Assistance Required: GitHub Education Verification for Faculty Member (Digital Employment Contract)

[dinhtnguyenn]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Question

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Other

Hi everyone,

I am writing to request assistance with my GitHub Education application for faculty benefits.My institutional faculty ID card does not contain enough information (such as explicit date validity) to pass your automated system. To prove my current employment status, I have a valid digital employment contract. This contract is digitally signed and officially recognized, meaning I do not possess a physical paper copy.However, the current verification interface only allows capturing photos via webcam and does not provide an option for me to upload this digital document.Could you please guide me on how I can securely submit this digital contract for manual review, or alternative methods to verify my faculty status?Thank you for your time and assistance.

[sahare-mayur-0071]

If the verification flow only presents a camera-capture option, you may want to clarify whether the issue is:

1. The system does not allow uploading any file at all, or
2. The system allows images only and does not accept PDF/digital documents.

Since your employment contract is digitally signed and exists only in electronic form, one possible workaround may be to display the document on a trusted device and capture the relevant sections using the verification camera workflow, provided that all required information is clearly visible.

A few questions that may help others provide guidance:

• Does the contract clearly show your name, institution, position, and current employment status?
• Does it include a date or contract period indicating that the employment is currently active?
• Is the issue that the upload option is missing entirely, or that the platform rejects the document format?

If other faculty members at your institution have successfully completed verification using digitally signed employment documents, their experience may help determine whether this is a document-acceptance issue or a limitation of the verification interface itself.

[FMarson]

Hello,
I am having exactly the same problem. I have already submitted all kinds of documents, but none were accepted. In addition, GitHub support is not accepting support requests for Education. There simply doesn’t seem to be any way out.

Best regards,
Fernando

[kartik99917]

You're not missing a setting — this is a known limitation, not something you're doing wrong. The verification flow only supports live camera capture; there's no upload option in the interface itself for PDFs or image files, even though the docs describe other accepted document types.
The path that's actually worked for people in similar situations (no physical document, only a digital one) is manual review via email: contact education@github.com (or the support form at support.github.com/contact/education) and explain that your proof of employment is a digitally-signed contract with no physical copy, and attach it directly. Human reviewers do handle these edge cases outside the automated flow.
Two other things worth trying in parallel:

If your institution issues you a faculty email address (name@university.edu), add it to your GitHub account and apply using that — that path sometimes auto-approves without needing the camera step at all.
If you want to try the camera flow once more in the meantime: open the digital contract full-screen on a monitor and photograph the screen with your phone's camera (not the webcam) — clearer than most webcams and has worked for others with digital-only documents. Make sure your name, institution, and a current date are clearly legible before submitting.

Want me to tighten this further, or is this the right level of detail for a faculty member who may not want a long workaround list?

[rehuux]

You're not alone, this is a common frustration. Unfortunately, GitHub's automated Education verification system has some rigid limitations that make your situation tricky.

• The Core Problem

The camera-based verification flow doesn't support document uploads for faculty verification in many cases . A digitally signed employment contract, while valid, won't work because:

· The system expects a photo through webcam, not a file upload
· Digital documents often get flagged as "edited" or "unreadable" by automated OCR checks

• What You Can Try

1. Use the GitHub Mobile App
   The mobile app accepts images from your photo library, so you can upload a saved screenshot or scan of your contract . This bypasses the webcam-only restriction.

2. Submit a Clear Photo on a Flat Surface
   If you must use webcam, place your contract on a flat surface with good lighting, take a steady photo, and ensure all text is readable. Blurry or angled photos get auto-rejected .

3. Request Manual Review, The Key Step
   Go to GitHub Support Portal and open a ticket with:

· Product: GitHub Education
· Topic: Verification issue
· Clearly state: "Requesting manual review, automated system doesn't accept my digital employment contract"
· Explain you're a faculty member with a valid digitally signed contract, and upload a clear copy

• Reality Check

Manual reviews are reportedly less common now. some users say GitHub "no longer provides individual manual reviews" . But others have succeeded by explicitly requesting it through the support portal. It's still worth trying.

• Alternative Documentation

If the contract keeps failing, try getting:

· A recent employment verification letter on official letterhead with your name, institution, and current date
· A faculty ID card (even without expiry) alongside your contract

[kartik-012]

From what I understand, the problem is that GitHub's verification system can't verify the teacher automatically.

There are a few reasons for this. The faculty ID card doesn't have an expiry or validity date, the employment proof is only a digitally signed PDF instead of a physical document, and the verification page only lets you take a webcam photo, so there's no way to upload the PDF.

I think the best option is to contact GitHub Support directly and explain the situation. Just let them know that your ID card doesn't include a validity date and that your employment proof is a digital contract, but the verification page only accepts webcam photos. Ask if they can review your documents manually or suggest another way to submit the PDF.

If you have an official college email address (like .edu or .ac.in), make sure you're using that for your application because it usually helps with verification.

You can also provide other proof if available, like your name on your college's official website, or even take a clear photo of the digital contract as a temporary workaround.

GitHub does have a manual review team, so once you explain your situation and send them the necessary documents, they should be able to review your application manually.

i tried my best to answer it