A nutrition course is not a degree. Only one of the two gets homologated.
Homologación of your university degree in nutrition and dietetics to the Spanish one, assessed by ANECA under Orden CIN/730/2009. The first thing we do is establish exactly what qualification you are holding, because everything after that depends on the answer.
Dietista-Nutricionista is a regulated profession, with a professional council, clinical records and legal responsibility. A nutrition coach is not that.
The word “nutritionist” means very different things depending on which side of the Atlantic you say it.
In Spain, Dietista-Nutricionista is a regulated healthcare profession reached through a university degree. Elsewhere the same word covers everything from a four-year degree to a weekend certificate, and homologation only speaks to the first of those. That is why the assessment starts with what your qualification actually is, and then reads Orden CIN/730/2009 for the rest: credits, content and supervised placements. A badly apostilled degree, an unsworn translation or a transcript that never states hours turns a nine-month file into a two-year one.
First we work out exactly what you are holding. Everything else depends on that answer, and finding it out now is free — finding it out in a year is not.
You studied nutrition for years, and here the word alone proves nothing.
- You do not know whether your qualification counts as a university degree in Spanish terms.
- You have been waiting months for a decision and do not know whether your file is even complete.
- Your transcript records subjects but never the supervised placement hours.
- You are not sure which documents need an apostille and which need a sworn translation.
- You have been handed complementary training requirements and do not know which option suits you.
- You have been working as a nutrition coach and nobody explained that it is not the same profession.
The worst part is that almost every one of these blockages is avoidable before the file is submitted — if somebody reviews it properly first.
From your degree to clinical practice: the stages
What are you holding?
University degree, technical qualification or course? Everything else depends on this answer, and establishing it costs nothing.
Auditing the file
Degree, transcript, syllabus, placement hours, apostilles and translations, read against Orden CIN/730/2009 before anything is submitted.
Application and assessment
Filed online with the Ministry. ANECA compares your training with the Spanish degree. Currently 9 to 24 months depending on the file.
Credential and registration
With the credential you register with the professional council of your region. Without registration there is no lawful practice as a Dietista-Nutricionista.
What almost nobody explains about homologating a nutrition degree
In nutrition the decisive issue is usually not the delay. It is what kind of qualification you actually hold.
Worth knowing
- Why only the university degree is homologated, and nutrition courses are not.
- What separates a Dietista-Nutricionista from a nutrition coach, legally.
- Why supervised placements weigh heavily in the assessment.
What you gain
- A straight answer on whether your qualification is comparable, before spending anything.
- A file aligned with Orden CIN/730/2009, competence by competence.
- Registration prepared in advance, ready the moment the credential arrives.
Mistakes that delay your case
- Filing a course or technical certificate as though it were a university degree.
- Submitting a transcript that lists subjects but never states placement hours.
- Translating without a sworn translator recognised by the Foreign Ministry.
- Confusing a Hague Apostille with consular legalisation.
What you need to know
- Exactly which documents the Ministry requires today.
- Whether your nationality means you need to evidence Spanish.
- That homologating is not practising: registration comes after.
Requirements for nutrition homologation in 2026
The file is submitted online to the Ministry, within the framework of RD 889/2022. These are the pillars.
Legalised university degree
The original, apostilled under the Hague Convention or legalised through consular channels if your country is not a signatory, scanned in the format the portal accepts.
Transcript and syllabus
Subjects, credits and content, with the supervised placements identifiable, as Orden CIN/730/2009 expects.
Sworn translation
Every document not in Spanish needs translating by a traductor jurado recognised by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Documents from Spanish-speaking countries do not.
Identity, fee and language
A valid passport, payment of the official fee and, for nationals of countries where Spanish is not an official language, the corresponding Spanish language certificate.
We establish what you are holding, then align it with Orden CIN/730/2009.
The first conversation is about your qualification, not your file: whether what you hold is a university degree comparable to the Spanish one. That answer changes everything, and we would rather give it to you free today than bill you for a file that was never going to work.
If it is comparable, we read your syllabus the way ANECA will, tell you what is missing, and file it. If a requerimiento, a decision imposing complementary training or a refusal has already arrived, we take the case over from wherever it is.
We are not the administration and we do not act on its behalf: we are the ones who prepare your case so the administration has nowhere to stop it.
The questions people ask before they start
I have a nutrition qualification, not a degree. Can I homologate it?
Homologation compares your qualification with the Spanish university degree in human nutrition and dietetics, so what it speaks to is a university degree. Courses, diplomas and coaching certifications, however long or however good, are not the same instrument and generally do not lead there. This is the single most common disappointment in this area, and it is also the cheapest one to avoid: tell us what your certificate actually says and we will tell you today, not in a year.
What is the difference between a Dietista-Nutricionista and a nutrition coach?
Legally, almost everything. Dietista-Nutricionista is a regulated healthcare profession in Spain: it requires a university degree, registration with a professional council, and it carries clinical responsibility including keeping patient records. A nutrition coach is not a regulated profession and cannot do those things. People who have built a coaching practice abroad often assume the two transfer into one another here. They do not.
How long does it take?
The current range runs from roughly 9 to 24 months, depending on the country that issued the degree, the university, how complete the file is, and how any requerimientos are answered. A well-built file tends to the lower end; one with gaps, to the upper.
What are complementary training requirements?
When the assessment finds gaps between your training and the Spanish degree, the decision can recognise the homologation conditional on your completing complementary training — placements, courses, a project or an aptitude test. In nutrition these most often relate to supervised clinical placements. Choosing between the options offered is not trivial, and some decisions of this kind are worth arguing rather than accepting.
What does it cost?
The cost combines the official Ministry fee, the expense of apostilles or legalisation and sworn translation, and our fees for preparing and defending the file. There is no single tariff: it depends on the country of origin, the state of your documentation, and whether you are carrying a requerimiento or an earlier refusal. Once we have studied your case we give you a fixed quotation. Official amounts are set by the rules in force at the time of filing.
Not a doctor? We homologate all twelve regulated healthcare professions.
Each has its own ministerial order, its own professional body and its own traps. Pick yours and we will tell you how yours actually works, not “homologation” in the abstract.
Medicine
Medical degree homologation, plus work permit, colegiación and the MIR.
See detailsNursing
Nursing degree homologation, registration, and access to the EIR.
See detailsDentistry
Dental degree homologation and the registration you need to practise.
See detailsPhysiotherapy
Physiotherapy degree homologation and professional registration.
See detailsPsychology
Careful: the degree itself is not homologated. What is, is the Psicólogo General Sanitario.
See detailsPharmacy
Five years and 3,000 hours of clinical training: the two numbers ANECA looks at.
See detailsVeterinary medicine
Clinical work, yes. But also animal health and food safety.
See detailsSpeech and language therapy
If your country called it fonoaudiología, this is it: the same profession.
See detailsOptics and optometry
An optometrist is not an ophthalmologist: two different homologations.
See detailsPodiatry
In Spain this is a university healthcare profession, not a technical trade.
See detailsOccupational therapy
Four years and 1,000 placement hours. Plenty of demand, little competition.
See detailsNutrition and dietetics
Only the university degree is homologated. Nutrition courses are not.
You are hereSend us what your certificate actually says. We will tell you today.
We establish whether your qualification is comparable, align the file with Orden CIN/730/2009, submit it complete, and stay with you through to registration.
+34 667 77 02 19·+34 667 78 20 85
infoglobalextranjeria@gmail.com
Camino de Coín 14, 29640 Fuengirola (Málaga)
P.S. like the baker in the story, you can make the best bread in the district and still not get through the supermarket door. Knowing and evidencing are two different things. We handle the second one, which is the one with the forms.
Content reviewed by a lawyer
Reviewed by Alberto García López
Immigration lawyer · bar number 11.441 · ICA Málaga
We review every page against the rules currently in force. This information does not replace an individual assessment of your case.
The content of this page is for information only and does not constitute individual legal advice. Every immigration case requires its own assessment.
Globalium is an independent law firm: we are not a public administration and we are not affiliated with one. Homologation, equivalence and the recognition of qualifications are granted exclusively by the competent Ministry, and you may apply to it directly yourself. Our fees pay for legal advice and representation, and are separate from official fees and public charges.