Frequently Asked Questions

If your evaluation is for an immigration visa application, it is important that your evaluation equivalency be relevant to your prospective employment. There are primarily two types of evaluations: 1) Academic Evaluations and 2) Work Experience Evaluations. In general, if your non-US degree is equivalent to a US degree that is directly related to the job you will do, you will only need an evaluation of academic credentials. If your degree is not equivalent to a US degree, or if it is in a field outside of your prospective employment, a work experience evaluation may be necessary. If you are unsure which type of evaluation you need, please submit your documents using our online application and request a preliminary assessment. A representative from Morningside will respond to you according to the processing time that you select.

Please refer to our Instructions page for a detailed list of the documents required for each type of service.

Please submit a detailed resume or CV. This should include the names of your past and present employers, position titles, dates of employment (month and year), and a list of the specific job duties of each position you have held. Please ensure that your resume or CV is organized by order of your official employers, rather than by your projects. Resumes or CVs organized by project are generally not useful for evaluation purposes and can delay the processing of your case.

New case requests can be submitted using our online application. You may also email your request to intake@mside.com, along with copies of your documents and our Evaluation Request Form.

All documents should be submitted as PDF, JPG, or Word attachments. Please note that emails containing a large number of attachments or very large image files can be blocked by sending and receiving email servers. As such, we recommend that you condense your documents into as few attachments as possible. If your files contain images that are very large in size, we recommend that you shrink the file sizes before attempting to send them.

If you need to submit multiple evaluation requests for different individuals, please send each candidate’s documents in a separate email along with a copy of the Evaluation Request Form for each candidate.

You should receive an automatic response from our system within an hour of submitting your case request. This response will confirm receipt of your request.

Please review our List of Rates. The cost depends on the type of service you request and the processing time that you select. Rates for expert opinion letters and translations vary depending on a range of factors. If you would like a specific price quote for a translation or expert opinion letter, please submit your documents for review through our online application or forward your request to intake@mside.com along with our Evaluation Request Form. A member of the evaluations team will provide you with a free price quote once the documents have been received.

For individual clients, Morningside can only complete a case request after receiving payment information. For a new request, please complete the payment section on our online application. If you have already submitted a request but have not yet provided payment information, please wait for a Morningside representative to contact you with your case number and the cost for the service. You may then submit payment information using our online payment portal.

If you prefer to pay by check or money order, please submit your Evaluation Request Form and documents to intake@mside.com and wait for a Morningside representative to contact you with the Morningside case number and our preliminary assessment.

The processing time for your case depends upon the type of service you request. Standard processing for academic and in-house work experience evaluations requires three business days. Next day processing and same day processing are also available for academic and in-house work experience evaluations. Please note that same day requests must be received before 1pm Eastern time.

Expert opinion letters generally require 3-5 business days for completion. Rush processing may also be available depending on the field and the particular requirements of the case. If you have a specific deadline for receipt of your expert opinion letter, please include that in your initial case request so that we can advise you of the feasibility of the project when we provide our initial assessment. Please note that same day processing is generally not available for expert opinion letters.

The processing time for translations services depends on a variety of factors, including the language combination, word count, and formatting involved. Standard processing generally requires 3-5 business days. Rush processing may also be available. For larger projects, a Morningside representative will advise you of the processing time required for completion of the translation. Please note that same day processing is generally not available for translations services.

Your completed case will be returned to you by email. If you require a hard copy of your completed evaluation or translation, please email us with the address where you would like it to be sent. Hard copies are mailed via USPS and typically take 2-4 weeks for delivery. If you require a hard copy more quickly, please let us know so that a Morningside representative can quote you for the cost of a courier service. Please note that hard copies are not available for expert opinion letters.

Please indicate your desired equivalency (e.g., Bachelor’s in Business Administration, Master’s in Computer Science) when you submit your initial case request. Morningside will work with you to accommodate your desired academic equivalency. Our professors and evaluators have many years of experience evaluating foreign credentials. Morningside’s evaluators also have many databases, reference libraries, and reliable sources for current and accurate information regarding specific foreign academic institutions and specific degree programs. If, after extensive research and consideration, Morningside is unable to issue the equivalency you are seeking, a member of the evaluations team will contact you to discuss alternative options for the evaluation.

In general, Morningside does not require translations for academic documents issued in a Latin script. For academic documents in non-Latin scripts (e.g., Cyrillic, Arabic, Greek), Morningside requires a certified translation from an ATA-certified translator or a reputable translations company. Morningside is also happy to provide you with a free price quote for any documents you may need to have translated.

Morningside’s evaluations are routinely submitted to USCIS for immigration purposes. Our evaluations are also regularly used for furthering education and obtaining professional credentials or licensing. If the organization or institution you intend to submit the evaluation to has specific requirements for credential evaluation reports, please let us know when you submit your initial case request so that we can advise you whether our evaluations meet those specific requirements.

If you are unable to use the online application and you are unable to submit your request via email, you are welcome to mail your case request to Morningside Evaluations at 450 7th Avenue, Suite 1001, New York, NY 10123. Please include a cover sheet with your full contact information, as well as your Evaluation Request Form and documents. Please contact your mail carrier for approximate delivery times to our office.

No. Morningside provides standard academic evaluations, work experience evaluations, expert opinion letters, and certified translations. Morningside does not provide “course-by-course” evaluations, which are focused on credit and GPA analysis. Upon request, Morningside can reference specific coursework completed by a candidate in a standard academic evaluation.

No. Morningside does not accept original documents. If you choose to send us original documents, Morningside is not responsible if they are lost or damaged. Please submit copies of all documents via our online application or email them to intake@mside.com along with your Evaluation Request Form.

If you require an adjustment or revision to your completed case, please respond directly to the completed case email that you received from Morningside. Please be sure to include your six-digit Morningside case number, which can be found in the file name and at the top of the document. In the body of your email, please let us know the type of adjustment or revision you require, and we’ll be happy to process your request on priority.

No. Morningside is an immigration consulting firm specializing in evaluations of foreign academic and professional credentials. We do not provide legal counsel. If you require legal assistance with an immigration matter, we recommend you contact an immigration attorney.