Legalization and translation of documents

• 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
  1. 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.
  2. In all other cases, the documents issued abroad must be duly legalized in accordance with the following conditions:
     1. 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:

        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.

        Overseas territories:
        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.
     2. 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.
        Countries that have signed the Andrés Bello Convention : Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Spain, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela
     3. 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.
     4. Documents issued by the diplomatic or consular authorities of other countries in Spain must be legalized at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• 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: 8 de Septiembre de 2020