Operational clarity · institutional FAQ
Verification questions, answered clearly.
Learn how VeriCam handles verification requests, applicant consent, institutional outreach, fraud detection and report re-verification.
Categories
8
Standard SLA
5–15 days
Bilingual
EN · FR
Designed forUniversitiesEmbassies & consulatesCredential evaluatorsRegulated employersImmigration platformsMinistries / government
Every case follows the same controlled path
- 01Request
- 02AI review
- 03Institution contacted
- 04Officer review
- 05Verification issued
- 06QR re-verification
Common institutional concerns
Start here.
The four questions every adjudicator asks before relying on a verification platform.
Is VeriCam an accreditation service?
No. VeriCam verifies the authenticity of credentials directly with issuing institutions. It does not award credentials, accredit institutions or evaluate equivalency.
Are reports human-reviewed?
Yes. AI assists document analysis and risk scoring; trained verification officers make every final decision under a two-person rule with supervisor approval.
Can reports be re-verified?
Yes. Every report carries a tamper-evident verification ID and QR. The public authenticity portal shows the live state — including any subsequent revocation or supersession.
Is applicant consent required?
Yes. Verification only proceeds after the applicant signs an authorisation linking the credential, the named recipient and the verification purpose. Consent is revocable until issuance.
Verification process
How a verification request moves from intake to issuance.
QWho can request a verification?
Foreign universities, embassies, employers, scholarship organisations, credential evaluators, immigration consultancies and licensing bodies. Individual Cameroonian applicants can also verify their own credentials and share reports with named recipients.
QWhat credentials are covered?
All major Cameroonian education credentials — GCE Ordinary & Advanced Level, Probatoire / Baccalauréat, HND / BTS, Bachelor's / Licence, Master's, Doctorat / PhD — plus teacher-training, nursing / health and vocational diplomas. Administrators can add new credential types without code changes.
QHow long does verification take?
Typically 5 – 15 business days, depending on the issuing institution's responsiveness. Priority processing is available on the Workspace and Infrastructure engagement models. Cases routed to onboarded institutions are usually faster.
QWhat does 'primary-source' actually mean?
Every issued report is grounded in a documented response from the issuing Cameroonian institution — either through their onboarded VeriCam registrar portal or via manually-recorded outreach (registrar email, phone or in-person). Contact, date and channel are logged on the case.
Outcome definitions
What each outcome classification means operationally.
QWhat does VERIFIED mean?
The issuing institution confirmed the credential through a primary-source channel. The strongest outcome VeriCam issues — adjudicate within your own criteria.
QWhat does PARTIALLY_VERIFIED mean?
Institution responded; some fields confirmed, others outside their attestation scope. Treat confirmed fields as verified, unconfirmed fields as unverified.
QWhat does NOT_VERIFIED mean?
Institution responded and did not confirm the credential as filed. The credential should not be treated as institution-confirmed; consider the anti-fraud escalation path.
QWhat does UNABLE_TO_VERIFY mean?
Institution did not respond within the SLA window. Not a finding of fraud — it documents the absence of an authoritative response. Adjudicators may request additional evidence or a fresh attempt.
QWhat does REVOKED mean?
VeriCam withdrew the report — typically because new evidence indicated fraud, the institution disavowed the response, or a clerical correction was required. Revoked reports must not be relied upon.
QWhat does SUPERSEDED mean?
A newer report has replaced this one. The public authenticity portal links to the successor record — adjudicators should rely on that successor.
Institutional participation
How Cameroonian institutions join the verification network.
QHow do Cameroonian institutions onboard?
Institutions apply via the manual onboarding form. A VeriCam compliance officer cross-checks ministry accreditation and contacts the institution through its published official channels before provisioning the registrar portal.
QIs onboarding free for institutions?
Yes — accredited Cameroonian institutions onboard at no cost during pilot rollout. Costs are borne by the requesting party (university, embassy, employer, evaluator).
QWhat if you can't reach the institution?
After documented good-faith outreach we classify the case as UNABLE_TO_VERIFY rather than approximating an outcome. The case file shows the attempts made, channels used and SLA timeline.
QDo institutions have to onboard for verification to work?
No. Many cases are resolved via manual outreach (registrar email, phone or in-person). Onboarded institutions just turn around requests faster because they respond through their dedicated portal.
Security & privacy
How applicant and institutional data is protected.
QHow is applicant consent handled?
An explicit, signed authorisation form is captured before any release. Consent links the credential, the named recipient and the verification purpose. It is logged on the case and revocable until issuance.
QWhat is publicly visible on a report?
The public authenticity portal shows: verification ID, validity state, outcome, issuing institution, credential category, issuance and expiry dates, masked applicant initials. Nothing else is public.
QWhat is never publicly disclosed?
Uploaded documents, transcripts, passport / ID copies, full applicant identity, internal institutional communications, officer notes and AI extraction outputs are never publicly disclosed.
QIs the platform encrypted?
Yes. TLS in transit, provider-managed encryption at rest, SHA-256 hashed documents at intake, role-scoped access controls, and audit-logged actions.
Fraud prevention
How fraudulent credentials and misuse are detected and contained.
QDoes AI decide whether a credential is valid?
No. AI assists with document extraction and risk signals (template mismatches, altered images, inconsistent dates, duplicate certificate numbers). Final classification is made by a trained verification officer with supervisor approval before issuance.
QWhat fraud signals does VeriCam look for?
Certificate number inconsistencies, altered or regenerated documents, duplicate credential records, mismatched institutional templates, inconsistent grading structures, metadata anomalies, forged signatures or seals, and suspicious cross-case applicant patterns.
QWhat happens when fraud is suspected?
Material indicators escalate to compliance review under the two-person rule. The report is withheld until review concludes; confirmed fraud results in no report (or revocation), account suspension and cooperation with authorities where appropriate.
QIs UNABLE_TO_VERIFY a finding of fraud?
No. An UNABLE_TO_VERIFY outcome reflects the absence of an authoritative response within the SLA window — not a fraud finding. Adjudicators should request additional evidence or a fresh attempt.
Public verification
How adjudicators independently re-check an issued report.
QHow do I re-verify a report I received?
Scan the QR code printed on the report, or visit /verify and enter the verification ID. You'll see the report status, issuance date, outcome, credential category and issuing institution — without exposing any sensitive documents.
QWhat if the verification ID doesn't match?
First check transcription — IDs follow a fixed format (RPT-CMR-YYYY-NNNNNN-X) with a check character. If the printed ID matches what you entered and no record is found, treat the document as unverified and contact [email protected].
QAre public lookups logged?
Yes. Every public re-verification is audit-logged with timestamp and the verification ID checked. This protects against pattern-based attempts to enumerate or harvest report data.
Applicant rights
Rights applicants can exercise over their verification data.
QCan I revoke my consent?
Yes — before report issuance, applicants may revoke authorisation in writing. Revocations are honoured immediately and audit-logged. After issuance, the prior disclosure to the named recipient cannot be retracted, but applicants retain the right to request report revocation and data deletion.
QCan I request my verification history?
Yes. Email [email protected] with proof of identity. Identity is verified before disclosure to protect against impersonation.
QCan I request deletion of my data?
Yes. Deletion is subject to fraud-prevention and legal-hold obligations. See our privacy & data governance policy for retention windows.
Operational policies
Bilingual, retention and engagement-model questions.
QIs the platform bilingual?
Yes. The platform supports English and French. Institutions store EN / FR / acronym names, credential types carry bilingual labels, and reports are produced in either working language.
QHow long are records retained?
Cases and reports: 7 years from issuance. Documents: case lifetime + 90 days. Audit logs: 7 years. Revoked / superseded reports retained indefinitely to maintain public portal accuracy.
QWhich engagement models are available?
Three: Verification Requests (per case), Institutional Workspace (monthly / annual), Enterprise Verification Infrastructure (annual contract with API + SLA).
QIs API access available?
Programmatic API access (OAuth, lifecycle webhooks, cohort endpoints, public-ID validation) is on the roadmap under the Enterprise Verification Infrastructure model. Pilot integrations open to credential evaluators and government partners.
Institution-specific guidance
Need institution-specific guidance?
Talk to VeriCam about onboarding, embassy verification workflows, evaluator integrations, bulk verification or API access. A named institutions lead will respond within one business day.
- ·Institution onboarding. Manual compliance review path.
- ·Embassy / consular workflow. Adjudication-grade verification briefing.
- ·Evaluator partnership. Cohort and API integration scoping.
- ·Bulk verification. Workspace or Infrastructure engagement model.