One of the most common questions among professionals who arrive in Spain with a foreign university degree is whether they need to have their degree homologated in order to work.
The answer is: it depends on the profession they want to practice. In this article we explain which professions require homologation in Spain and which do not.
In Spain, not all professions are regulated. This means that, for certain professional activities, it is not mandatory to hold a Spanish university degree or to have obtained homologation of a foreign qualification.
1. Which professions require homologation?
In Spain, homologation is the procedure by which a foreign university degree is recognised as equivalent to the Spanish university degree that qualifies the holder to practise a regulated profession.
Professions that can apply for this procedure include:
Healthcare professions
- Medicine.
- Nursing.
- Dentistry.
- Pharmacy.
- Physiotherapy.
- Veterinary medicine.
- General Health Psychology.
- Speech therapy.
- Optics and Optometry.
- Podiatry.
- Occupational therapy.
- Dietetics and Nutrition.
Technical professions
- Architecture.
- Technical Architecture.
- Industrial Engineering.
- Civil Engineering (Caminos, Canales y Puertos).
- Aeronautical Engineering.
- Agricultural Engineering.
- Telecommunications Engineering.
- Mining Engineering.
- Other regulated engineering specialities.
Teaching professions
- Early Childhood Education Teacher.
- Primary Education Teacher.
- Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, Vocational Training and Language Teaching.
The full list can be found in the annex to Royal Decree 889/2022. If you already have an application in progress, read about the 2026 changes to the homologation of foreign degrees.
Note: Law and court representation (Abogacía and Procura) have their own specific access and professional recognition routes; they cannot be homologated through NARIC's general procedure.
2. What about professions that are not regulated?
For non-regulated professions, homologation is not a general requirement to practise.
This is the case, for example, for many professional activities in fields such as:
- Business Administration and Management.
- Marketing and Communication.
- Human Resources.
- Finance and Accounting.
- Economics.
- Journalism.
- Design and Advertising.
- International Relations.
- Business consulting.
- Many IT and technology specialities.
In these cases, an employer can directly assess the candidate's education, experience and skills, without necessarily requiring homologation.
However, it may be advisable to obtain a declaration of equivalence for the foreign degree.
3. Homologation and equivalence are not the same
It is important to distinguish between the two procedures:
| Homologation | Equivalence |
| Academic and professional recognition. | Academic recognition. |
| Qualifies you to practise the corresponding regulated profession. | Recognises the Bachelor's or Master's level. |
| Used for regulated professions that can be homologated. | Used for qualifications that do not require professional homologation. |
Equivalence can also be useful for taking part in certain selection processes, continuing your studies or proving the academic level of your degree to an employer.
Important: equivalence does not replace homologation when the latter is required to practise a regulated profession.
4. How do you know which procedure you need?
Before starting any procedure, you should consider three questions:
- Which profession do you want to practise in Spain?
- Is that profession regulated, and does it require a qualifying university degree?
- Do you need professional recognition to practise, or only to prove your academic level?
In addition, degrees obtained in European Union countries, the European Economic Area or Switzerland may be subject to specific procedures for the recognition of professional qualifications under EU law.
Get informed before you start
Applying for homologation when it is not needed can cost you time and money you could have saved. On the other hand, applying for equivalence when your profession requires a specific qualification will not solve your professional situation either.
At LexMove we analyse each case to identify the right procedure and support international professionals in having their qualifications recognised in Spain.
Do you have a foreign university degree and want to work in Spain?
We can help you determine whether you need homologation, equivalence or another recognition procedure.