Work in Spain as a foreign doctor, nurse or AHP (2026)

• HomologaciónMinistry of Science, Innovation and Universities (homologación of foreign degrees)

  Doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, physiotherapists and other regulated health degrees

  Read the registration guide

• Ministerio de SanidadMinistry of Health (Dirección General de Ordenación Profesional)

  Non-EU specialist titles, EU qualification recognition and MIR specialist training

  Read the registration guide

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   1. Confirm your profession and the right procedure

   Check that your profession is in the annex of Real Decreto 889/2022 and read the profession page on the universities ministry's Valida-TE portal. Homologación is the procedure that lets you practise; a declaración de equivalencia only confirms your academic level (grado or máster) and does not give access to a regulated profession. You can apply for both at once, but each needs its own application and fee.
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   2. Check your training against the ANECA criteria

   ANECA publishes the minimums that experts apply. For medicine it asks for at least 5 years and 360 ECTS credits, or 5,500 hours of face-to-face teaching, with at least 1,350 hours of supervised clinical training. For nursing it asks for at least three years and 4,600 face-to-face hours, of which at least 2,300 are clinical. Self-study hours do not count, so a transcript that does not show hours clearly is a common cause of delay.
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   3. Get Spanish to B2

   If you are not a national of a country where Spanish is an official language, you need a B2 certificate: DELE or SIELE, or an Official School of Languages (EOI) certificate. You are exempt if at least 75% of your degree was taught in Spanish or your earlier education was in Spanish. The Ministry of Health's procedures can ask for more, so check the level for any later step.
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   4. Legalise and translate your documents

   You need an identity document, your degree certificate, and an official academic transcript showing the length of the programme and the hours or ECTS of each subject. Documents from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland must be legalised by apostille or through the diplomatic route, and the ministry says this applies to UK and US documents too. A plain certified copy (compulsa) that is then apostilled is not valid. Documents not in Spanish need an official translation, for example by a sworn translator appointed by the Spanish foreign ministry.
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   5. Prove you can practise where you trained

   If the country that issued your degree requires registration to practise, attach proof that you meet it, such as your council registration certificate or a certificate of good standing. The ministry also asks for evidence of any other study or work experience you want considered, legalised in the same way.
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   6. Apply online and pay the fee

   Apply only through the electronic office of the Secretariat General for Universities and pay €166.50 online, with form 790-107 at a collaborating bank, or by transfer from abroad. The fee is not refunded if the application is inadmissible, lapses or is refused. If you have a firm offer of a highly qualified job that depends on the decision, you can attach the contract or pre-contract and an employer's declaration to ask for priority handling.
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   7. Respond to requests and complete any complementary training

   If documents are missing you normally have 10 working days to supply them, or the file is closed. A conditional decision means you must complete complementary training at a Spanish university that teaches the degree: a practical placement, an aptitude test, an academic project or specific courses. Real Decreto 889/2022 allows four years for this, and a 2025 resolution added two more years for files already in progress.
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   8. Register with the provincial college

   With your homologación credential, register with the college of the province where you will work. The Madrid medical college, for example, asks non-EU graduates for their degree and translation, the homologación, a legalised certificate no more than 3 months old showing they are not barred from practice, and an entry fee of €150. Other colleges set their own requirements and fees.
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   9. For doctors: choose MIR or specialist recognition

   A homologated medical degree covers basic-level practice in the private sector only. To work in the public system or as a specialist, either sit the annual selective test for a residency place, or, if you already hold a specialist title from outside the EU, apply to the Ministry of Health for recognition under Real Decreto 459/2010. That process can end in a theory and practice test, an assessed period of supervised practice or extra training.
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    10. Secure a job and a residence permit

    Health professionals usually come as highly qualified professionals or on an EU Blue Card, both of which require the homologación for regulated professions, or on a standard residence and work permit sponsored by the employer. Residents who win a specialist training place have their own status. Check the current requirements with the Spanish immigration authorities and the consulate before you travel.

• Spain tests Spanish, not English. No regulator in this route asks for IELTS or OET, and Spanish is the working language in public hospitals and primary care.
• For homologación, nationals of countries where Spanish is not an official language must show B2. The universities ministry accepts the DELE (Instituto Cervantes) or SIELE at B2 or above, an Official School of Languages (EOI) certificate at B2 or above, a certificate that at least 75% of the degree was taught in Spanish, or proof that the earlier education was in Spanish.
• For recognition of a non-EU specialist title, Real Decreto 459/2010 sets B2 in its annex, with exemptions for degrees from Spain or Spanish-speaking countries. The Ministry of Health's current page on Spanish language competence lists C1 certificates (DELE C1 or higher, EOI C1, SICELE or SIELE at C1 equivalence in all four parts) for applicants from non-Spanish-speaking countries, so check which level applies to your procedure before booking a test.
• Nationality decides the exemption, not where you live. A Filipino nurse who has worked in Dubai still needs the certificate unless one of the study-language exemptions applies.
• Colleges and employers may assess Spanish at interview. There is no separate language test for the residence permits described on this page.

• Highly qualified professional permit

  Under Ley 14/2013, a company that needs a foreign professional for a highly qualified job, or the professional, applies to the Large Companies and Strategic Groups Unit (UGE). The law gives the unit 20 days to decide, after which the application is treated as granted. The permit lasts three years, or the length of the contract plus three months if shorter, and can be renewed for two years at a time.

• EU Blue Card

  You need a higher education qualification of at least three years (or at least five years of comparable experience), a contract or firm job offer of at least six months, and pay at or above a threshold set by regulation at between 1.0 and 1.6 times the average gross annual salary. The law lowers it to 80% for shortage occupations in ISCO groups 1 and 2 and for recent graduates. For a regulated profession you must show your homologación.

• Residence and work permit for employees (cuenta ajena)

  Under the immigration regulation approved by Real Decreto 1155/2024, the employer applies and must show that the national employment situation allows the hire, for example because the occupation is on the quarterly catalogue of hard-to-fill occupations, unless an exemption applies. You must hold the qualification legally required for the job. The first permit lasts up to one year and is usually limited to one region and one occupation.

• Specialist training residents

  Real Decreto 1155/2024 places foreign nationals in specialist health training under the long-stay study (estancia) regime, unless they already hold residence. Holders of a recognised or homologated degree in medicine, pharmacy, nursing or another qualifying degree who win a training place can do the resident's work without a separate work permit.

• Faster homologación with a job offer

  Since September 2025 the universities ministry gives priority to homologación applications from people with a firm offer of highly qualified employment that requires the decision. You attach a contract or pre-contract and an employer's signed declaration, and can tell the ministry by emailing [email protected].

• EU, EEA and Swiss citizens and qualifications

  EU citizens do not need a work permit. Doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists and midwives with EU qualifications are recognised through the Ministry of Health under Directive 2005/36/EC, and the universities ministry says this is free. The Ministry of Health's Brexit page says UK qualifications continue to benefit from the EU recognition rules under a Brexit adaptation decree, so UK graduates should check whether they fall within it before using homologación.

Public health service pay in Spain has two layers. The base salary (sueldo) and three-yearly increments (trienios) are the same in every regional health service by law and match the civil service figures for each subgroup. The figures below are those published by the Ministry of Finance for 2026, including the increase in Real Decreto-ley 14/2025. Complements for post, specialty, productivity and on-call work are set by each autonomous community and make up a large part of real pay; we could not confirm them from a single national table, so check the job offer and the regional service's pay tables.

• Base salary, subgroup A1

  €16,646.88 a year

  2026, paid in 12 monthly instalments of €1,387.24. Your subgroup follows the qualification your post requires, so check it in the job offer.

• Trienio, subgroup A1

  €640.68 a year

  Added for each three years of service, 2026.

• Base salary, subgroup A2

  €14,394.24 a year

  2026, paid in 12 monthly instalments of €1,199.52.

• Trienio, subgroup A2

  €522.48 a year

  Added for each three years of service, 2026.

• Resident in specialist training (MIR, EIR)

  Base salary plus 8% to 38%

  Real Decreto 1146/2006: base salary for the degree required, plus a training grade supplement of 8% in year 2, 18% in year 3, 28% in year 4 and 38% in year 5, plus on-call pay and two extra payments.

• Specialist doctors and nurses in post: Set by the regional health serviceBase salary above plus regional complements; no single national figure.