Colegiación (registration with a Spanish professional college)

Spain regulates health professions through two layers. The state recognises your qualification, through homologación for non-EU degrees, and a professional college admits you to practise. Article 3 of the law on professional colleges (Ley 2/1974) says membership of the relevant college is an indispensable requirement for practising where a state law requires it, that the joining fee may not exceed the cost of processing, and that colleges must let you apply online.

The General Council of Medical Colleges (CGCOM) puts it simply: to work in Spain you must register with the Colegio Oficial de Médicos of the province where you want to practise. Nurses, pharmacists, dentists and physiotherapists have their own colleges.

Where a profession is organised in provincial colleges, the law says joining one is enough to practise anywhere in Spain: it should be the college of your single or main professional address. Colleges may not charge extra or demand further authorisation when you work in another province. Once registered you receive a número de colegiado, which appears on prescriptions and certificates, and the CGCOM keeps a public search of registered doctors.

Your college is also where you go for paperwork later in your career. The CGCOM lists services such as the electronic certificate of professional suitability (certificado de idoneidad profesional), which works as a certificate of good standing if you move abroad, and the periodic validation of registration (validación periódica de la colegiación) for doctors.

Requirements are set by each college. The Madrid college of physicians (ICOMEM), for example, asks graduates of non-EU universities for:

1. One passport photo and your passport (the nationality shown on your homologación).
2. Your bank details on a signed SEPA form.
3. Your medical degree, original plus Spanish translation, and the original homologación credential with the certificates you used to obtain it.
4. An official certificate that you are not and have not been barred from practising, legalised or apostilled, with a Spanish translation, valid for three months.
5. A copy of your MIR place allocation if you are a resident doctor.
6. A joining fee (derechos de colegiación) of €150, paid by card.

All foreign documents must be legalised (see apostille) and, where needed, carry a sworn Spanish translation (traducción jurada).

• Applying before homologación. Colleges register you on the basis of a Spanish degree or a recognised foreign one, so the credential comes first.
• Expired good standing. ICOMEM accepts the certificate of not being barred only if it is less than three months old, so time it with your appointment.
• Forgetting residents. Doctors starting MIR training also register; ICOMEM asks for the allocation of the MIR place.
• Untranslated documents. Foreign certificates without a sworn translation are a common reason for a second appointment.
• Assuming fees are the same everywhere. Joining fees and annual dues differ by college and profession.