Keeping your diplomas or certificates is essential, because those administrative documents have legal value and allow you to justify a training or authenticate knowledge.
They will be useful, for example
- to apply for scholarships or student loans,
- apply for a job with employers
- or to submit a housing application.
The documents of this type to be kept include the following: the driver’s license (car, motorcycle, truck or even boat license!). Indeed, during a roadside inspection, you are required to present the ORIGINAL documents (Insurance certificate or European « green card », Vehicle registration certificate, technical inspection certificate, Certificate of conformity), as those are the only proof that the vehicle is in order. But it can be useful to have a digital copy at your disposal, as this document is considered as an identity card. Otherwise, a report can be drawn up and the vehicle could potentially be blocked pending the presentation of the original documents to the police station conducting the verification.
What is the retention period of documents, such as diplomas, degrees or certificates of education ?
During mandatory schooling, it is preferable to keep your acquired diplomas until you have obtained your final diploma, degree or certificate, validating your last training programme. For security purposes, it is advisable to keep your diplomas, degrees or certificates for life. In case of need, requesting a duplicate can prove to be very expensive.
