Spanish Royal Decree 889/2022, from October 18th establishes the requirements and the procedure for the equivalence of foreign higher education degrees to the academic level of Doctor. This same regulation states that it will be the Universities themselves who will establish the procedure for this process and emit the resolutions for these requests.
In their meeting on April 2nd 2025, the Standing Committee of the Steering Committee of the Doctoral School approved the procedure to be followed at the Universitat Politècnica de Valéncia, as follows:
General considerations
The foreign degree that has already been declared equivalent may not be submitted for a new equivalency procedure at another university. However, when the equivalence is denied, the interested party may initiate a new request at a different Spanish university.
The equivalence to the academic level of Doctor does not imply, in any case, the official validation (homologación), declaration of equivalence or recognition of any other foreign degree the applicant may hold, nor the recognition in Spain at any level other than PhD.
Application
The process of requesting the declaration of equivalence for foreign PhD will entail the payment of a processing fee of 166.89€.
It is recommended that, prior to submitting the application, you contact the Doctoral School of this university by email (escueladoctorado@upv.es), to present your particular case, and request instructions for the payment of the aforementioned application fee.
Once the fees have been paid, the applicant must submit the application, together with the complete documentation, through the UPV’s Registrar’s office, either in person or through its electronic platform, to initiate the process of the evaluation of the Declaration of Equivalency .
Documents to attach
Option A: For doctoral degrees from European Higher Education Area member countries providing a Diploma Supplement or certificate EQF 8
- Proof of payment of the application fee
- Explanatory report of the thesis, including a summary of the thesis and a detailed list of the scientific production derived from the doctoral thesis (publications, patents, participation in exhibitions, etc.), including quality indicators (Journal ranking JCR/SCOPUS, number of citations, etc.)
- Copy of the applicant’s passport or identity card
- Copy of the degree for which the declaration of equivalence is requested
- Copy of the thesis or indication of the public repository or website where the doctoral thesis can be downloaded
- European Diploma Supplement or certificate from the university issuing the degree confirming that the doctoral degree is recognized at level 8 of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) (*)
(*) If this document cannot be provided, the complete documentation detailed for option B must be provided.
Option B: For other doctoral degrees
- Proof of payment of the application fee
- Explanatory report of the thesis, including a summary of the thesis and detailed list of the scientific production derived from the doctoral thesis (publications, patents, participation in exhibitions, etc.) including quality indicators (Journal ranking JCR/SCOPUS, number of citations, etc.)
- Copy of the applicant’s passport or identity card.
- Copy of the degree for which a declaration of equivalence is requested (legalized if not from an EHEA member country*).
- Copy of the thesis or indication of the public repository or website where the doctoral thesis can be downloaded.
- Copy of the previous degrees that gave access to the doctoral degree for which the declaration of equivalence is being requested (legalized if not from an EHEA member country).
- Copy of the academic transcripts of the degrees presented (both doctorate and previous ones), stating the official duration of the study plan followed in academic years, as well as the subjects taken and the study load of each one of them.
- Copy of the scientific production derived from the doctoral thesis (publications, patents, participation in exhibitions, etc.).
- Curriculum vitae
IMPORTANT:
Documentation (degrees, transcripts, thesis document) will be accepted in Spanish, Valencian or English. For other languages, consult the Doctoral School ( escueladoctorado@upv.es) about the need to provide an official translation.
The doctorate degrees obtained in countries outside the EHEA must be legalized. More information about legalization.
The applicant accepts responsibility for the veracity of the documents provided and agrees to provide documentary proof of the veracity of the documentation provided, if requested to do so.
Reports
For doctoral degrees from member countries of the European Higher Education Area providing the European Supplement to the title of Doctor or a certificate from the university issuing the degree confirming that the doctoral degree is recognized at level 8 of the European Qualifications Framework:
- The Doctoral School will confirm the documentation provided meets all requirements
- The Standing Committee of the Steering Committee of the Doctoral School will study the application and issue the corresponding report
- The Rector will resolve the application for a declaration of equivalence taking into account the report issued by the Standing Committee
- In the event of a favourable resolution, the UPV Student Service will issue the certificate of declaration of equivalence of the doctoral degree.
For other doctoral degrees:
- The Doctoral School will confirm the documentation provided meets all requirements
- The Doctoral School will inform about the equivalence of the degrees used to access to doctoral studies at the home university, and about the duration and academic level of the doctoral degree.
- Depending on the scientific output derived of the thesis, a report from an expert committee may be requested, informing about the research done, academic issues, and training activities developed during the thesis, in addition to the scientific output.
- The Standing Committee of the Steering Committee of the Doctoral School will study the application, together with the reports from the Doctoral School and the expert committee, when necessary, and issue the corresponding report
- The Rector will resolve the application for a declaration of equivalence taking into account the report issued by the Standing Committee
- In the event of a favourable resolution, the UPV Student Service will issue the certificate of declaration of equivalence of the doctoral degree.
Certification and notifications
The equivalency, if granted, will be accredited by the corresponding certificate, which will state the foreign degree held by the applicant and the University of origin. According to the regulations, the UPV will notify the Ministry of Education of the concession of the declaration of equivalence, in order to complete the registration in the corresponding section of the National Record of Official University Graduates.
The maximum period for the notification of the resolution of this procedure will be six months from the date the complete application was submitted.
Templates