Before paying a fee that is never refunded
Recognition of foreign qualifications in Spain
Half of all files apply through the wrong route
Homologación and equivalencia sound alike and are not the same: one opens a regulated profession, the other states what level your qualification corresponds to. Applying through the wrong one costs a non-refundable fee and several months of waiting for a no.
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Homologación or equivalencia: choosing right the first time
They sound alike and are not the same. Asking for the wrong one costs a non-refundable fee and months of waiting for a no.
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What you get
- The route ruling: homologación, equivalencia, or nothing because your degree already counts here.
- The exact document list, and which of them must be apostilled in your country before you come.
- What must be translated by a sworn translator and what must not: the saving is usually here.
- The complete file built and ready to file, with the fee prepared.
- Follow-up of the file and answers to any requests for further documents, up to the decision.
Why this matters now
Royal Decree 889/2022 separates homologación (the route that gives access to a regulated profession such as nursing or architecture) from equivalencia, which only declares the academic level. The state fee is paid BEFORE and is not refunded if you choose the wrong route, and a sworn translation of an academic transcript runs between €120 and €250 depending on volume. The market charges from €100 and up to €500 or €600 in handling fees, fee excluded.
What this service is NOT
What we do: choose between homologación and equivalencia (they are not the same procedure and do not give the same result), build the file and answer every request from the ministry until the decision. What we do not do: decide. The decision is the ministry's and its timescales are long today; we promise no outcome and no month of issue, and be wary of anyone who does. Two pieces come from elsewhere: the apostille, placed by the country that issued the degree and never from Spain, and the sworn translation.
Questions about this service
My degree is from the European Union. Isn't it automatic?
For some regulated professions there is European recognition, which is a different and shorter route. For the rest, the Spanish procedure is still required. The first thing we do is see which group yours falls into, because everything else follows from that.
How long does it take?
Months, and sometimes more than a year. Anyone giving you an exact date is inventing it. What does shorten it is filing complete the first time: every request for missing documents sends the file back to the end of the queue.
I only want to work, not to practise a regulated profession.
Then equivalencia is probably enough, and it is quicker and cheaper than homologación. This is exactly the case where the €45 ruling saves several hundred euros and several months.
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This page was last checked on 4 September 2026
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