- Official Documents
All documents submitted in these procedures must be official, and be issued by the competent authorities for such purposes, in accordance with the legal requirements of the country in question. - Legalization of the documents issued abroad
- No type of legalization is required for documents issued in the Member States of the European Union or signatories to the Agreement for a European Economic Space:
- Member States of the European Union : Germany, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, and Sweden.
- Signatory countries to the Agreement on the European Economic Space : Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.
- This criteria also applies to Switzerland by virtue of a bilateral agreement with the E.U.
- In all other cases, the documents issued abroad must be duly legalized in accordance with the following conditions:
- Documents issued in countries that have subscribed to the Hague Convention of 5th October 1961: one single legal certificate or all-inclusive ‘apostil' or ‘note' issued by the competent authorities of the country.
In addition to the countries of European Economic Space, these countries are as follows:
Overseas territories:- Andorra
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Australia
- Azerbaijan
- The Bahama Islands
- Barbados
- Belize
- Belorussia
- Bosnia-Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Brunei-Darussalam,
- Bulgaria
- Cyprus
- Colombia
- Croatia
- Dominica
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Slovenia
- The United States of America
- Estonia
- The Russian Federation
- Fiji
- Grenada
- Honduras
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Marshall Islands
- Israel
- Japan
- Kazakhstan
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Macao
- Monaco
- Malawi
- Malta
- Mauritius
- Cook Islands
- Mexico
- Namibia
- New Zealand
- Niue Island
- Panama
- Puerto Rico
- Czech Republic
- Romania
- Western Samoa
- Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis
- San Marino
- Saint Lucia
- Seychelles
- Switzerland
- South Africa
- Surinam
- Swaziland
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turkey
- Venezuela.
- Serbia and Montenegro.
Netherlands: The Dutch Antilles.
United Kingdom: Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Saint Elena, Turks and Caicos Islands and the Virgin Islands. - Documents issued in countries that have subscribed to the Andrés Bello Convention : (Art. 2º. Section 6. Resolution 006/98, approved at the XIX Meeting of the Ministers of Education of the Andrés Bello Convention): must be legalized through diplomatic channels (the last standard administrative process for legalization that appears in the following section is not applicable). Where the country is also a signatory to the Hague Convention, the simpler procedure established by the latter convention may be used. Documentation should be submitted to:
- The Ministry of Education in the country of origin for qualifications and certificates of studies.
- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country where the aforementioned documents were issued.
- Spanish diplomatic or consular Representation in the aforementioned country.
- Documents issued in other countries: should be legalized through diplomatic channels. To that effect, they should be submitted to:
- The Ministry of Education in the country of origin for qualifications and certificates of studies undertaken.
- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country where the aforementioned documents were issued.
- Spanish diplomatic or consular Representation in the aforementioned country.
- The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Legalizations Section.
- Documents issued by the diplomatic or consular authorities of other countries in Spain must be legalized at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Documents issued in countries that have subscribed to the Hague Convention of 5th October 1961: one single legal certificate or all-inclusive ‘apostil' or ‘note' issued by the competent authorities of the country.
- No type of legalization is required for documents issued in the Member States of the European Union or signatories to the Agreement for a European Economic Space:
- Translation of documents issued abroad
Ley 30/1992, de 26 de noviembre, de Régimen Jurídico de las Administraciones Públicas y del Procedimiento Administrativo Común [Article 36.1 of Law 30/1992 relating to the regulation of public sector bodies and their common administrative procedures] states that the language in which procedures are to be conducted by the General Administration of the State is Spanish. Accordingly, it is required that documents issued abroad in order to be held as valid must be accompanied by an official translation into Spanish (when they are not issued in that language).
The official translation may be done:- By a ‘Sworn Translator' (Traductor Jurado ), duly authorised and registered in Spain.
- By any diplomatic or consular Representation of the Spanish State abroad.
- By the diplomatic or consular Representation in Spain of the country of which the applicant is a citizen or, in specific cases, the country of origin of the document.
Última actualización: 26 de Marzo de 2021