can I not mention that I have will complete a PhD degree while applying for another one in another country I am a second-year Ph.D. student/ RA from a university in country A. I had no problem with my laboratory or supervisor; however, as I could not speak the country language and was not able to find a post-doc position due to COVID, I applied for another Ph.D. positions in the same field in an English speaking country (B) where I can immigrate and settle. In the application form for the universities and during my interviews I mentioned that I am a Research assistant, omitting the fact that I am a Ph.D. candidate. Also, my supervisors mentioned that I am RA in their recommendation letters understating the fact that I want to go to an English-speaking country. The problem is that due to my successful publications our department from country A decided to grant me the Ph.D. degree at the end of this year.
I read some posts that mentioned that omitting your academic records is the same as falsifying them. I am afraid if I go to country B without mentioning that I was in fact a Ph.D. candidate and RA and get in huge trouble, so what should I do?
Is it be unethical if I omit this fact that I would have a Ph.D., refer it to RA and start the second Ph.D. in the same field in country B, or should I contact the prospective professors from country B and tell him/her that I did a mistake in my application?
The comment of Jeff is worth considering. Do you really need a second doctorate to migrate.
But, under the circumstances, send a message to the new university stating that since your application, you were awarded a PhD, but, assuming you want to, that you still want to continue your application and enter the new program. Stress that the research proposal will be different if accepted.
Hiding the recent degree could come back to harm you.