University documents

Before the VWU preparatory course, you apply to a university, and it decides — using just this one set of documents — whether to admit you and which exams to assign. That is why you assemble the full set before applying, not after. Uni Wien takes longer with an incomplete application, and Graz rejects it outright; either way, you cannot reapply in the same semester.^1–3

This article covers four universities: the University of Vienna (Uni Wien), the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien), the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU) and the University of Graz (Uni Graz). All four follow the same order: a document is certified first, then translated, and only then submitted. Swap the order and you will have to redo the translation, since it must show the certification stamps too.^2–5

What to put in the set

• Your school-leaving certificate, every page. Uni Wien says this outright, and Graz asks for a scan of both sides of each page.^3·6
• Stundentafel, the list of school subjects with their hours. Uni Wien wants it as a separate document, certified and translated the same way as the certificate. It shows how much maths or physics you actually had. Graz also wants the upper-grade report cards, the Schulzeugnisse der Oberstufe.^3·6
• Your school-leaving exam result for TU and Graz. Both universities ask for the result of your country's university entrance exam where one exists: EGE for Russia, NMT for Ukraine, and for Kazakhstan the state entrance exam, ENT. TU sets its own entrance exam instead if your schooling ran eleven years, if you are missing general-education subjects, or if you have no German.^3·4·7
• NMT for Uni Wien. Uni Wien does not list Russia among the countries this applies to, and from Ukrainian applicants with a certificate from the 2021/22 school year or later it expects an NMT score of at least 100, starting with the summer semester of 2027.⁶
• A country entrance exam for WU. WU's list names Kazakhstan and Ukraine, but it is open-ended, with a "for example" attached.⁸
• A German certificate of at least A2, if the programme is taught in German. Graz and WU do not require the language certificate to be certified; TU asks for a certified copy.^3·4·8·9
• Anything that could waive an exam: confirmations from a university if you have already studied, certificates of any kind. Once you are admitted, an exam already assigned to you will not be cancelled.¹⁰
• For WU, also a CV covering your education with no gaps, plus copies of every original.⁸

Apostille or full legalisation

An Austrian university accepts a foreign document only once the state that issued it has confirmed it is genuine. Which certification you need depends on where the document was issued, not on your citizenship: a certificate from a Russian school is certified under Russian rules, whatever passport you hold.²

An apostille is a stamp a country uses to certify its own document for use abroad. Uni Wien also accepts an electronic apostille. Which authority issues it is up to the country itself, so ask wherever the certificate was issued. Full legalisation takes longer: the document is certified by the ministry of education, then the ministry of foreign affairs, and finally by the Austrian embassy or consulate.²

Uni Wien's requirements for school documents from neighbouring countries.²

Other universities' rules can differ in detail: WU, for instance, accepts a Ukrainian certificate and NMT result without an apostille if they can be verified in EDBO, Ukraine's state register of education documents.¹¹

Whose signature the apostille certifies. It has to confirm the signature of the school or university that issued the document. If the apostille sits on a notary's or translation bureau's signature instead, Uni Wien will not accept it. WU will also not accept a copy on which a notary has certified only that it matches the original. Check this as soon as you get the document back, before it goes for translation.^2·5

Certification, diplomatische Beglaubigung, holds indefinitely according to Uni Wien, and the page uses that word for both the apostille and full legalisation. A certificate certified several years ago does not need certifying again.²

Translation

A document not in German or English is translated by a court-certified sworn translator: gerichtlich beeideter Dolmetscher. That is the term Uni Wien and Graz use; WU calls the same role an "officially certified court interpreter". Only WU mentions notarising the translation itself, and only for a translation made in Ukraine. The whole document is translated together with its stamps and certification marks.^2·3·5

• Translating the apostille. Uni Wien wants it translated too; WU says the apostille itself does not need translating. It is safer to translate it together with the apostille — that version works for both universities.^2·5
• Binding. The translator binds the translation to the original, and the two must not be separated, not even to scan them: under Uni Wien's rules, that invalidates the translation.^2·4
• Two languages. A document issued bilingually, in Russian and English or German, Uni Wien accepts without any translation.²

Universities differ on where the translation can be done, at home or in Austria:

• Graz accepts a translation made either in Austria or abroad.³
• WU accepts a translation from the country of issue if the translation itself carries a second apostille, and a Ukrainian translation if a notary has certified it. A translation made in Austria needs no such second certification.^5·11
• Uni Wien and TU require a sworn translation.^2·4

If in doubt, get it translated in Austria: it is the only route where at least one university, WU, states outright that no second certification is needed.

How each university takes submissions

Each university has its own way of accepting a submission, and some want scans while others want paper.^2–4·8

TU also warns that its admissions office may refuse letters from courier services outside the EU, because customs fees have repeatedly been demanded for them. Send yours by regular mail instead.⁴

How long a decision takes

TU takes 10 to 12 weeks to process an application and advises non-EU citizens to send their full set for the winter semester between 16 January and 15 July. WU budgets at least 12 weeks for review. Uni Wien's own deadlines, and how they line up with VWU enrolment, are covered in the preparatory course overview.^4·8

Once you are admitted, you apply for a residence permit, and that takes up to 90 days to decide. Even at TU and WU that is roughly three months on its own, and adding 90 days for the permit brings the whole process close to half a year — so order the apostille and the translation the moment you get the certificate in hand. What to do once the decision comes through is covered in the article on the first steps in Vienna.¹²

Sources

· 12 checked 25.09.2026

1. 1Zulassung ohne OSA / nicht-EU-EWR mit Deutsch (FAQ) — Universität Wien · checked 25.09.2026
2. 2Beglaubigung — Universität Wien · checked 25.09.2026
3. 3Bewerbung Bachelor-/Diplomstudium — Universität Graz · checked 25.09.2026
4. 4Admission with an international school-leaving certificate — TU Wien · checked 25.09.2026
5. 5Legalization and translation: Apostille — WU · checked 25.09.2026
6. 6Infos Drittstaaten — Universität Wien · checked 25.09.2026
7. 7Additional and supplementary examinations — TU Wien · checked 25.09.2026
8. 8Vienna University Preparation Programme (VWU) — WU · checked 25.09.2026
9. 9Nachweis der Deutschkenntnisse — Universität Wien · checked 20.09.2026
10. 10Zulassung zum VWU (BA) — Universität Wien · checked 25.09.2026
11. 11Legalization and Translation: Ukraine — WU · checked 25.09.2026
12. 12Aufenthaltsbewilligung Student (kein Mobilitätsprogramm) — OeAD · checked 20.09.2026