Homologating a university degree and obtaining a declaration of equivalence are not the same thing. Homologation lets you practise a regulated profession in Spain; equivalence recognises an academic level and expressly excludes professional effects. Which one applies is not for you to choose: it depends on whether your profession is regulated in Spain.
Two procedures with different effects
Royal Decree 889/2022, which governs the recognition of foreign university degrees in Spain, defines the two procedures separately (article 2, letters b and c):
- Homologation: officially recognises that the education you completed to obtain your foreign degree is comparable to that required for a specific Spanish degree, among those required in order to practise a regulated profession.
- Declaration of equivalence: officially recognises that the education is comparable to that required for an academic level of Bachelor's, Master's or Doctorate, excluding the professional effects attaching to the degrees obtainable through homologation.
Applying under the wrong procedure costs months of waiting and ends in a decision that is useless for what you wanted. So the difference is worth being clear about before filing anything.
What each one allows
The difference shows on the day you want to work. Article 5 of the royal decree sets out the effects of each procedure:
- With homologation, your foreign degree has, from the moment it is granted and the credential issued, the same effects as the Spanish degree it is homologated to, throughout the country. You may also practise the regulated profession in question on the same terms as a holder of the Spanish degree.
- With a declaration of equivalence, you obtain, throughout the country, the academic and administrative effects corresponding to the level recognised. It serves for continuing studies or for processes requiring a given level of qualification, but it does not entitle you to practise a regulated profession.
The question that decides it: is your profession regulated in Spain?
Article 8 of the royal decree draws the line. Homologation may be applied for only in respect of official Bachelor's or Master's degrees whose award gives access to a profession regulated in Spain. A declaration of equivalence, by contrast, is applied for in relation to an academic level of Bachelor's or Master's whose award does not give access to any regulated profession.
The practical consequence is that the procedure is not chosen: it is dictated by the profession. If the degree you studied corresponds in Spain to a regulated profession, the route is homologation. If not, the route is equivalence. Regulated professions include medicine, nursing, pharmacy, architecture and certain engineering disciplines (civil, industrial, telecommunications, aeronautical and agricultural engineering among them); the annex to the royal decree itself, referred to in article 8.1, lists the rules on the degrees giving access to each regulated profession.
One qualification in that same article 8.1 is worth keeping in mind: homologation does not exhaust the requirements. In order to practise the regulated profession in Spain, whatever the specific rules governing it require must also be met.
The step that comes first: the apostille
One requirement stops many applications before they start. The degree for which homologation or equivalence is sought, and the academic transcript of the studies, must be submitted legalised through diplomatic channels or, where applicable, with the apostille of the Hague Convention (article 13). The exemption from this requirement reaches only documents issued in the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland.
Mexico is party to the Hague Convention, so the route is the apostille, obtained in Mexico before the authority corresponding to the document. It is the same bottleneck that delays almost every procedure between the two countries: it is worth resolving before preparing the rest of the application.
The decision and the time limit
The decision must state reasons and may take one of these forms (article 18.2):
- Grant of homologation to an official Spanish university degree giving access to a regulated profession, or grant of a declaration of equivalence to a Bachelor's or Master's academic level.
- Grant of homologation conditional on passing supplementary training requirements, which the decision must state expressly.
- Refusal of the homologation or of the declaration of equivalence.
As to timing, article 18.3 provides that the decision must be issued and notified within a maximum of six months from the entry of the application in the electronic register. If that period passes without notification, the application may be deemed refused by administrative silence. That is the statutory period, as at September 2026; it is worth bearing in mind when planning around a job offer or the start of studies that depend on the decision.
Common mistakes
- Applying for equivalence in the belief that it allows you to practise a regulated profession. It does not: its effects are academic and administrative.
- Thinking you can pick between the two procedures. It is determined by how the profession is regulated in Spain, not by the applicant's preference.
- Submitting the degree and the transcript without an apostille. Without it, the application goes nowhere.
Sources
- Royal Decree 889/2022, of 18 October, establishing the conditions and procedures for homologation, declaration of equivalence and validation of university studies from foreign education systems, articles 2, 5, 8, 13 and 18 (consolidated text from the BOE, consulted in September 2026)
- Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (Mexico and Spain are parties)