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Foreign University Degree Incorporation — USAC
USAC Incorporation page Email USAC incorporations
Before you click, have ready:
  • Original foreign degree plus a photocopy, apostilled in the country that issued it
  • Certified record of your studies and their duration (if the academic unit asks for it)
  • Sworn translation into Spanish by a translator authorised in Guatemala
  • Identity document, original and photocopy
USAC fee: Q6,000 (Q3,600 for CSUCA universities) · Time: no published timeframe · Email: incorporacionesrye@adm.usac.edu.gt · Checked: 16 October 2026

The Foreign University Degree Equivalency — officially an incorporación — is the process by which a degree from a foreign university (for example the US, Spain or Mexico) is recognised in Guatemala. The only authority is the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC), under Article 87 of the Constitution.

Quick summary: USAC is the only authority that incorporates foreign university degrees. File at its Oficina de Estudios Internacionales (Registro y Estadística). The tasa is Q6,000 for degrees from outside Central America (Q3,600 for CSUCA universities). You choose between an incorporation exam and one year of social service (1,600 hours). USAC publishes no timeframe. Documents must be apostilled and, if not in Spanish, sworn-translated in Guatemala. Professional college membership is a separate step.

Applies to: graduates of foreign universities (US, Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, etc.) who want their degree to have legal effect in Guatemala. Common case: returning diaspora.

What is this procedure?

University incorporation is the legal recognition in Guatemala of a degree from a foreign university. Article 87 of the Constitution: “La Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, es la única facultada para resolver la incorporación de profesionales egresados de universidades extranjeras y para fijar los requisitos previos que al efecto hayan de llenarse”. The same article says that only degrees from universities authorised to operate in Guatemala are recognised, “salvo lo dispuesto por tratados internacionales.”

USAC’s Departamento de Registro y Estadística lists these routes on its incorporation page:

RouteFor whom (USAC’s description)
Incorporación (Gestiones de Estudios de Grado)Graduates at grado (licenciatura) level of higher-education institutions of primera categoría abroad
Reconocimiento de Estudios de PostgradoGraduates of maestría, especialización, doctorado or post-doctorado abroad who already hold a university title from USAC or from a private university authorised in Guatemala
Reconocimiento de Especialidad MédicaListed as a separate form
Autorización para ejercer profesión universitariaListed as a separate form

This page covers the incorporación.

Requirements (USAC Registro y Estadística)

From USAC’s published requirements for incorporation:

a) Fill in and hand in the application form Form. RyE No. 01 to the officer at the Oficina de Estudios Internacionales.

b) Original and photocopy of your identity document.

c) Original and photocopy of the professional degree obtained abroad, authenticated by the issuing institution and through the corresponding diplomatic channel (apostille for Hague countries).

d) Certified record of the studies at the foreign institution, stating their duration — only if the academic unit asks for it, and authenticated the same way.

e) Sworn translation of any document in a foreign language. USAC: documents “deben ser vertidos al Español bajo juramento por traductor autorizado en la República de Guatemala”; if there is no authorised translator for a language, two people who speak and write both languages translate it under oath, with their signatures legalised by a notary.

f) The USAC tasa (below).

USAC adds that in exceptional cases the university’s Secretary may officially request more documentation, at the applicant’s expense.

Authentication of foreign documents

  • Countries in the Apostille Convention (the US among them): the document carries the signature of the issuing authority (rector, secretary or registrar), and “Los documentos deben ser apostillados por el Ministerio del Exterior o autoridad competente del país que expide el mismo.” For a US degree, that is normally the Secretary of State of the state where the university is.
  • Countries outside the convention: the signature of the issuing authority is authenticated by that country’s foreign ministry, that signature by the Guatemalan consul there, and the consul’s signature by Guatemala’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2 Avenida 4-17, zona 10). Where Guatemala has no representation in the issuing country, the nearest Guatemalan consulate handles it.

Finding a sworn translator

MINEDUC keeps the register of authorised sworn translators at certificados.mineduc.gob.gt. Ask the translator for the number of their appointment (Acuerdo or Resolución) and check it there. There is no public tariff — ask for a quote.

Step-by-step process

  1. Gather documents abroad. Request your degree and, in case the academic unit asks for it, a certified record of your studies and their duration.
  2. Authenticate them in the issuing country: apostille, or the consular chain for non-Hague countries.
  3. Bring the originals to Guatemala and have every document that is not in Spanish sworn-translated by an authorised translator.
  4. Hand in Form. RyE No. 01 with the originals and photocopies at the Oficina de Estudios Internacionales (Segundo Piso, Edificio DIGA, Ciudad Universitaria, zona 12).
  5. Qualification of the degree and the institution. USAC: “La calificación del Título e Institución deberá hacerse como primer paso en el trámite del expediente de Incorporación”.
  6. Choose the incorporation option on the form: an examen de incorporación, or one year of social service (or the equivalent 1,600 hours of service).
  7. Pay the USAC tasa.
  8. Professional college membership, if your profession requires it (Decree 72-2001, Art. 1).

USAC publishes no timeframe for these steps.

Cost

ItemDetail
USAC tasa — degree from outside Central AmericaQ6,000
USAC tasa — Guatemalan and Central American CSUCA universitiesQ3,600
ApostilleSet by the issuing country or state
Sworn translationNo public tariff — ask for a quote
Professional college membershipSet by each college

Specialisation, diploma course or certificate instead of a degree?

USAC’s incorporación is described for graduates at grado (licenciatura) level, and its Reconocimiento de Estudios de Postgrado is for postgraduate studies of people who already hold a Guatemalan university title. A document that is a course certificate rather than a degree — for example a US graduate certificate, a Spanish título propio or a Mexican diplomado — may fit neither route. We found no published USAC rule on these documents, so ask before you spend on apostilles and translations:

  1. Does USAC process this document at all, and under which route?
  2. If not, should you incorporate your degree first and keep the specialisation as supporting material?
  3. If you will practise a regulated profession: what does the professional college require? That is a separate step.

Where to ask: USAC’s Oficina de Estudios Internacionales — incorporacionesrye@adm.usac.edu.gt.

Common problems

  1. Institution or degree not accepted at the first step. The qualification of the degree and the institution comes first; ask before paying for translations.
  2. Wrong authentication. The apostille must come from the competent authority of the country that issued the document; for a non-Hague country, the full consular chain is needed.
  3. Translation not made in Guatemala. USAC asks for a sworn translation by a translator authorised in Guatemala.
  4. Only copies. USAC asks for the original and a photocopy of the degree and the ID.
  • Political Constitution of Guatemala, Art. 87: USAC alone resolves the incorporation of graduates of foreign universities and sets the prior requirements.
  • Hague Apostille Convention (1961): in force for Guatemala since 18 September 2017.
  • Mandatory Professional Membership Law (Decree 72-2001), Art. 1: college membership for graduates holding at least a licenciatura.
  • Penal Code, Art. 336 (usurpación de calidad): claiming an academic title or performing acts reserved for professionals without the title or authorisation is punished with 5 to 8 years in prison and a fine of Q50,000 to Q200,000.

Correction (30 September 2026): this list cited a Ministerial Agreement 35-2005 on MINEDUC’s role in validating foreign degrees. We found no source for that agreement and removed it.

Correction (16 October 2026): this page gave USAC fees of Q500-2,000 by field and times of 6-12 months (up to 18-30). USAC’s published tasa is Q6,000 for degrees from outside Central America (Q3,600 for CSUCA universities), and USAC publishes no timeframe. We also removed a prior MINEDUC/DIGEACE validation step (USAC’s requirements list none), unsourced apostille, translation and total-cost figures, the diaspora case studies, the degree-equivalence examples, an accreditation-agency list, unsourced exam and bridge-course rules, the citations of Decree 90-1997 and Decree 325-1947 with article ranges, and a Penal Code Art. 446 reference (Art. 446 is peculado culposo; the relevant article is 336).

Checked 16 October 2026 against USAC Registro y Estadística’s incorporation page and published requirements.