Before your academic documents can be authenticated at the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they must first pass through authentication at the Ministry of Education.
With so much academic document forgery in Nigeria, you need authentication to prove that your academic documents are genuine and were legally issued by the right authority. Getting this right can open doors for you, whether you are applying for a visa, pursuing postgraduate studies abroad, or applying for a foreign job offer.
In this guide, you will find what authentication of documents at the Ministry of Education means, documents that can be authenticated, requirements, costs, timeline, and what to do next after authentication.
Key takeaways
- Authentication of documents at the Ministry of Education is the first step you must complete before your academic documents can be authenticated at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or legalized by any foreign embassy.
- Only academic documents, such as university degrees, HND, OND, WAEC, NECO, transcripts, and professional certificates, can be authenticated at the Ministry of Education.
- As of April 2026, authentication of documents at the Ministry of Education is done fully online through the evaluation and accreditation system portal, with no physical office visits required.
- It costs ₦4,000 per page to authenticate your documents, and the process takes 1–3 working days once your documents are submitted.
What is the authentication of documents at the Ministry of Education?
Authentication of documents at the Ministry of Education is simply getting your academic documents verified and stamped by the Ministry of Education. This stamp proves that your document is genuine and was issued by authorized Nigerian educational institutions.
Without this stamp, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will not authenticate your academic documents, and without the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stamp, the foreign country embassy will not legalize your documents for work, school, and visa application. As you can see, the entire process is connected, which is why you must get the authentication at the Ministry of Education correctly.
Documents that can be authenticated at the Ministry of Education
Only academic documents like tertiary institution certificates, secondary school certificates, transcripts, and professional certificates are legalized at the Ministry of Education:
- Tertiary institution certificate: university degrees (bachelor, master, PhD), diplomas, Higher National Diplomas (HND), Ordinary National Diplomas (OND), and National Certificates in Education (NCE)
- Secondary school certificate: WEAC, NECO, GCE, NABTEB, and NBAIS
- Transcripts: university transcripts from Nigerian universities
- Professional certificates: certificate in nursing, medicine, ICAN, NSE, and other professional bodies.
Requirements for Authentication at the Ministry of Education
The requirements for the authentication of certificates at the Ministry of Education are:
- A personal account with the evaluation and accreditation system
- Valid email
- Original academic documents
- Payment fees
- Transcript sent by your university
- Means of identification (NIN, international passport data page)
- Professional ID (if authenticating a professional certificate)
Step-by-Step Process to Authenticate Documents at the Ministry of Education
On the 15, of April 2026, the Federal Ministry of Education announced that authentication and evaluation of academic documents will only be done online, no more walking into a physical office to authenticate your documents:
How to authenticate academic certificates in Nigeria starts with contacting your institution to send your transcript, opening an account, selecting the application type, paying the required fee, uploading documents, and checking your mail.
- Contact your institution to send your transcript: The Ministry of Education will only authenticate your transcript if it was sent to ess1@education.gov.ng by your university. Reach out to your institution on time to send your transcript to the official email above.
- Open an account: Sign up and open an account with the evaluation and accreditation system, which is the new official site for the authentication of documents, validate your email, and proceed to log in.
- Select application type: Select authentication of documents, and provide all documents and details that will be requested for.
- Pay the required fee: Pick the type of document you are authenticating, and the system will automatically calculate the total cost and generate a specific RRR code for that transaction. Once the RRR is generated, you will have several options to pay, such as debit card payment or bank transfer, and if payment is confirmed, your status will change on the portal. The fee you pay is non-refundable.
- Upload documents: Scan and upload a clear copy of the original document you want to authenticate for verification by the Ministry of Education.
- Check your email: You will receive an email on the authentication status, and your authenticated documents will be emailed to you once the process is complete.
Get your academic documents authenticated
How much does authentication at the federal ministry of education cost?
It costs ₦10,000 per page to authenticate academic documents on the Ministry of Education portal; no matter how many pages of documents you are authenticating, you will be required to pay ₦10,000 per page.
How long does authentication at the federal ministry of education take?
With the new digitalization process, authentication of documents at the federal ministry of education takes 1-3 working days. But other factors, like how long your institution takes to send your transcript to the official mail, can delay your authentication process; contact your institution earlier to avoid delays.
After Ministry of Education Authentication: What Comes Next?
After you successfully authenticate your academic document with the Ministry of Education, you can then proceed to authenticate it at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then it will finally be ready for legalization by the foreign country’s embassy.
Frequently Asked Questions
It costs 4,000 per page for the authentication of academic documents at the Ministry of Education.
All academic documents like tertiary institution certificates, secondary school certificates, transcripts, and professional certificates, can be authenticated at the Ministry of Education.
Authentication of documents is not done at the Ministry of Education’s physical office again, but rather it is done online through the Ministry of Education’s official portal.
Conclusion
Before you can use your Nigerian academic documents abroad, the first step is authenticating them at the Ministry of Education, before authenticating at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and legalization. The process is meant to prove the genuineness of your documents.
With the process now fully online, it is faster and more straightforward than it used to be, no queues, no physical office visits.
If you are ready to move on to the next step of authentication, or if you have more questions on this step, get professional assistance from Visa.NG.
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