The most common question: is diploma "nostrification" required?
Many people reasonably ask: "Is a Russian institute diploma valid in Azerbaijan, and does it require confirmation (nostrification) by the Ministry of Education?"
The answer: No, nostrification is not required — the activity is fully legal!
Unlike standard medical degrees, a diploma in continuing professional development (CPD) gives the legal right to work in the Republic of Azerbaijan without undergoing a confirmation procedure. Upon receiving the diploma, you may begin practice immediately.
This right is directly governed by the legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the decrees of the Cabinet of Ministers. Four official legal grounds are presented below.
SPb IDPO Diploma — sample
This is what the diploma received by graduates looks like. The supplement lists 31 completed subjects, credit hours and grades. The diploma number can be verified in the Russian federal register.
Official instructor at the institute and its representative in Azerbaijan.
Listed as "Ragimov Kenan Rovshanovich" — verifiable on the institute's website.
"A psychologist is a person who meets the requirements of this Law, who has received higher education in the specialty of psychologist or who has acquired the specialty of psychologist through additional education in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan 'On Education' and who has the right to provide psychological assistance."
"The use of the words 'psychologist', 'psychological', 'psychoanalysis', 'psychodiagnostics', 'psychotherapy'... is permitted only by persons who have the right to provide psychological assistance in accordance with this Law."
In other words: a person holding a continuing professional development (CPD) diploma is legally entitled to use the title "psychologist" and provide psychological assistance.
Read full text — e-qanun.az"Additional education is education provided on the basis of additional education programmes with the purpose of meeting the comprehensive educational needs of citizens."
This article recognises continuing professional development (CPD) as an official form of education. The diploma from the St Petersburg Institute of CPD falls precisely within this category.
Read full text — e-qanun.az"Retraining is an additional form of education that fulfils the aspiration of every citizen who has received a primary basic professional education to master a new profession or speciality in the relevant field and serves the more dynamic and flexible satisfaction of actual staffing needs."
A person with a higher education in another speciality may undergo retraining in psychology and receive a full psychology diploma. This is an official decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Read full text — e-qanun.azUnder the Education Agreement between Russia and Azerbaijan, graduates holding a CPD diploma — provided they meet employer requirements — may officially practise in both public and private institutions.
This Agreement establishes the diploma from the St Petersburg Institute of Additional Professional Education as an officially recognised document in Azerbaijan.
View the agreement (e-qanun.az)Verify the institute's licence yourself
St Petersburg Institute of Additional Professional Education for Psychologists and Psychotherapists is an official educational institution licensed by the Russian Ministry of Education.
Kenan Ragimov is the official representative of this institute in Azerbaijan. On the institute's website, in the alphabetical faculty list, you can find the name "Ragimov Kenan Rovshanovich".
Step-by-step verification:
Conclusion: the diploma is fully legal
Three laws of Azerbaijan + an international agreement + a Rosobrnadzor licence — these four documents together prove that practising psychology with a CPD diploma in Azerbaijan is fully legal. Each of them can be verified independently via the links above.