Nostrifikace of a Spanish Diploma in the Czech Republic: What You Need

Have a Spanish university diploma and need it recognised for work or further study in the Czech Republic? Unlike the earlier articles in this series, this one runs the other direction — a Spanish diploma coming into Czechia, not a Czech one going out. This guide explains who actually decides, what apostille you need, and a rule about applying that catches a lot of people off guard.

• A public university offering a similar study programme decides on nostrifikace — not a central government body, in most cases.
• Because Spain and the Czech Republic are both members of the Hague Apostille Convention, your diploma only needs an apostille, not the more burdensome superlegalisation.
• You cannot apply to several universities at once for the same qualification — administrative law forbids it.
• If you’re continuing your studies rather than working, some universities can assess your Spanish education directly during admissions, skipping formal nostrifikace entirely.

This is the first thing to get right, because it determines exactly where your application goes.

In most cases, it’s a public university in the Czech Republic that offers a study programme broadly similar to yours that decides on nostrifikace — private universities have no authority to do this at all. The main exceptions are qualifications in military fields, handled by the Ministry of Defence, and security services, handled by the Ministry of Interior. For everything else, you’re looking for a specific public university, not a general government office.

This is good news if you’re used to hearing about more complicated legalisation processes for other countries.

Because Spain has signed the Hague Apostille Convention, just like the Czech Republic, your diploma and its supplement only need an apostille — not the fuller superlegalisation process required for documents from non-Hague countries. Once apostilled, the documents then need an official translation into Czech.

This is a rule that surprises people, and it’s worth knowing before you start, not after.

Administrative law doesn’t allow you to submit an application for recognition of the same foreign qualification to more than one public university at the same time. Pick the university whose programme most closely matches your Spanish degree, and apply there first — if it doesn’t work out, you can try elsewhere afterwards, but not in parallel.

If your goal is further study rather than employment, there’s a shortcut worth checking first.

Some Czech public universities are authorised to assess your foreign education directly as part of the admissions process itself, without requiring separate formal nostrifikace beforehand. This applies specifically to universities with institutional accreditation in the relevant field — the Ministry of Education publishes a list marking which ones qualify. If your university is on that list, you may not need to apply for nostrifikace at all.

Once you know where you’re applying, it helps to have the full document set ready in advance.

The administrative fee for nostrifikace is 3,000 CZK, collected either by the university itself, if it’s the deciding body, or under the standard administrative fees act if a ministry decides instead.

Once your documents are apostilled, getting them translated is quick.

Send us a scan of your apostilled diploma and supplement, and we’ll confirm pricing and turnaround within 24 hours. Standard turnaround is 2–3 business days, with express delivery available within 24 hours for a 50% surcharge.

Send us your apostilled diploma and supplement, and we’ll confirm pricing and turnaround within 24 hours.