I commented above, way back in January, that both of my husband's transcripts were refused. What it took several calls for someone to explain to me is that ALL transcripts are refused as having an invalid seal/signature until the second transcript verification is received. I don't know why they can't be upfront about their verification process; it's bizarre. But if you google, you'll find a journal article CGNFS wrote about how great their process is, and it explains what the rep told me. After CGFNS receives your transcripts, unless they were sent by a school that sends a lot of graduates and they already have the registrar's signature on file, they send this signature verification email. This email doesn't have the name of the applicant on it; it just says, they're CGFNS and can the registrar verify their signature? Naturally, no one at the school pays attention to that email unless someone draws it to their attention. If I got that I would think it was spam. Not to mention that in many countries, people use their personal email addresses for business--the school email on the form is something no one ever checks. I would really like to see a copy of this email, but after several requests, that's as much information as I've gotten from them.
It's hard to know how to get the school to respond when you don't know exactly what CGFNS is asking for.
After the school didn't respond to two emails, and I tried to find other ways for CGFNS to get the information they needed but all of my suggestions were rejected (and I was informed, falsely, that "they get responses from [this country] all the time"), they said they could send a hard copy via FedEx. I don't know why they expected that to do any good, and it didn't. Anyway, we've made contact with the university in Africa and they say they found the emails and letter and will respond but it will take several weeks--despite CGFNS stating that it could be handled via email or a phone call. So I don't know what request CGFNS is making, and I'm afraid like an above poster, the university is going to resend the transcripts and it will start the whole process over. At this point we have been working with CGFNS for over a year.
CGFNS is the most opaque, manipulative agency I've ever had the displeasure of working with. If I had known, we never would have started with them but would have tried one of the other companies accepted in our state. I am an American, I speak native English, and I'm also a nurse; I can't imagine trying to go through this process if I wasn't all three. When we're done, I'm going to write a strongly worded letter to our state board of nursing asking them not to work with CGFNS anymore. I'm sure my letter won't do any good, but if enough people write, perhaps it will.