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The EIR quota for foreign nurses: what it is and how to get in

What the quota is, how many places the January 2027 exam offers, who qualifies and what to have ready before the next application.

The number 23 on a green background next to a grid of one hundred squares with a single one in yellow

If you are a nurse outside Spain and want to sit the EIR, sooner or later you will run into a word that sounds like a lottery: the quota. It is not. It is a cap on places for people who do not have residence in Spain, and in Nursing it is much smaller than in Medicine. Worth knowing before you start.

Here is what it is, how many places there are, who qualifies, what you are asked for and where to start.

What the quota is

The EIR is the exam for a training place as a specialist nurse (Family and Community, Mental Health or Obstetric-Gynaecological, among others). It is held on the same day and in the same format as the MIR. On that day, part of the places is reserved for people who do not hold a residence permit in Spain. That part is the quota.

In the current call (Order SND/854/2026, published in the BOE on 10 August 2026) it is 23 of the 2,341 Nursing places, a little under 1%. In the previous call (Order SND/928/2025) it was also 23, out of 2,279 places.

The 1% is no coincidence: it is the cap set by Royal Decree 589/2022, which allows up to 10% of Medicine places, 3% of Pharmacy places and 1% of Nursing places. It is a ceiling, not a guaranteed share, and each call decides how many places it offers. In Medicine it is 968 out of 9,676, or 10%: the exam and the date are the same, but the room for people coming from abroad is very different.

Who qualifies for the quota and who does not

The quota is for people who do not hold a residence permit in Spain. The call adds two conditions: your country of origin must have a cooperation agreement with Spain in force, and your degree must be homologated or recognised.

  1. You live outside Spain, your country has an agreement with Spain and your nursing degree is homologatedYou compete for the quota.
  2. You are in Spain only with a stay permit (short stay, study or other)You also compete for the quota.
  3. You hold a residence permit, temporary or permanentYou leave the quota and compete in the general round.
  4. You hold the nationality of an EU country, the EEA, Switzerland or AndorraYou are not in the quota: your status is “EU regime” and you compete in the general round.

The order does not include the list of countries with an agreement. If you are unsure whether yours counts, the Ministry of Health gives the address correofse@sanidad.gob.es for information.

To prove it, the call asks for your passport and, if you are in Spain on a stay, your valid foreigner identity card. This is a reading of the order's rules, not legal advice: check your own case in the official text before deciding anything.

What you need before you apply

Everything is proved in the application at once, and what is not ready when the window closes does not count.

According to the order, this is what is required:

  • A homologated or recognised degree. It must be granted before the application window ends. The Ministry of Science resolves homologation within six months at most (if it does not reply, it is treated as refused) and it can come out conditional: if it finds gaps, you are asked for internships, an aptitude test or courses, and you do not get the credential until you pass them. If your degree is from another EU country, it is proved through the recognition of professional qualifications.
  • Spanish at level C1. If Spanish is not the official language of your country, you need an official diploma (DELE or equivalent). People who studied the degree in Spanish at a Spanish university or one in a Spanish-speaking country are exempt, and so are those who have already done two years of specialised healthcare training in Spain.
  • An academic certificate and the equivalence of your average grade. Your transcript average adds 10 of the 100 points. With studies abroad you need the Ministry of Science's declaration of equivalence and your university's certificate. Without them, you are given an average of 5.00.
  • The exam fee. For Nursing it is 23.33 euros, slightly less than for the other degrees.
Keep readingNALCAP language assistants: the visa at BLS and the timelines

Dates: what has passed and what is coming

For the exam on 23 January 2027, the application window is already closed.

According to the order, these are the two dates:

  • Application: from 1 to 14 September 2026, both included.
  • Exam: 23 January 2027, at 14:00 (13:00 in the Canary Islands): 200 questions plus 10 reserve ones, lasting four and a half hours. It is in person, in one of the 26 places in Spain listed in the order.

If you missed it, the call that matters to you is the next one. It has not been published yet. The previous one had its application window from 1 to 12 September 2025 and its exam on 24 January 2026. If the calendar repeats (order in August, applications in September, exam in January), the next application window would be in September 2027. That is an estimate, not an official date.

In practice, you have a year ahead of you. Degree homologation is handled by the Ministry of Science, which has up to six months to resolve (longer if you are asked for complementary training), and the call requires it to be granted before the application closes. Start there.

What to do, step by step

Order matters: what takes longest goes first.

Homologate your degree and request your grade equivalence

Both go to the Ministry of Science, with your legalised original documents. Without a homologated or recognised degree you cannot apply, and without the grade equivalence you lose points. If the homologation comes out conditional, the credential does not arrive until you complete the training you are asked for.

Prove your Spanish

If your language is not Spanish, book the diploma exam in advance: C1 is an admission requirement, not a bonus.

Decide where you will prepare

If you will prepare in Spain, the Immigration Regulation provides a long-stay visa for courses preparing for the specialised healthcare training exams. It is requested at the Spanish consulate in your country at least two months before the course starts, and requires, among other things, a homologated or recognised degree, admission to the course with the fees paid, a passport valid for one year, funds (100% of the IPREM per month), health insurance, a medical certificate and, if you are an adult and the stay exceeds six months, criminal record certificates from the countries where you have lived in the last five years. Each consulate publishes its exact list. The exam is in person in Spain, so, if you do not come on that visa, depending on your nationality you may need a short-stay visa to come and sit it.

If your stay lasts longer than six months, you have one month after entering to apply for the TIE at the police station.

If you are awarded a place, prepare your permit before taking up the post

People from outside the EU need, before taking up the post, a permit that lets them live in Spain and do specialised healthcare training. In the Immigration Regulation it is a long-stay authorisation, and you do not need to request a work permit as well. You will also be asked for a fit medical exam, the certificate of sexual offences and professional registration where the law requires it to practise: the statutes of the nursing professional body make it indispensable.

Mark September

That is the month the application window usually opens. Check as soon as the order is published.

Common mistakes

The four most common slip-ups:

  • Thinking that homologation means having a place. Homologation lets you sit the exam. Your score decides the place.
  • Leaving homologation for last. It is the slowest step and it must be granted before the application closes, not after.
  • Forgetting the average-grade equivalence. Without it, the call gives you an average of 5.00, which can cost you positions.
  • Thinking the quota is a place reserved for you, or that it works like the MIR. It is 23 places, the 1% cap set by the royal decree, not a guaranteed share: the call does not ensure that all are filled or that you fill one. In Medicine the cap is 10%.

Sources: Order SND/854/2026 (BOE, 10 August 2026) and Order SND/928/2025 (BOE, 21 August 2025); Royal Decree 589/2022; Royal Decree 889/2022; Royal Decree 1155/2024 (Immigration Regulation). Data as of October 2026. This article is informational and does not replace legal advice.

A legal adviser reviewing an applicant's documents in a bright office

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