A Pakistani applicant with a 4-year BBA and 2-year MBA was stuck: HEC had attested the bachelor's degree years earlier but never updated its online records, and after four months of chasing, the applicant considered submitting only the master's to IQAS.
What members advised, and how it resolved:
- Submit both degrees — don't take the shortcut. The clear advice: an MBA assessed alone (without the underlying bachelor's) risks a lower equivalency. Submitting BBA + MBA together is what gets you master's-level equivalency, which matters for CRS points. 'Don't take risk' was the consensus.
- The HEC stall was fixed in person, not online. The applicant later confirmed the record issue was resolved at the HEC head office in Islamabad — remote follow-ups had gone nowhere for months. If your attestation isn't reflected online, escalating in person at the head office is what worked here.
- The IQAS submission itself was fully digital. Asked whether sealed envelopes or physical documents were needed, the applicant confirmed everything was submitted as scans — no envelopes. (Requirements can change; check IQAS's current document instructions.)
The takeaway: fix the source-country attestation problem rather than working around it, because the equivalency level IQAS assigns depends on the complete education history.