PROCEDURE FOR LEGALIZATION THROUGH DIPLOMATIC CHANNELS

For students with university qualifications obtained in countries from outside the European Union.
For the legalization of documents through diplomatic channels, they should be submitted in:
1. The Ministry of Education of the country of origin for qualifications and certificates, and the corresponding ministry for birth and nationality certificates.
2. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country where the documents were issued .
3. The diplomatic or consular representation of Spain in that country.
4. The Legalization Section of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( customer service: C / Padilla , 46, Madrid).

If the country where the studies have been taken has signed the Hague Convention , it is not necessary  to do the previous legalization , it will be enough if the competent authorities of that country issue the convenient apostille.

The documents issued by diplomatic or consular authorities of other countries in Spain must be legalized at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It is not required the legalization of the original documents issued by the authorities of the member states of the European Union  that signed the Agreement on the European Higher Education Area: Albania, Germany, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium , Bosnia - Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus , Czech Republic, Denmark , Estonia , Slovakia , Slovenia, Spain , Finland , France , Georgia , Greece, Holland , Hungary, Ireland,  Iceland, , Italy, Latvia , Liechtenstein , Luxembourg , Macedonia , Malta , Moldova , Montenegro , Norway , Poland , Portugal , UK, Romania, Russia , Serbia , Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and Vatican City.
 
 
 
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RECOGNITION AND LEGALIZATION

The recognition of a qualification and its legalization are two different procedures that have different legal effects.

Legalization is the process by which the authorities of your country confirm that the qualification is valid and has been issued by the competent authority. In most countries, this process is identified with the Hague Apostille .

Recognition is a process by which the Spanish Ministry of Education equate your qualification  to the corresponding Spanish one , for the purpose of performing your profession in Spain . This process can only be done at the Ministry .

Those who indicate in the pre-registration form that have the qualification recognition shall prove it enclosing the recognition resolution of the Spanish Ministry of Education. If it is not done, they can be excluded from the pre-registration process.