Apostille for Spain: Rules, Costs, Sworn Translation

The apostille for Spain is the stamp that stalls many moves to Mallorca. Birth certificate, criminal record certificate, marriage certificate or power of attorney: at some point someone at a counter tells you the paper is worthless without an apostille and a sworn translation. Sometimes that is true. For documents issued in the EU it has often not been true since 2019, and if you do not know that, you pay for certifications nobody asked for. Which papers you should bring from home in the first place is covered in our guide to the documents to bring for your move to Mallorca. This post is about the question that comes next: certify, translate, or save yourself both.

At a glance

For civil status certificates and a clean criminal record certificate issued in an EU member state, the apostille has not been required since February 16, 2019, and a multilingual standard form can replace the translation too. Documents from outside the EU, including the US and the UK, still need one. The rule for everything else: the apostille comes from the country that issued the document, the sworn translation from a traductor jurado appointed in Spain, and both are worthless if the issue date is too old.

What the apostille is and what it is not

The Hague apostille is a certification under the Apostille Convention of 1961. It confirms that the signature, seal and official capacity on a public document are genuine. It says nothing about the content and does not replace a translation. Spain and more than 120 other countries, including the US, the UK, Canada and Australia, are contracting states, so no further legalisation by a consulate is needed for documents from those countries.

What often gets lost at the counter is this distinction: the apostille certifies the document, the sworn translation makes it readable. Those are two separate steps at two separate offices, and the order is not optional. The apostille belongs on the original before anything is translated, because a traductor jurado translates the apostille text as well. If you have the translation done first and get the apostille afterwards, you pay for the translation twice.

EU documents: no apostille needed for these since 2019

This is the point that saves the most money, and it applies whenever the document was issued in an EU member state. Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 has applied since February 16, 2019 and exempts certain public documents from one EU country from any legalisation formality in another. The main categories, which as a rule do not need a translation either:

birth certificate
death certificate
marriage certificate and certificate of capacity to marry
registered partnership certificate
certificate of domicile or residence
criminal record certificate with no entries

Instead of an apostille and a translation, you can ask the issuing authority for a multilingual standard form that reproduces the content of the document and is attached to it. It is issued by the same office that issues the document itself, usually the civil registry or the population register, typically for a small fee.

Warning: The local office has the final say

The multilingual form is a translation aid, not a legal right to acceptance. Whether the information is sufficient for your specific purpose is decided by the Spanish office you present the document to. So ask beforehand whether they expect the form or a sworn translation. Courts and notaries often still want the translation.

The regulation does not cover notarial deeds, school and university certificates, company register extracts or powers of attorney. And it does not help at all with documents from non-EU countries. If you need a power of attorney for a notary appointment on Mallorca, there is no way around apostille plus translation. How that works is covered in our post on the poder notarial in Spain.

Where to get the apostille: always in the issuing country

There is no office in Spain that can apostille your foreign documents. The apostille always comes from the country, and often the region, where the document was issued:

Check the EU exemption first

If the document was issued in an EU member state and is on the list above, ask the issuing office for the multilingual standard form and skip apostille and translation entirely.

US documents: state or federal office

Birth, marriage and death certificates and state background checks are apostilled by the Secretary of State of the issuing state. Federal documents such as the FBI background check go to the US Department of State in Washington.

UK documents: the FCDO Legalisation Office

All UK public documents, from birth certificates to ACRO police certificates, are apostilled centrally by the Legalisation Office of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Then the sworn translation in Spain

Only once the apostille is on the original do you commission a traductor jurado, who translates document and apostille together.

For US documents, the US Department of State explains which documents are handled federally and which by the individual states. For UK documents, the central route runs through gov.uk/get-document-legalised. If your document comes from a country that is not part of the Apostille Convention, the longer consular legalisation chain applies instead: foreign ministry of the issuing country first, then the Spanish consulate there.

The criminal record certificate deserves special attention. Spain expects a certificate that covers the whole country. For the US that means the FBI Identity History Summary, not a state-level police record, and for the UK the ACRO Police Certificate. Both then need the apostille from the federal or central authority, which regularly adds weeks to the process.

Posten	Kosten	Dauer
Apostille in the issuing country	roughly 5 to 50 EUR	per document
Multilingual EU standard form instead of a translation	often 10 to 20 EUR	per document
Sworn translation by a traductor jurado	40 to 80 EUR	per page
Courier or postage there and back	10 to 30 EUR	per batch

Sworn translation: traductor jurado instead of a translator back home

A translation is only official in Spain if it comes from someone who holds the title traductor jurado or interprete jurado from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. That is laid down in the regulations of the Oficina de Interpretacion de Lenguas, Real Decreto 724/2020. The ministry maintains a directory of all sworn translators searchable by language and province.

The practical trap: a translator who is certified, sworn or notarized in your home country is not automatically recognized in Spain. A certified translation produced in the US or the UK is regularly rejected on Mallorca, even though it is perfectly valid at home. The reverse does not matter at all: it is irrelevant where in Spain the traductor jurado is based. Most work remotely, so you can easily commission someone in Madrid or Valencia. What to look for when choosing one is covered in our guide to sworn translators on Mallorca.

Digital versions with a qualified electronic signature have been accepted by Spanish authorities in principle since 2020. Do not rely on it though: the Registro Civil, notaries and some town halls still insist on paper with stamp and signature.

The issue date matters too

The most expensive mistake is not the missing apostille but the expired document. For citizenship applications, Orden JUS/1625/2016 spells it out in its annex: all documents must be valid at the time of application, and criminal record certificates without a printed expiry date are treated as valid for six months from issue. The same order also specifies for federal countries that the certificate must cover the entire national territory, not a single state.

In practice, many Spanish offices apply this window to other procedures as well. The Registro Civil, Extranjeria and notaries usually do not want to see civil status certificates older than three to six months. That applies even if the content of a birth certificate has not changed in decades.

How long does the apostille take?
Count on one to three weeks at most state or regional offices once the document arrives. Central authorities like the US Department of State or the FCDO add the postal route on top, and federal criminal record certificates take the longest. For the complete chain of certificate, apostille and sworn translation, plan six to eight weeks rather than two.

Tip: Ask first, certify second

Before you apply for anything, ask the Spanish office in writing which form it requires: the multilingual EU form, apostille plus sworn translation, or both. An email to the Registro Civil or your gestoria costs nothing and can save you 60 EUR and three weeks. And order two copies of every certificate right away, so you have one in reserve for the next procedure.

Conclusion

Before you have anything certified, check first where the document was issued and whether it falls under the EU regulation. For birth, marriage and death certificates and a clean criminal record certificate from an EU member state, the multilingual form is often enough within the EU, and you skip apostille and translation entirely. For documents from the US, the UK and other non-EU countries, and for powers of attorney, diplomas and notarial deeds from anywhere, the classic route remains: apostille from the competent authority in the issuing country, then translation by a traductor jurado sworn in Spain, and everything recently issued. If you want your degree recognized, a separate mountain of paperwork awaits, which we take apart in our post on getting a foreign degree recognized in Spain.

Apostille for Spain: When You Need One and When You Do Not