ABSTRACT
Because of the global war for international talents, in which national states have joined hands with businesses to attract ‘the brightest and the best’ to keep a
competitive edge in the global economy, skilled immigrants today have found unprecedented mobility across national borders. To facilitate the movement of skilled immigrants, some countries and organisations have sought to improve policies and practices to facilitate foreign credential recognition across nations. In 1997, the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region was developed by the Council of Europe and UNESCO. The Convention stipulates that degrees and educational experiences must be recognised across national borders unless substantial difference is identified. This convention as of today has been signed by 54 countries, including the majority of European Union (EU) member states and non-EU states such as Canada, and ratified by 52 countries (Council of Europe, n.d). In Europe, foreign credential recognition figures large in the Bologna process, which is the process that led to the establishment of the European Higher Education Area. Through this process, a European-wide quality assurance system was established to translate the value of credentials across countries (Saarinen, 2005).
