If you plan to move to Portugal to exercise a qualified activity, the first distinction that must be made is that the recognition of academic degrees and the registration and authorization to exercise the professional activity are distinct and autonomous procedures.
1. Procedures
The academic equivalence process may be a requirement to apply for authorization before the national regulatory body for qualified activity in Portugal. Firstly, the academic degree must be recognized before at a Portuguese university, and then an application may be made for the exercise of the qualified profession in Portugal.
For European countries, in general, there is automatic recognition of academic qualifications.
In the case of non-EU countries, it will depend on the requirements of the regulating body of the Profession and the international legislation in force. For example, due to the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Consultation between Brazil and Portugal, Brazilians have less bureaucratic procedures in the regularization of some professions, such as physiotherapists.
2. Documents
As a rule, documents issued abroad have to be translated and stamped. However, there are exceptions that depend on the language and the country of issue of the document – a factor that reduces the cost of the process relating to notary expenses.
For academic degree recognition, documents written in English, French or Spanish do not need to be translated.
For professional validation, in general, documents issued by European countries do not need be stamped and legalized.
3. Cost
The costs of academic degree recognition will depend on the area and degree, with university fees around 550 euros.
Professional registration costs with the regulatory body will be around 100 euros, though this depends on the profession.
4. Working in the EU
No case of some professions is already possible to obtain a European professional card (CPE) that allows the recognition of the regulated profession in another EU country, for example: nurses responsible for general care, pharmacists, physiotherapists, mountain guides or real estate agents. See Professional Qualifications Directive.
