, MasterCard and Discover only). If you wish to pay by credit card, go to Downloads in the Services section of our website, download the Credit Card Information Form and follow the instructions.

We send out evaluations and translations by First Class mail in the United States or international mail overseas (US Postal Service). If you would like your evaluation, translation or original academic credentials to be sent by secure means, indicate so on your application form and add the appropriate fee: Within the United States: - By Priority Mail: US$ 20.00 per address - Within the Continental United States: - By courier: US$ 45.00 per address - Outside of the United States: - By international courier: US$ 85.00 per address. Please note that JS&A accepts no liability for loss or damage of academic credentials during mailing. If the fee paid by the applicant does not cover the cost of the courier, we may use USPS Priority Mail Express instead. Those in extended delivery areas will be billed for the balance of the fee.

Yes. The cost for this additional service at the time of requesting an evaluation is U.S. $20.00. If requested after the evaluation is complete (up to three years from the issue of the original evaluation), the cost is $30.00 per evaluation.

Go to the homepage of our website under Services, click on Foreign Credential Evaluations and then click on Additional Report. The complete explanation is there. Extra evaluation reports are available for 3 years from the original issue date and are normally completed and mailed out in at least 10 business days. Clients who need faster service have the option of paying for the rush service. Please use additional courier service for faster mail service. 

Go to the homepage of our website under Services, click on Translations and scroll down to Extra Translation . The complete explanation is there. Your request for an extra translation copy must be accompanied by your payment and copies of the documents from which the translation was originally done. Each additional certified translation requested after the service has been completed costs $30 for up to one year from the date the translation was issued. After that date, each additional certified translation costs $50. We guarantee keeping these reports for up to three years. Translations are normally completed and mailed out in at least 10 business days. Clients who need faster service have the option of paying for the rush service. Translations will be mailed via First-Class U.S. mail. For faster mail service add courier service (see application).

Those applicants who provide us with an e-mail address on their application form will be notified via e-mail when it is received. That e-mail message will contain a password which will enable them to view the status of their application on-line. If you do not provide us with an e-mail address we will contact you only if we need additional documentation or information.

The fastest and most convenient way to check to see if we have received your documents is to log on to Application Status. All clients who have submitted an application, paid the required fee and provided us with a working e-mail address will be able to view the due date for their evaluation, translation (if applicable) and any documents or payment that were missing at the time their file was opened by assessing their Application Status page. Application status also allows clients to see whether or not these documents and/or payments have been received, and if so, the date that each individual document and/or payment was received. You may access Application Status by clicking on the link on the footer of website under the “Student Sign In” button at the bottom of the page or by clicking the following link http://www.jsilny.org/services/Main. If you believe that we have received a document or payment and if the item is not appearing after logging onto Application Status, we strongly suggest that you e-mail your assigned evaluator. E-mail addresses for all JS&A staff members can be found by clicking on “Contact us” in our homepage or by accessing the following link http://www.jsilny.org/html/contact-us.htm. Please indicate your name as it appears on your application as well as the name appearing on your documents in your e-mail.

We keep applications and academic credentials for one year only. During that year, if you have any questions, please write to us by mail, fax or e-mail and we will respond to you in writing. We will not respond to questions regarding evaluations for which we no longer have a file. Your correspondence regarding foreign credential evaluations must be addressed to Palina Lippman, Director of Evaluations (Palina@jsilny.org), and your correspondence regarding translations must be addressed to Stephen Paez, Director of Translation (Stephen@jsilny.org).

You become a client when we receive your completed and signed application form with the corresponding fees. If your academic credentials (documents) are being mailed to us by you, please send your application form, payment and documents all together at the same time. If your academic credentials are being mailed to us by an institution, please make sure that your application form and payment arrive at our office before we receive your documents. We keep academic credentials for up to three months. If the application with a fee is not received during these three months, we will discard these academic credentials. Since you are our client, we will only respond to you if you have any questions or concerns. We will not respond to spouses, other family members, or anyone else regarding your evaluation or translation.

In certain cases we may insist that documents be sent to JS&A DIRECTLY by the issuing institutions or examination boards. Such documents may not be handled by the students or their representatives at any point. The issuing institution or examination board must send them by Regular Mail using their official stationery and envelopes. NOTE: We will not accept documents from institutions or boards that have been sent by a courier service. In our experience, courier delivery is arranged by the students or their representatives and are, therefore, not sent DIRECTLY by the institution or board. Please instruct the issuing institution or examination board to send your documents by regular mail.