Foreign diploma
If you obtain a foreign diploma, your performance grant is not automatically converted into a gift. You first need to send us your diploma and list of marks. DUO will assess if you performance grant can be converted.
Send your diploma and list of marks
Send us a copy of your diploma and list of marks. If you obtained your diploma in Belgium, there may be a different procedure.
What to do?
- Get a certified copy of your foreign diploma and list of marks. A certified copy is a copy with a stamp and signature from your educational institution. You can also have a certified copy made at one of our Service Desks. Please bring your original diploma and list of marks.
- Write a short letter asking for your student debt to be converted into a gift.
- Sign the letter and mention your BSN. Enclose the copies of your diploma and list of marks.
The address is:
Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs
Verzoek omzetting prestatiebeurs
Postbus 50021
9702 BA Groningen
After your request
DUO will assess if you are eligible for reduction or cancellation of your student debt. You will receive a notice. This notice also mentions any consequences for your student debt.
Your diploma will be listed in Mijn DUO under ‘Buitenlands diploma’.
Send diploma in time
Send us your foreign diploma as soon as possible. Do so within 5 years after your diploma period expires. If you send it any later, your performance-based grant will no longer become a gift.
Diploma period
For MBO level 3 or 4, HBO, and university programmes, student finance is not always a gift. For these programmes, student finance is a ‘performance grant’. This means you need to obtain your diploma within 10 years. This is called the diploma period. These 10 years start from the 1st month you receive student finance.
If you obtain a diploma in time, your basic grant, supplementary grant and student travel product become a gift. The performance grant is subject to interest. If you obtain your diploma in time, the interest will also become a gift. If you borrowed, you always need to repay this amount, plus interest.
Diploma obtained in Belgium
Did you obtain a diploma in Belgium? Some Belgian institutions exchange diplomas with DUO. If this applies to your school, you only need to send us a letter. DUO will assess if your performance grant can be converted into a gift.
What to do?
- Check if your school or university is on the list of schools that exchange diplomas digitally.
- If your school is not on the list, follow the steps above.
- If your school is on the list, send us a letter mentioning:
- the date you obtained your diploma
- your school or university
- your study programme
The address is:
Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs
Verzoek omzetting prestatiebeurs
Postbus 50021
9702 BA Groningen
- You do not need to include a certified copy of your diploma and list of marks.
Which Belgian schools exchange diplomas digitally?
- Antwerp Maritime Academy
- Artesis Plantijn (AP) University of Applied Sciences and Arts Antwerp
- Artevelde University of Applied Sciences
- Erasmushogeschool Brussel (EhB)
- Gent University
- HOGENT
- Hasselt University
- Howest University of Applied Sciences
- Karel de Grote (KdG) University of Applied Sciences and Arts
- KU Leuven
- LUCA School of Arts
- Odisee University of Applied Sciences
- PXL University of Applied Sciences and Arts
- Thomas More University of Applied Sciences Kempen
- Thomas More University of Applied Sciences Mechelen-Antwerp
- Transnational University Limburg
- UCLL University of Applied Sciences Leuven
- UCLL University of Applied Sciences Limburg
- University of Antwerp
- Vives University of Applied Sciences North
- Vives University of Applied Sciences South
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel
These schools have exchanged their diplomas with DUO since 1 January 2014.
After your letter
DUO will assess if you are eligible for reduction or cancellation of your student debt. You will receive a notice. This notice also mentions any consequences for your student debt. Your diploma will be listed in Mijn DUO under ‘Buitenlands diploma’.