Getting a Foreign Degree Recognised in Portugal

Last verified: September 2026.

Who this is for

• Anyone with a bachelor's, master's, or doctorate from a university outside Portugal who needs it to count here.
• Job seekers, public sector applicants, and people planning further study in Portugal.
• Doctors, dentists, nurses, engineers, lawyers, and others who must join a professional body before working.

Not for you if: you need a foreign school leaving certificate or a child's school records recognised. Read "Enrolling Your Child in a Portuguese Public School" instead.

Updated September 2026. The Directorate-General for Higher Education (DGES) closed in March 2026. Its work, including degree recognition, moved to the new Institute for Higher Education (IES). The online application form has not changed.

Recognition (reconhecimento) is an official certificate saying what your foreign degree is worth in Portugal. You need it for most public sector jobs, for regulated professions, and whenever an employer or university asks for it.

There are three types. Automatic recognition costs €32.20 at the IES and takes up to 30 working days, but only for degrees on an official list. Level recognition and specific recognition are decided by a public university or polytechnic, cost several hundred euros, and take up to 90 working days. You apply for all three through one online form.

Do you need recognition at all?

Check before you pay. Recognition is not always required.

• If you want a private sector job in a profession that is not regulated, the law leaves it to the employer. Many employers accept a foreign degree as it is. Ask them first.
• If you want a public sector job or to sit a civil service competition, you will almost always need recognition. The job notice says which type.
• If you want to study for a master's or doctorate in Portugal, each university runs its own admissions and decides whether your earlier degree must be recognised. Ask the university before applying for recognition.
• If you want to teach in a Portuguese school, contact the Directorate-General for School Administration (DGAE). It regulates teaching and can tell you which recognition you need.
• If your profession is regulated (for example medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, architecture, engineering, or law), you need recognition and then registration with a professional body. See "Regulated professions" below.

All three types of recognition have the same legal value. They differ in what they say.

The three types of recognition

Private universities cannot recognise foreign degrees.

Automatic recognition is the fastest and cheapest. It only works if your exact degree is on the official list. A degree that is "equivalent to" one on the list does not qualify.

Level recognition is for degrees not on the automatic list. It confirms the level (bachelor's, master's, or doctorate) but not the subject. If the same foreign degree has already been recognised at that level before (a precedent), the time limit falls to 30 working days.

Specific recognition compares your course content, year by year, with a Portuguese course. You need it when the subject matters, for example for most regulated professions. It is the slowest and most demanding type. It replaced the old "equivalência", which no longer exists.

Check whether automatic recognition applies

The list is set by a national recognition committee. It names specific degrees from specific countries, not whole countries, so check your own degree rather than assuming.

To check:

1. Open the online recognition form (RecOn) at dges.gov.pt/recon/formulario.
2. Choose "I want to recognise my foreign degree/diploma".
3. Select the country, the institution, and the degree.
4. The form tells you which types of recognition are available to you.

If your university is not in the form, send a message through the recognition help desk with a copy of your diploma so it can be added.

Documents you need

For every type of recognition you must prove, beyond doubt, that you hold the degree. Use one of these:

• A copy of your diploma, authenticated by the competent authorities. In practice this usually means an apostille or consular legalisation.
• A simple copy of a document showing your degree registration number, if your university's country has a public central register of degrees.
• Your original diploma or certificate.

For level or specific recognition, the institution can also ask for:

• An official transcript listing the courses you passed, their content, the length of the programme, and your final grade.
• For a master's degree, a digital copy of your dissertation, project, or internship report.
• For a doctorate, a digital copy of your thesis.

Each institution can add its own requirements. Check its website before you submit.

Translations. Documents in English, French, or Spanish do not need translating. Documents in other languages need a certified translation into Portuguese, if the institution asks for one. The institution may accept a translation into English, French, or Spanish instead. In Portugal a translation can be certified by a notary, a registry office, a lawyer or solicitor, or a recognised chamber of commerce. A Portuguese consulate abroad can also certify one. See "Getting a Certified Translation in Portugal" and "Getting an Apostille or Consular Legalisation in Portugal".

Get the apostille in the country that issued your diploma, before you move if you can. Going back for it later can add months.

How to apply

1. Decide which type you need. Ask the employer, university, or professional body what they require.
2. Choose the institution. For automatic recognition, pick the IES or a public university or polytechnic. For level or specific recognition, pick a public university or polytechnic. For specific recognition, it must teach the Portuguese course you are comparing with.
3. Check its fees and extra requirements on its website.
4. Fill in the online form at dges.gov.pt/recon/formulario and select the institution. You cannot apply at the institution's counter; the online form is compulsory.
5. Upload your documents and submit. You get a request number on screen and by email. Check your spam folder.
6. Pay the fee as the institution instructs. At some universities the time limit only starts once you have paid.
7. Answer any request for missing documents quickly. The clock stops until you do.
8. Receive your certificate. It is issued electronically with a code. Anyone can check it on the certificate validator on the same site.

For questions about a submitted request, contact the institution you chose, quoting your request number. The IES only answers for requests sent to the IES.

If you chose the wrong institution, ask it to cancel your request, then submit a new one.

What it costs

• Automatic recognition at the IES: €32.20.
• Automatic recognition at a university: each sets its own fee. At the University of Porto, for example, it is €40, or €80 with conversion of your final grade.
• Level or specific recognition: each university sets its own fee, and it is much higher. At the University of Porto the fee is €500 for a bachelor's (licenciatura), €550 for a master's, and €650 for a doctorate.
• Specific recognition in medicine: expect exam fees on top. At the University of Porto these add €1,000.
• Apostilles and translations: charged by the issuing country, the translator, and whoever certifies the translation.

Compare fees between institutions before you choose. They can differ a lot.

How long it takes

The law sets maximum times, counted in working days from the day your file is complete:

• Automatic recognition: 30 working days.
• Level recognition: 90 working days, or 30 if there is a precedent for the same degree.
• Specific recognition: 90 working days.

In practice, busy institutions can take longer. The clock stops whenever the institution asks you for a document. Specific recognition in medicine follows its own yearly calendar and takes much longer (see below).

Converting your final grade

Portuguese grades run from 0 to 20. You can ask for your foreign final grade to be converted, at the same time as automatic or level recognition, or later. Public sector competitions and university admissions often need it.

The standard conversion puts the pass mark at 10 and the top mark at 20, and scales your grade in between. Special rules apply to some grades from the United Kingdom, Malta, and the United States. Conversion is available for bachelor's and master's degrees, not for doctorates.

Regulated professions

If your profession is regulated, recognition of your degree is only the first step. You must also register with the professional body (ordem) or other authority before you can work. Each body has its own rules, documents, and fees, and some set exams. Contact the body before you start, so you apply for the right type of recognition.

• If your qualification is from an EU or EEA country or Switzerland, the EU rules on professional qualifications usually apply. The professional body recognises you directly, often without academic recognition. The national coordinator for these rules is the Directorate-General for Employment and Labour Relations (DGERT).
• If your qualification is from outside the EU, most professional bodies want specific recognition from a Portuguese public university or polytechnic.

The European Commission's regulated professions database shows whether your profession is regulated in Portugal and which body is responsible.

Doctors

To work as a doctor you must register with the Portuguese Medical Association (Ordem dos Médicos). What you need depends on where you trained:

• Trained in the EU: no specific recognition. If you are not an EU citizen, you need automatic recognition of your degree.
• Trained outside the EU: specific recognition of your degree by a Portuguese medical school.
• Brazilian citizens trained in the EU: the Portugal and Brazil friendship treaty applies the EU rules, so specific recognition is not needed.

Specific recognition in medicine means passing three stages at a medical school:

1. A written exam: 120 multiple choice questions over 180 minutes, held on the same day at every medical school in the second half of November.
2. A practical clinical exam, usually in March or April.
3. A final written project with an oral defence, which you hand in within six months of passing the clinical exam.

To sit that year's written exam, your complete application, with the fee paid, must be on the online platform by 1 September. Late or incomplete files move to the next year. If you are from a country where Portuguese is not an official language, you must prove Portuguese at level B2 or higher when you apply.

The Ordem dos Médicos also checks your language. Unless you studied medicine in Portuguese, you must pass its medical communication test or show a B2 Portuguese certificate before it accepts your registration. It also asks for a criminal record certificate from every country you lived in over the last two years. Each must be less than three months old. You also need a certificate of good standing from your previous medical regulator.

Dentists

To work as a dentist you must register with the Portuguese Dental Association (Ordem dos Médicos Dentistas). If you trained outside the EU, you need specific recognition from a Portuguese public university. It is the only route the association accepts.

Teachers, nurses, engineers, lawyers, and others

Each has its own body and rules. Teachers should contact the DGAE. For nurses, engineers, lawyers, architects, pharmacists, and psychologists, contact the relevant ordem and ask which recognition it requires. Lawyers should expect a traineeship and bar exams on top of recognition.

If your application stalls or is refused

• If you hear nothing, contact the academic services of the institution you chose, quoting your request number. The online status app has had problems, so do not rely on it alone.
• If the time limit passes, write to the institution asking for a decision. Keep a copy.
• If you are refused or disagree with the result, you can ask the institution to reconsider and appeal within it. You can also take the decision to the administrative courts, usually with a lawyer.

A refusal of one type does not stop you applying for another. For example, if automatic recognition is not available, you can apply for level recognition.

Sources

• DGES, Reconhecimento de Graus e Diplomas Estrangeiros de Ensino Superior: https://www.dges.gov.pt/pt/pagina/reconhecimento (three types, who decides, documents, €32.20 fee, 30 and 90 day limits, precedence rule, translation rules and certifiers, FAQs on working days, teachers, master's admission, grade conversion formula, cancelling a request, My Superior app; legislation list: Decreto-Lei n.º 66/2018 of 16 August, Portaria n.º 33/2019 of 25 January, Portaria n.º 43/2020 of 14 February; checked 23 September 2026)
• DGES, online recognition form (RecOn): https://www.dges.gov.pt/recon/formulario (application route and eligibility checker; checked 23 September 2026)
• DGES, certificate validator: https://www.dges.gov.pt/RecOn/Validacao (checked 23 September 2026)
• DGES and IES, "Direção-Geral do Ensino Superior conclui ciclo institucional", 11 March 2026: https://www.dges.gov.pt/en/noticia/direcao-geral-do-ensino-superior-conclui-ciclo-institucional and https://iesuperior.pt/direcao-geral-do-ensino-superior-conclui-ciclo-institucional/ (DGES closed; functions moved to Instituto para o Ensino Superior, I.P., created under Decreto-Lei n.º 109/2025 of 25 September; checked 23 September 2026)
• DGES, Reconhecimento Profissional: https://www.dges.gov.pt/pt/pagina/reconhecimento-profissional (Directive 2005/36/EC, DGERT as national coordinator, EU regulated professions database; checked 23 September 2026)
• Universidade do Porto, Reconhecimento de Graus e Diplomas Estrangeiros: https://www.up.pt/portal/pt/estudar/reconhecimentos/reconhecimento-de-graus-e-diplomas-estrangeiros/ (time limit starts on payment; checked 23 September 2026)
• Universidade do Porto, Tabela de Emolumentos (Despacho GR n.º 50/2024 of 15 July 2024): https://sigarra.up.pt/feup/pt/web_gessi_docs.download_file?p_name=F-1516087175/Tabela_de_Emolumentos_e_despacho_15-07-2024.PDF (recognition fees; checked 23 September 2026)
• Diário da República, Despacho n.º 6015/2026 of 11 May 2026, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, regulation on specific recognition in medicine: https://www.nms.unl.pt/Portals/0/adam/NMS%20Generic%20Content/latjHtx7a0S0uY-e0bPoVQ/Content/MIM%20Despacho%206015.2026%20%20Reconhecimento%20Especifico%20Medicina.pdf (three stage exam, 1 September deadline, November written exam, B2 Portuguese; checked 23 September 2026)
• Ordem dos Médicos, Inscrição na Ordem: https://ordemdosmedicos.pt/area-medica/inscricoes/inscricao-na-ordem (documents, medical communication test or B2, legalisation and translation rules; checked 23 September 2026)
• Ordem dos Médicos, Secção Regional do Sul, FAQs for doctors with foreign qualifications: https://www.omsul.pt/Portals/0/MQ-FAQS-PT-OM-Medicos-Estrangeiros.pdf (recognition needed by training route, Brazil treaty, language before registration; checked 23 September 2026)
• Ordem dos Médicos Dentistas, Formação obtida fora da União Europeia: https://www.omd.pt/inscricao/fora-ue/ (specific recognition is the only route; checked 23 September 2026)

Last verified September 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.