Your certificate comes from another region or country: is it accepted?

Key rules

• Receiving body decides: The community or body where you will use the certificate decides whether it counts, so confirm with it before you pay for an exam.
• Catalan, Valencian, Balearic: These three systems recognise each other's certificates as the same language.
• Other regions: Outside its own language area, a certificate is usually accepted only as merit or as proof of the co-official language.
• Foreign certificates: A certificate from outside Spain has no automatic recognition; expect equivalence or the official exam.

Recognition rules change and differ by community, so confirm the current list in the call or with the regional language body before acting.

The short answer

Acceptance depends on the community or body that receives the certificate. Spain has no single national table that says which certificates count everywhere. Check the rules of the place where you will use it before you sit an exam or send documents.

Certificates from another region

• Catalan, Valencian and Balearic. These three systems treat each other's certificates as the same language. A Catalan certificate is equated with a Valencian one from the Junta Qualificadora de Coneixements de Valencià (JQCV) and with a Balearic one.
• Galician and Basque. Galician CELGA and Basque EGA or HABE certificates are recognised by the community that issues them and by public bodies in the same language area. Navarre and the Basque Country apply their own equivalences for Basque.
• Outside the language area. Other communities usually accept these certificates only as merit, or as proof of the co-official language in their own territory. Do not assume a certificate will be enough for a job or a public competition elsewhere.

Escuelas Oficiales de Idiomas

The Escuelas Oficiales de Idiomas (EOI) teach and certify co-official languages in several communities, at levels from B1 to C2 depending on the school. What they offer varies a lot:

• In Catalonia, Catalan is taught mainly through the Consorci per a la Normalització Lingüística, not certified by the EOI.
• In the Basque Country, the EOI offer Basque courses and certificates.
• In Valencia, EOI certificates are accepted by the JQCV as equivalents.
• In Galicia, the EOI offer Galician from B1 to C1, recognised by the Xunta.

Ask your school which levels it gives and whether the receiving body lists them.

Universities

Universities in Catalonia, Valencia, Galicia and the Basque Country award degrees in the languages. These degrees are accepted as proof in public competitions. Some universities also issue their own level certificates. The community accepts these only if they appear in its list of equivalent certificates, so check that list first.

Certificates from abroad

No general rule accepts a regional language certificate issued outside Spain. Each community decides what it equates with its own certificates. Catalonia, for example, recognises certificates from some foreign institutions, such as universities abroad that teach Catalan. Others are usually assessed case by case.

You have two usual routes: ask the regional language body for an equivalence, or sit the official exam. Documents issued abroad normally need an apostille or legalisation, plus a sworn translation if they are not in Spanish or the co-official language. The documents list below shows what to prepare.

What to do

1. Find the call or regulation where you will use the certificate and read the language level it asks for.
2. Look for the receiving body's equivalence table and check that your certificate and level are on it.
3. If you are in doubt, write to the regional language body and keep the reply.
4. Use the checklist below, and the decision below to choose between using it as it is, offering it as merit, asking for equivalence or sitting the exam.

Choosing between options

How will your certificate be recognised where you need it?

• Use it as it is: Your certificate is from the same language area, such as Catalan, Valencian or Balearic, or from the community you apply in.

• Offer it as merit only: You apply in a community outside the language area, where it usually counts as merit or proof of the co-official language in its own territory.

• Ask for equivalence: Your certificate comes from a foreign institution or an unlisted university and the regional language body can assess it.

• Sit the official exam: Equivalence is refused or your certificate is not listed by the receiving community.

The receiving community's own rules decide: if your certificate and level are on its equivalence list, use it; if not, ask for equivalence or sit its official exam.

Documents you need

• The certificate issued abroad, with an apostille or legalisation

• A sworn translation of the foreign certificate, if it is not in Spanish or the co-official language

• A university degree in the language, if you hold one, as proof in public competitions

Checklist: confirm a certificate will be accepted before you sit it

• Read the call, regulation or official bulletin (the BOE or your region's official gazette) for the required level and the titles it accepts.

• Ask the regional language body, such as the Direcció General de Política Lingüística or the Xunta's language service, whether your title is equated to the one required.

• Check whether the call requires the certificate to be obtained before a set date or to come from certain issuers. Official regional certificates are valid for life, but private or language-school certificates may have their own validity rules.

• Confirm the format needed: original, certified copy or digital verification code, and any translation or legalisation.

• Write to the receiving body by email, a registered enquiry or in person, and keep its reply as proof before you pay for the exam.

• Note the deadlines for the exam, for sending the certificate and for any call you are applying to.

What if you fail, or your certificate is not accepted?

If you fail the exam

You can sit it again. Most regional language exam systems set no fixed limit on attempts. Each time, you register and pay the fee again.

The wait is the main cost. Sessions are held only a few times a year, so you wait for the next one. Some exam bodies let you keep a part you passed for a limited time, and waiting periods differ between systems. Ask the exam body what applies to the part you passed before you re-register.

If you think the result is wrong

Ask for a review. The window opens when the provisional results are published and is short, usually 3 to 10 working days depending on the exam body. The exact deadline is set in each call, so read it as soon as you see your result.

Send the request through the exam body's portal or registry. A different examiner reviews your exam.

If the review goes against you, you can file an administrative appeal with the higher body, normally within one month. After that, the administrative courts are the last step. Appeals and court cases take time, so a retake is often faster if a session is coming up.

If your certificate is not accepted

Start by asking the body that rejected it for a written decision that gives its reasons. You need this to choose the next step, and you need it for any appeal.

Then pick the route that fits:

• Ask the regional language body for proof of equivalence. It may confirm that your certificate is equivalent to the level required.
• Ask for an exemption certificate. This can be based on your schooling or on other qualifications you hold.
• Sit an exam the body accepts. This is the surest route if you have time before your deadline.
• Offer other evidence the call allows. A qualifying degree is one example.

What counts differs between receiving bodies, so check which options the one you are dealing with allows.

You can also challenge the decision with an administrative appeal, and later in the administrative courts. In public employment calls, you can also challenge the call itself. Appeal deadlines are short, so ask the receiving body or a lawyer about them as soon as you have the decision.

Frequently asked questions

Do the Escuelas Oficiales de Idiomas give regional language certificates?

Yes, in some regions, but the levels depend on the school: the schools in the Basque Country, Galicia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands teach and certify the co-official language at levels between B1 and C2. In Catalonia, Catalan is mainly taught through the Consorci per a la Normalització Lingüística instead. In Valencia, these certificates are accepted as equivalents by the JQCV, the Valencian language board.

Does a university degree in a regional language count as proof?

Yes, degrees in the language from universities in Catalonia, Valencia, Galicia and the Basque Country are accepted as proof in public competitions. University language-level certificates are accepted by their own community only when they appear in that region's equivalence list. Check the list before you pay for one.

Is a Catalan certificate accepted in Valencia or the Balearic Islands?

Yes, Catalan, Valencian and Balearic certificates are recognised as the same language by each other's systems.

Is a regional language certificate from outside Spain accepted?

Not automatically, because each community decides which foreign titles it equates with its own certificates. Catalonia, for example, recognises some foreign institutions, such as universities abroad that teach Catalan. Otherwise you usually sit the official exam or ask the regional language body for equivalence, and documents not in Spanish or the co-official language need an apostille and a sworn translation.