OUT-OF-COUNTRY APPLICATION CHECK LIST
☐ STEP 1: APPLY FOR A REVIEW OF CREDENTIALS
☐ CREATE TEA LOGIN ACCOUNT
Your TEA Login (TEAL) account is used to access the Educator Certification Online System (ECOS). In ECOS you
can update contact information, submit applications and fees, check the status of received documents and
processed applications online.
If you do not have a social security number, please submit a TEA help desk ticket to Educator Certification with
a copy of your current passport. You will be assigned a temporary P number to create your TEAL account. After
you are assigned a P-Number, follow the steps to create your TEAL account.
1. Go to https://tealprod.tea.state.tx.us/.
2. Click "Request New User Account".
3. Complete the online form. Be sure to input your name exactly as it appears on your passport or state
issued ID and select "Educator" as the Organization Type.
4. After you complete the form, click “Submit”.
5. The system prompts you to create your password.
IMPORTANT NOTE: While a P-number can be assigned to create a TEAL account and apply for access to ECOS
to initiate the out-of-country credentials review process, a social security number will be required to
complete the fingerprinting process to qualify for issuance of a certificate.
☐ COMPLETE EDUCATOR PROFILE
1. After your TEAL account is set up and you are logged in, click the “View My Educator Certification
Account” link (above your TEA ID) to access the Educator Certification Online System (ECOS).
2. Complete the mailing address section and click "Continue" at the bottom of the screen to save your
changes.
3. You will be taken to the “Main Menu” of your ECOS educator certification account.
This information will also be transferred to the testing vendor's website and will update your testing profile.
(Allow at least one hour for changes to be transferred.)
☐ SUBMIT ONLINE APPLICATION FOR A REVIEW OF CREDENTIALS
If you are fully certified in another country, meaning you are a licensed teacher and you completed a teacher
preparation program, you may apply as an out-of-country certified applicant to have your credentials
reviewed. The review of credentials application is required to have documents reviewed to determine
eligibility for a Texas certificate. Your credentials will not be reviewed without the application and the non-
refundable fee of $164.00.
To apply you will select the “Out-of-Country Certified Applicants” application located in the ECOS main menu.
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☐ PAY $164.00 REVIEW OF CREDENTIALS APPLICATION FEE
Additional fees that are not included in the review of the out-of-country credentials, but may be applicable to
you following the successful completion of a credentials review:
• One-Year Certificate $52.00 – when eligible, submit application if needed for employment purposes
using the “Out-of-Country Certified Applicants” application in ECOS. This certificate is optional and
requires completion of fingerprinting and demonstration of English language proficiency for issuance.
• Standard Certificate $78.00 – when eligible, submit application using the “Out-of-Country Certified
Applicants” application in ECOS. This application should be submitted after meeting the testing
requirements based on the results of your credentials results of your credentials review. This
certificate also requires completion of fingerprinting and demonstration of English language
proficiency for issuance.
• Fingerprinting $39.00 – payment access will initiate if you have a social security number and when any
type of certificate application is submitted online.
☐ STEP 2: SUBMIT REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
☐ OFFICIAL FOREIGN CREDENTIAL EVALUATION FROM A TEA APPROVED ENTITY
• The evaluation must be course-by-course from one of the recognized companies listed on the TEA
website at this link verifying that you hold a degree equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s degree or higher.
• The evaluation must include educational coursework and student teaching or a teaching practicum.
• The evaluation must also include the certificate or credential issued by another country, including the
effective date and validity period of the certificate, certification areas, and grade levels.
• On the application form, indicate the “Texas Education Agency” for purpose of evaluation.
• Foreign transcripts are not accepted for review.
• The course-by-course evaluation must be sent directly from your institution via email to
[email protected]. Foreign credential evaluations submitted by applicants are not accepted for
the credentials review.
☐ ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY – REQUIRED FOR CERTIFICATE ISSUANCE
Demonstration of English language proficiency can be accomplished with one of the following requirements.
1. Completion of an undergraduate or graduate degree at an accredited institution of higher education in
the United States or one of its territories.
2. Verification of a minimum scaled score that falls within the High-Intermediate level in each section on
the Test of English as a Foreign Language internet-Based Test (TOEFL-iBT). Please use the entity code
8225 to have scores submitted directly to our office from Educator Testing Service (ETS). You may also
upload the official PDF score report directly to your account via the “My Documents” tab in your ECOS
educator certification account.
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3. An undergraduate or graduate degree that was earned at an institution of higher education in a
country outside of the United States listed in the figure provided below.
Figure: 19 TAC §230.11(b)(5)(C)
4. A standard certificate issued by the department of education in another state where examinations for
the certificate were taken and passed. You must also upload a copy of your test score report for the
certificate area.
Note: The TOEFL Essentials Test is not an acceptable exam to meet English language proficiency requirements.
English language proficiency is not required at the time of review but is required to be eligible for issuance of a
Texas Educator Certificate.
Supplemental documentation cannot be used in lieu of this requirement. Please do not send any documents
not listed above as this will delay processing. Cover letters, resumes, diplomas, or other unrequired documents
are not accepted as proof of English language proficiency.
TOEFL Test Prep Website
☐ STEP 3: PENDING REVIEW
APPLICATION IN QUEUE FOR REVIEW
Once a complete application and payment is submitted online, your application is placed into a queue for
processing. TEA staff cannot review your out-of-country credentials until all required documents are received.
A complete application includes the following.
• Online application
• $164.00 fee
• Original course-by-course foreign credential evaluation
A certificate cannot be issued without completion of fingerprinting and demonstration of English language
proficiency.
If any required documents are missing from your application, you will receive an email notification from
“[email protected].” A letter will be added to your ECOS educator account under the “My Documents”
tab informing you of the additional documents required to complete your credentials review.
☐ CHECK “MY DOCUMENTS”
If 30 days have elapsed since you provided all documents necessary to complete your credentials review and
you have not received any communication regarding your application, you may contact Educator Preparation
and Certification for an application status update. Prior to making contact, please check the “My Documents”
tab in your ECOS educator account for updated information.
Are all documents listed in Step 2 available in the “My Documents” tab?
• Yes – Your application and documents are pending a review by certification staff.
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• No – It is possible that your documents are still being processed and have not yet been uploaded to
your account. Documents can take up to two weeks to upload to your account once received by our
office. We encourage you to periodically check the “My Documents” tab in your ECOS educator
certification account to confirm that we have received your document(s).
If you would like to verify whether a document has been sent to our office, please check with the sender for
confirmation. Due to the high volume of documents received each day, our staff may not be able to confirm
delivery. However, the document will be processed to your account in the order received.
☐ STEP 4: REVIEW RESULTS
☐ RESULTS OF REVIEW OF CREDENTIALS
• Once the review of your credentials has been completed, you will receive an email courtesy
notification with the subject line “New Letter in your ECOS account” indicating that a new
document is available to view. Please check junk and spam folders in case your notification email
was filtered to either of those locations.
• Under the “My Documents” tab the “Document Type” column will read “TEA Results of Review of
Credentials”.
• Please use Google Chrome to view PDF document(s).
• Your review results will identify the areas of certification for which you are eligible and any
required exams to obtain a standard five-year certificate in Texas.
If you have questions or concerns about the results of your credentials review, please submit a help desk ticket
to Educator Certification with “Results of My Review” in the subject line.
☐ STEP 5: OPTIONAL - ONE-YEAR CERTIFICATE
☐ SUBMIT ONE-YEAR CERTIFICATE APPLICATION
Applicants who meet specified requirements as determined by the review of credentials may be issued a non-
renewable one-year certificate. You may apply for a non-renewable one-year certificate if needed for
employment purposes.
• During the validity of this temporary, non-renewable certificate, you must complete all required
examinations for each certification area desired.
• The one-year certificate will expire 12 months from the effective date whether used or not.
• The one-year certificate cannot be renewed or extended.
• A one-year certificate does not guarantee employment.
When applying for a one-year certificate, you will be required to provide a requested effective date. If you are
not in the process of being employed, we recommend postponing your application. It is advisable to apply for
the one-year certificate once you have a confirmed start date for your employment.
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☐ REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTIFICATE ISSUANCE
• Your one-year certificate application will not be processed until the $52.00 application fee is paid.
• You are required to undergo a national criminal background check by submitting fingerprints for
review. Your initial credential will not be issued until the results of this background check are
received by our agency. Please review how to complete fingerprinting under step 7.
• English language proficiency is required to be eligible for issuance of a Texas educator certificate.
Please review English language proficiency requirements under step 2.
☐ STEP 6: TESTING
☐ REGISTER FOR EXAM(S)
If you are required to take exams to obtain a standard five-year renewable certificate you will be eligible to
register for the appropriate exams after your credential review is complete.
Examination registration information and study materials for the TExES tests are available on the testing
company's website, www.tx.nesinc.com or by calling (800)-877-4599.
☐ STEP 7: APPLY FOR YOUR STANDARD CERTIFICATE
☐ SUBMIT OUT-OF-COUNTRY STANDARD CERTIFICATE APPLICATION ONLINE
The standard five-year renewable certificate is issued to an individual who has completed all requirements for
a Texas educator certificate. Upon completion of testing and proof of English language proficiency, if required,
you may apply for the standard certificate in your ECOS educator certification account.
• From the educator main menu, click on "Applications", then "Out-of-Country Certified Applicants".
This will take you to the “Educator Out-of-Country Certification Menu". Go to the bottom of the page,
click "Continue". The next page will be "Application for Certified Out-of-Country Applicants".
• Answer the questions on the Applicant’s Affidavit then continue to the "Educator Out-of-Country
Application for Certificate” screen and scroll to the bottom of the page. Click on the box for a
"Standard Certificate-$78", then follow the prompts to complete the process.
☐ PAY $78.00 FEE
Your standard certificate application will not be processed until the $78.00 application fee is paid. After your
application and fees are submitted online and fingerprinting is complete, please allow 5-7 business days to
process your application. Once issued your standard certificate will be available online for viewing.
☐ COMPLETE FINGERPRINTING
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You are required to undergo a national criminal background check by submitting fingerprints for review. Your
initial credential will not be issued until the results of this background check are received by our agency. The
fingerprinting process will only initiate after an application for one of the following certificates is submitted.
• One-year certificate application
• Standard certificate application
A social security number is required to begin the fingerprinting process.
Once the fingerprinting payment is submitted and processed online you will receive a pre-enrollment email
from IdentoGO (someone@identogo). The email will provide unique codes and instructions on how to
schedule a fingerprinting appointment specifically for TEA though IdentoGO’s website.
After your scheduled appointment, the fingerprinting results will transfer directly to TEA within 3-7 business
days. **Check your spam/junk folder in case the email was filtered there**
Additional questions specific to completion of the fingerprinting process should be submitted via TEA Help
Desk ticket to Fingerprinting, or by calling 512-936-8400, option 3, Monday through Friday between the hours
of 9:00am and 12:00pm.
☐ STEP 8: VIEW CERTIFICATE ONLINE
Congratulations! You are a Texas certified educator!
Here are the steps you can take to print copies of your certificates from the Educator Certification Online
System (ECOS):
• Log in to your TEAL account at https://tealprod.tea.state.tx.us.
• Click "Access Applications" on the Self-Service menu.
• Click the "View My Educator Certification Account" link directly above your TEA ID. This provides
access to your educator records in ECOS.
• If the Educator Profile Setup screen is displayed, update your information if needed, and then scroll
down and click "Continue".
• Click “View Certificates” about halfway down the left menu, and then click "Official Certificate"
below it.
TEA no longer mails paper certificates. Your educator certificate is available online in your educator account.
The virtual certificate maintained on the TEA website is the official record of an educator's certification. To
print the certificate, right-click and select "Print" OR select "File" and then select "Print" from your browser
menu. You may also be able to create a PDF with a “Save to PDF” or “Print to PDF” option.
If you have trouble viewing the current version of your certificate, you may need to clear the browsing history
by deleting cookies and temporary internet files. The "official record date" at the bottom should reflect the
current date.
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