GitHub Education Application Denied

[rmrosi]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Product Feedback

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Re-verification/Repeat Application

Hi everyone,

I'm a professor at a Higher Education Institution (Faesa - Centro Universitário). I had already been accepted into GitHub University, but a revalidation was requested. I uploaded several files, but none of the documents were accepted! I have also already sent a photo of my ID badge. I have sent a copy of my institutional page (https://www.faesa.br/graduacao/sistemas-de-informacao/?professores) demonstrating that I am a professor at the institution. I even sent a copy of my work permit, without success! I've already received 5 rejections and I don't know which document to send anymore.

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[rmrosi]

This response from you is a standard text; I've seen the same text in other complaints related to renewing my GitHub University registration.

I just uploaded a document issued by the Faculty's Human Resources department, but it was rejected again! And the document resolution is excellent; it shouldn't be a problem if it's a bot evaluating the documentation.

[maheerCodes]

hey @rmrosi 👋.

5 rejections after already being a verified github educator is genuinely ridiculous and im sorry youre dealing with this. the frustrating reality is that re-verification hits differently than first-time applications,,,, the system seems to apply stricter automated rules and since support tickets for manual review were removed, theres no easy escape hatch anymore.

why the HR letter might still be getting rejected?
even with perfect image quality,the automated system rejects documents if it cant extract specific fields. for a faculty employment letter, it specifically looks for:

• your full name exactly as it appears on your github profile ,,, any difference (nickname, missing middle name, accent characters) causes a silent mismatch.
• the institution's full official name,,,, "Faesa - Centro Universitário" should appear in full, not just "Faesa" or an abbreviation.
• an explicit mention of your role ,,words like "professor", "docente", or "faculty" need to be somewhere in the document text,
• a recent date ,,, ideally within the last 6 months, clearly visible and not cut off.
• an official signature and/or institutional stamp, unsigned letters from HR tend to fail even when they're legitimate..

the webpage submission probably wont work either.
sending a screenshot of your faculty profile page (faesa.br/...?professores) is a good idea in theory but the system isnt designed to parse web screenshots as proof of employment ... it expects a formal document with your name on it.it may count as supplementary evidence but wont replace an official doc.

what to try next?

• ask HR to issue a new letter specifically formatted as a declaração de vínculo empregatício, this is the standard brazilian employment declaration and tends to have all the fields the system expects.
• make sure it's exported as aProper PDFwith selectable text, not a scanned image ,, selectable text is far easier for OCR to process
• if your university gave you an institutional email (@faesa.br or similar), set it as the primary email on github before reapplying ,,, not just verified, actuallly primary. this alone sometimes unblocks re-verifications.
• wait the full 7 days before your next attempt ,,,,, repeated rejections in quick succession can put your account into a slower review queue.

also worth posting here ... have you tried the educator-specific application at education.github.com/teachers rather than the general education benefits page? the flow is slightly different and sometimes processes faculty documents better.

you clearly qualify for this, its just the system being stubborn...hope one of these finally gets you through❤️❤️❤️

[rmrosi]

Please note that in the statement, my name is exactly as it appears in my GitHub profile, the university name is also the name that appears in the selection box when I submit my renewal to the GitHub University program, and the letter also has the current date, issued yesterday.

[rmrosi]

The only item listed by you that is not addressed is that my primary email was my personal email and not my university email. I have updated it so that my university email is the primary one.

[maheerCodes]

hey @rmrosi 👋.

that letter looks really solid honestly,,, official letterhead, your full name matches exactly, role clearly stated, recent date, signature and stamp, institution address and contact info all there. on paper this checks every box i'd expect the system to look for.

good catch on the primary email too that mismatch (personal vs university email as primary) is exactly the kind of thing that can quietly tank an application even when the documents are perfect, since the system cross-references your account email with the institution domain.

given you just fixed that, id suggest waiting a few days for the email change to fully propagate on githubs side before resubmitting ,,,,, sometimes primary email changes take a bit to sync across their verification systems. then reapply with this same letter.

fingers crossed the email fix was the missing piece all along....