Answers: Your Top 10 Frequently Asked Questions in 2020
We know that applicants have a lot of questions about how the pandemic has affected business operations at WES. In this blog post, we have compiled some of your most frequently asked questions about our credential evaluation process and provided the latest answers.
For example, you can learn about current timelines for processing mail, as well as what to do if your school has been closed and cannot send your required documents. If you have additional questions, explore updates on the notifications page or visit our Help Center.
Keep reading to see the answers to your commonly asked questions:
1. Are WES offices open?
WES has remained open for business throughout the pandemic, and we remain fully committed to helping you achieve your goals in the U.S. and Canada. While physical office locations were temporarily closed in compliance with local safety regulations, our staff was able to work remotely to process thousands of documents (with support from a small, essential team in the mail room).
Today, our standard operations have almost fully recovered. To stay updated with the latest information, please bookmark our new notifications page.
2. My school is on lockdown due to the pandemic. All efforts to have my transcripts sent to WES have been unsuccessful. What should I do?
If you’ve already completed and submitted your application, reach out to your school to see what options you have. For example, your school may have a representative who is still working and can submit documents electronically to WES on your behalf. WES will begin the evaluation process as soon as we receive your required documents.
3. As a result of the pandemic, I cannot obtain my transcripts from my university. What will become of the payment I have already made? How long is my payment valid?
We do not delete applicant files due to inactivity. Therefore, your WES application will not be eliminated from our system.
Your required documents can be sent whenever it is feasible. In the meantime, we will keep your payment and application on file until we receive all of your required documents, at which point we will begin to process and review your documents.
4. How do I know if my school can submit electronic documents to WES?
First check the Required Documents page to see the requirements for your country (or territory) and institution. If specific guidelines are not outlined on this page, don’t worry, your school may still be able to send us your documents electronically. (We are frequently adding institutions and their respective digital transmission options to the Required Documents page on a continual basis.)
However, we encourage you to have a representative from your institution contact us and select the “Other” category on the contact form. We will then explore electronic transmission opportunities with your institution.
5. Does WES offer translation services?
WES does not provide translation services, and requires most documents to be sent in English (with some exceptions for French in Canada). Learn more about translation requirements in this blog post.
6. WES sent my university a verification request while it was closed due to the pandemic. Now my university has reopened, but they need a new verification request from WES. What should I do?
You don’t need to do anything. WES automatically sends verification requests every seven weeks, via email, until we receive a response from the institution. To learn more about the verification process, refer to this blog post.
7. If I’m calling customer service and cannot get through, what should I do?
If call volume is high, we encourage you to reach out using our Contact Us form. U.S. applicants should contact us using this form and Canadian applicants should use this form.
8. My documents have arrived at WES, but have not been processed. What’s the status?
We are continuing to increase our mail processing capabilities. Below are the latest document processing timeline estimates:
- Documents received in our WES Canada office by September 2, 2020, will be processed by September 17, 2020.
- Documents received in our WES Canada office by September 9, 2020, will be processed by September 24, 2020.
- Documents received in our WES U.S. office are being processed within 3-5 business days.
(For newer updates to this timeline, please visit our notifications page.)
Please check the delivery date provided by your courier or mail service to determine when you should expect your next status update in My Account. If you have any additional questions after this time estimate has passed, please contact us.
9. I am having trouble uploading my documents to My Account. I keep getting an error message.
If you’re having this problem, it means you likely left your account idle and are no longer logged in. Try logging out and logging in; then try uploading your documents again.
If this solution doesn’t work, you may be uploading a file type that is incompatible or too large. Or, you may get an error message if the image quality is poor or blurry, rendering the document illegible. This blog post will help you troubleshoot common upload problems and their solutions.
10. What is the fastest way to receive my credential evaluation?
Here are a few tips that can help you receive your report as quickly as possible:
- Be sure to complete your application and submit your payment online. WES accepts payment by credit card/debit card, or Convera (Formerly Western Union), please be advised that all transactions to and from sanctioned and restricted jurisdictions have been suspended until further notice. If you may be impacted by this service disruption, please Contact Us. Instructions are provided during the payment process.
- Confirm that you have submitted all required documents.
- Find out if your sending institution qualifies to send your documents electronically, which can expedite the process.
- Keep an eye on our latest operational updates and timelines by following our new notifications page.
We encourage you to visit our Help Center for answers to other common applicant questions.
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