Terms & Conditions

1. Advisory

The evaluation reports prepared by IERF are advisory in nature and in no way limit an agency or institution in making its own determination as to the level of education and allocation of credit to be allowed for the foreign credentials. IERF is not liable for consequential damages if the desired equivalency is not recommended.

2. Agency Criteria

Any questions concerning specific requirements and procedures for licensure, employment, or admissions criteria should be addressed by the applicant to the appropriate licensing board, agency or institution.

3. Altered or Irregular Documents

If forged, altered, or falsified documents are submitted to IERF, the request for evaluation will be immediately cancelled. All documents (original and photocopies) become the property of IERF. No refund will be issued. The information will be made available to the appropriate parties (academic institutions, government agencies, professional organizations and other evaluation services).

4. Applicable Law

In the event of any disputes between the applicant and IERF, such disputes shall be governed by California law and shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles County courts.

5. Contact

IERF services are conducted solely by mail and the internet. Academic records, however, may only be submitted by regular mail or Courier Service.

6. Correspondence

Changes to an application must be submitted in writing. Once the evaluation is completed, an applicant has 90 days from the date of issue of the evaluation report within which to raise any questions concerning its content. Thereafter, the file will be closed.

7. Damaged or Lost Documents

Original documents submitted by the applicant are returned by a secure mailing service, unless instructed otherwise by the applicant in writing. While every effort is made by IERF to ensure the proper handling of educational documents, IERF accepts no liability related to the loss or damage of documents.

8. Limited Liability of Service

  1. Delay
    While every effort will be made to complete the evaluation within the requested timeframe, IERF cannot guarantee processing times and assumes no liability related to the delay of an evaluation report.
  2. Report
    IERF shall not be responsible for any incidental or consequential damages that an applicant may incur if the educational equivalency anticipated by the applicant is not issued as the evaluation report, based on IERF research, may differ from an applicant’s interpretation or that provided by another party. IERF shall not be liable for any damages resulting from the use of the evaluation report. Furthermore, the applicant agrees to reimburse IERF for any and all costs, including legal expenses, which may incur as a result of any claim that the applicant (or anyone having any interest in the applicant’s earnings or services) may make, based on the recommended equivalency.

9. Reassessment of Equivalencies

IERF bases its evaluation analysis on the best information available to professionals in applied comparative education in the United States at the time when the evaluation is made. When additional information becomes available, IERF reserves the right to reassess educational equivalencies when copies of an evaluation report are requested or when a new report is requested based upon the previously submitted documents.

10. Re-Evaluation Request

Evaluations based on documents not submitted with the original request are considered to be new evaluations, and a new payment of the fee is required. Requests to change a General Report to a Detail Report (or the reverse) will be subject to the fee applicable to that report. The amount paid for any previous evaluation report is not credited toward the charge for a re-evaluation.

11. Refunds

No refunds will be issued once an application has been submitted.

12. Returned Checks

A check that is returned due to insufficient funds is subject to an additional $25 fee.

13. Verification

IERF reserves the right to contact educational and governmental institutions for additional information and/or verification of the authenticity of the credentials submitted, including, but not limited to, sending copies of credentials to the relevant educational institution(s) and/or governmental institution(s).

14. Authorization for Release

IERF may release information about an applicant’s status including copies of educational records where these are required by the agency for whom the evaluation is being prepared.

15. Refusal of Service

IERF reserves the right to refuse service to anyone.

16. Information Subject to Change

The information provided by IERF on this website and on the application is subject to change at any time.