APS screening for Chinese students
Students and Chinese nationals with a Chinese diploma need to obtain the APS certificate, when applying at a Flemish higher education institution. An APS certificate is a condition for obtaining a student visa at the Belgian Embassy or Consulates General in PR China.
APS screening
The APS screening is not an academic selection procedure, but is meant to avoid document fraud and to guarantee a sufficient language knowledge.
Conditions
Students can apply for the APS certificate in case
- They have finished (a) at least one term at a so called “211 university” or (b) at least three terms at regular “non-211” university.
- They have finished at least three semesters at another official Chinese university
The APS-certificate is not granted in case of
- Document fraud
- Insufficient language knowledge
Procedure
In order to start up the procedure, students need to contact the APS administration in Beijing.
The screening consists of 2 phases:
- Authenticity screening of documents (diplomas, certificates, exam results,..). Either the student’s home institution will be contacted, or databases of graduates issued by the Chinese Ministry of Education will be consulted.
- Academic interview: the plausibility interview aims to identify "authentic, but not truthful" diplomas (or certificates) which were obtained by document fraud, for example.
- The plausibility interview: The fee for the evaluation procedure (document screening + interview) is 2500 RMB (around €340). Detailed information about the APS fees you can find on https://www.aps.org.cn/zh/verfahren-und-services-deutschland/entgelte
Applicants have three opportunities to pass the interview. If you want to retake the interview you have to send an application to the APS. The fee for the re-take interview will be also 2500 RMB.
Please see: https://www.aps.org.cn/zh/verfahren-und-services-deutschland/chinaverfahren/wiederhol2
There is no mandatory minimum waiting period before the re-take interview. The APS recommends to consider an appropriate preparation time for the re-take interview especially for applicants who were not successful because of language reasons.
After successfully having finished the evaluation procedure the applicant will receive an APS certificate which states the screened diplomas and gives a non-binding indication about the applicants communication skills in English during the interview.
The Chinese student with the APS certificate may then apply for a student visa at the Belgian Embassy or the Belgian Consulate-General in China and may effectively enroll at a Flemish institute of higher education.
More detailed information and information on the documents to be submitted is available on the APS website or https://www.aps.org.cn/wp-content/uploads/310_merkblatt_verfahren_belgien_flandern_chn.pdf
APS partial or full exemption
All students from the People’s Republic of China holding a Chinese diploma need to obtain the APS certificate.
However, certain categories of students/researchers can be exempted from a part of the APS screening procedure or from the entire APS certificate.
Requests for the partial or full exemption of the APS screening procedure can only be passed on to the APS Centre in China by and per institute of higher education and coordinated by the Department of Education and Training.
Conditions
Partial exemption of the APS screening procedure (the plausibility interview):
- Chinese students who are already legally residing in Belgium at the time of their application to enroll at a Flemish institute of higher education
- Chinese students who, after a selection interview by a Flemish University, have been admitted to the doctorate
Full exemption from the APS certificate (entire APS screening phase):
This new regulation came into effect in 2018 and is applicable for the following categories of students and researchers, who will start their academic mobility in Ghent University:
- Chinese students who are going on mobility (for exchange or to obtain a degree) in the context of a bilateral agreement between a Chinese and a Flemish institute of higher education
- Chinese students who are going on mobility (for exchange or to obtain a degree) in the context of an official exchange programme, such as Erasmus Mundus, ASEM-DUO or International Course Programmes (ICP)
- Chinese students who hold a scholarship from the China Scholarship Council (CSC)
- Chinese students who have already successfully followed a higher education programme and/or obtained credits in a country other than China
- Chinese students with diplomas from Hong Kong and Macao
- Refugees from the People's Republic of China
- Non-Chinese students with a diploma obtained in the People's Republic of China
The Department of Education and Training will then email these exemptions to the APS Centre in China through cumulative lists for each institute of higher education with the names, first names and dates of birth of the Chinese candidates.
Procedure
- All Students (regardless of a partial or full exemption) should complete this questionnaire.
- When all required documents are received and validated, we will submit your exemption application to the Department of Education and Training.
- The Department of Education and Training will then email these exemptions to the APS Centre in China through cumulative lists for each institute of higher education with the names, first names and dates of birth of the Chinese candidates.
- You will be notified by us by email as soon as The APS Centre in China was informed about the decision.
Reimbursement of APS screening fee
The APS screening fee will be reimbursed by the China Platform. Please note that the amount that can be reimbursed for the APS screening procedure is not inexhaustible but is based on the stipulated amount of 100 € for a partial APS screening (phase 1) and 190 € for a full APS screening procedure (phase 1 + 2). These amounts are based on the fixed fees in Chinese Yuan.
You can apply for the reimbursement of your APS screening costs by following this procedure:
- Send an e-mail to international@ugent.be with subject: “Reimbursement APS cost” and mention a private e-mail address (not Ghent University e-mail). Clearly mention your full name in the mail.
Exception for PhD students, they should claim expenses via the Concur tool. - You will receive an invitation to claim your costs in an online Refund tool.
- In this online tool, you will need to upload the following documents (merged as one PDF file):
- Copy of APS certificate
- Copy of proof of payment APS screening costs
- Copy of Ghent University student card
- Copy of Belgian bank card