Facultad de Derecho

Information about Official Recognition and Validation of Studies

Students from foreign educational systems who wish to study at the Law Faculty need to follow different procedures depending on their circumstances:

• Students who wish to start university in the UAM Law Faculty (University Admission Examination through the UNED).
• Students who wish to suspend university studies in a foreign educational system and finish them in the UAM Law Faculty. In this case, please refer to the information regarding partial validation of studies abroad.
• Students who wish to study courses at the UAM Law Faculty which require a prior degree (e.g. postgraduate studies requiring a bachelor’s degree). In this case, please refer to the information relating to the recognition of a foreign university Degree.

Partial validation of studies abroad

This procedure is applicable to students who wish to validate their studies abroad for the Spanish equivalents.
Please note: It is not possible to request partial validation of studies abroad for: the Licenciatura degree in Political Science and Administration, (since it is only a second cycle degree); nor for the Licenciatura degree in Law (since it has been phased out the curriculum). It is only possible to request partial validation for the new Bachelor’s degrees (Grado).

Application period (for guideline purposes only): July

Decision period (for guideline purposes only): September.

Required documentation:

• Application form requesting validation to be submitted to the Faculty Administration office, together with the supporting documentation.
• Official certificate showing the subjects taken and passed.
• Syllabus of each of the subjects showing the contents and depth in which they were studied.
• Photocopy of National Identity Card (DNI) or Foreigner’s Identity Number (NIE).
• For graduates, sworn statement that he/she has not simultaneously filed an application for official recognition of the degree.

Fees:

• 25% of the validated credit price.

Document to make payment of the corresponding fees can be obtained from the Law Faculty Administration office.

Authentication of documents:

Authentication requirements do not apply to documents issued in EU and European Economic Area countries:
Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom. Switzerland is included too by bilateral agreement with the EU.
Documents which bear the “APOSTILLE” (Hague Convention of 5 October 1961) do not require any further diplomatic or consular authentication.
Original documents – academic certificates – may be filed with photocopies, and will be returned to the applicant once the necessary formalities to compare the copies with the originals has been completed.
All documents presented for validation must be official documents issued by the competent authorities.
They must be authenticated through diplomatic channels and for this purpose they must be submitted to:

• The Ministry of Education in the country of origin for degrees and certificates of studies, and the corresponding Ministry for birth and nationality certificates.
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country where those documents were issued.
• Diplomatic or consular representation of Spain in that country.

Special cases

• Documents issued by diplomatic or consular Authorities of other countries in Spain must be authenticated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• Approval of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will not be necessary for documents issued in countries which have signed the Andrés Bello convention (Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain and Venezuela).

Translation of Documents

The documents must be submitted with a TRANSLATION INTO SPANISH by:

• Any Spanish diplomatic or consular office abroad.
• The diplomatic or consular office in Spain of the applicant’s country of citizenship or, as the case may be, of the country issuing the document.
• A Sworn Translator, duly authorised and registered in Spain.

Response to the application

To obtain a place at this Faculty the validation must result in a minimum of 30 Basic Education ECTS credits.
The response to the validation application will be sent by ordinary post once the Validation Committee has decided upon the particular case (around October).

Recognition of a foreign university degree

This procedure is applicable to students who have a foreign university degree and wish to have their degree recognised in Spain in order to be able to practise.

The student should first request the Ministry of Education to certify that the curriculum is similar to the Spanish curriculum and which subjects must be contingent on an examination (aptitude test).

Please refer to the downloads area for.

• The UAM Law Faculty Regulations in respect of the examination.
• The Application to take the examination.
• Official Notice convening the examination (place, date, time, etc.) for the academic year.
• The syllabus of some of the Law Degree subjects. For the remaining subjects please contact the Student Information Office.

The Vice-Dean of Students, who heads the Student Information office, is responsible for the examination. For any queries please refer to the Student Information Office.

Recognition Regulations

• Regulatory Framework

Royal Decree 285/2004 provides that recognition of foreign university degrees may be made conditional upon the candidate completing some additional educational requirements. Such educational requirements will be determined by technical committees of the Ministry. In these cases, according to article 14.3.c., the Decision in this respect must state the grounds on which it is based and expressly set out the areas that are lacking which justify the requirement for additional training, as well as the aspects this should cover.

The student may choose the University and has a period of 4 years in which to fulfil the training requirements. The University at which the candidate fully and finally passes the training requirements will issue the corresponding accreditation certificate.

The University must have the studies in question fully implemented.

• Contents

The training requirements offered by the Faculty will consist of taking an examination (aptitude test). The test will cover the common training content in the areas identified to be lacking and the subjects determined in the final Ministerial decision.

There will be a minimum of two sittings per year in accordance with the periods established for each academic year. Official notice must be published 30 calendar days before the examination date.