Are you going abroad to work overseas?

You may need to submit authenticated ("redribboned") documents to the embassy of the country where you work. Acquiring red ribbon
authentication is as easy applying for a passport. You can do it yourself and never pay
agents to do it for you.
The embassies for Canada, the UAE, Qatar, and others require citizens of the Philippines to
have their important documents authenticated as genuine with a red ribbon. Authenticated
papers must have been issued within three months of getting the red ribbon application
process.
Here are the requirements, steps, and procedures for red ribbon authentication.

A Note About Timing

For some agencies, "rush" processing of red ribbon authentication means between four to
seven business days. If you use DHL delivery, a rush order will take about two weeks,
depending upon your location.
Remember: Documents must have been valid for three months to be authenticated.

College Academic Records

Go to your university or college registrar and ask for a certified copy of your credentials,
transcript of record (TOR), and diploma. This will cost about P150 each depending on your
school.
Next, go to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) office near you and submit those
documents. They will then give you a reference number. Use this reference number when
claiming your red ribboned documents in the DFA or DHL.
You can go to the DFA personally for the issuance of your certificates. But its much more
convenient if you just go to any DHL Cargo Express and use your reference number to
receive your red ribbon certificate. DHL will deliver it to you in two weeks or less. When I had
my NSO birth certificate red-ribboned, DHL charged me P400. It costs P265 for the college
and high school diploma.
Note: Some state universities can issue documents directly to the DFA for red-ribboning
without going through CHED.

High School Records

Almost the same procedure is required to get your high school records. Visit your high school
registrar and ask for a certified copy of your diploma and record of credentials. Tell them it is
for the purpose of obtaining a DFA red ribbon. Next, go to the Department of Education office
and submit these documents. Wait for your reference number. Go to the DHL and pay the
delivery fees.

Technical Skills Certificates

To authenticate a technical skills certificate, including records of completed culinary and
caregiver courses, ask for a certified copy of your credentials, TOR, diploma, or certificate
from the school where you completed the training. Bring these documents to the Technical
Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and tell them you need DFA red
ribbon authentication.

Professional Certificates
All professional certificates can be authenticated as well. These include:

professional licenses

certificates of good standing

certificates of registration

report ratings

To authenticate these types of documents, go to the Professional Regulation Commission

office and ask for a certified copy of the certificate. Wait for the claim stub and go to the DFA
or DHL. Pay the corresponding fees and youre done.

Elementary School Diploma and Form 137-A

To authenticate these documents, follow the same procedure as for high school documents.
Expect to pay P265 for the DHL delivery.

NSO Authenticated Certificates

Documents from the National Statistics Office include:

birth certificates

marriage certificates

CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage)

death certificates

To have these documents authenticated, bring the original, with the original official receipt,
and a Local Civil Registrar copy of the document to the DFA, or DHL, for red ribbon
authentication.

The common required documents are:

School Credentials Related Learning Experience (RLE), Diploma and Official
transcript of records (TOR)
Professional Credentials PRC License ID, Board Certificate, Board Rating
Certificate
Experience Credentials Certificate of Employment, Trainings and Seminar
School Credentials
To get CAV of you school credentials, you need to ask it through your school
although it varies from one school to another. I have encountered number of
people who had problems in getting request for CAV. But mostly the ones who
process and send their documents to CHED is their respective schools.
Universities Students Credentials from universities usually dont require CAV
for Red Ribbon. You or your school can send it directly to DFA for Red Ribbon.
Red Ribbon is the attestation of Department of Foreign Affairs that your
documents
are
genuine.
Private Colleges and Institutions Nurses who graduated from private schools
are the ones requested to have CAV of their documents. Most of the schools are
processing the request for CAV and send it to the Commission on Higher
Education (CHED) directly. But there are some schools who dont do it so better
to
ask
your
school
first.
Professional Credentials
For the professional credentials, only the Professional Regulation Commission
(PRC)
has
the
authority
for
authentication.
Bring a copy of your PRC ID, Board Certificate and Board Passing Certificate to
the PRC. They will authenticate you document copies and bring this to the DFA
for Red Ribbon. Some agencies can process this for more charges.
Experience Credentials
Because we nurses cannot apply abroad without 2 years experience in the
Philippines, we are required to give an authenticated Certificate of Employment
(COE). You can get a COE authentication from Manila City Hall. Once you get
your authenticated COE, bring this to the DFA for Red Ribbon.
Personal Details
Your personal details is automatically given requirements. This is either your birth
certificate, marriage certificate or Certificate of No Marriage. Before going to DFA
for Red Ribbon, National Statistic Office (NSO) authentication of your personal
document
must
be
ready.