Can the documents submitted to GitHub Education be in a language other than English?

[R0D1NA]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Question

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Verification Help & Guidance

Hi everyone,

I live in a country where Arabic is the official language used for all government transactions, including student documents. Can I submit them as they are, or do I need to have them translated into English?

[webpromahdi]

Hi! Yes, you can submit documents that aren't in English, but you'll need to include an English translation alongside them.
Here's what generally works:

Don't submit only the Arabic document , take a photo/scan of the original Arabic document placed next to its English translation, so both appear together in the same image or file.
You can create the translation yourself using Google Translate or Google Lens (just make sure it's clear and legible).
Make sure your full name and school/institution name in the translation match exactly what's on your GitHub profile/billing information (in English spelling).
Preferred file formats are usually PDF or JPG , try to avoid formats like .docx.

If you get rejected even after doing this, it sometimes helps to log out and log back in before reapplying, or open a support ticket with GitHub Education explaining your situation.
Hope this helps! 🙌

[blazee14]

Hi, yes you can submit it in Arabic, but GitHub Education asks that you also include an English translation, since the automated verification system (OCR) doesn't handle non-English languages well.
GitHub's specific guidance is: if the original document isn't in English, take a photo of (or include in the same image/file) the original document next to its English translation — it doesn't need to be an official/certified translation; a clear translation done by you is enough in most cases.
A few extra tips based on other students' experiences in similar situations:

You can include both documents (original + translation) as separate pages or side by side in the same image.
Make sure your full institution name and your full legal name are clearly visible in both versions.
If it still gets rejected after submitting this way, you can open a support ticket explicitly asking for manual review, mentioning that the original document is in Arabic (your country's official language) and that you already included a translation.