Attesting Spanish Documents (FAQs)

Yes - Spain is a member of the Apostille Convention.

Spanish documents can be legalized for use abroad with an Apostille Stamp when destined for other signatory countries without additional certification by the destination country.

When Spanish documents are required for non-apostille countries, such as United Arab Emirates - Taiwan - Malaysia - Thailand - Qatar they need additional authentication by the embassy of the destination country.

For further information about Apostille certification in Spain, see:
Spain Apostille Services

Submission within the European Union
Certain Spanish documents do not require Apostilles when they are presented to authorities of other European Union countries (the receiving authority should accept the original or a certified copy).

When applying for certain public documents, a multilingual standard form may be requested to accompany the original. A multilingual standard form must always be issued and signed by a Spanish authority, providing a translation aid designed to help the receiving authority to understand a public document which is in a language not accepted by the receiving EU country.
See: EU Multilingual standard forms

Spanish documents not requiring Apostilles include birth, death, marriage certificates, absence of a criminal record (a clean criminal record of a Spanish citizen), certificates of nationality and residence:
See: Regulation (EU) 2016/1191

Other Spanish documents, including academic certificates, still require Apostille certification and certified translation to be valid in other EU countries.

Civil status certificates (multilingual extracts from the civil status registers)
Spanish birth, marriage and death certificates) issued in accordance with the conventions of the International Commission on Civil and Civil Status should not require Apostille Stamps when being submitted to one of the following countries:

Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cape Verde, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Turkey.

Multilingual certificates of no impediment to marriage
Spanish certificates of no impediment to marriage are exempt from any formality for submission to the following countries (Munich CIEC Convention):
Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Moldova, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Switzerland, Switzerland, Turkey

Documents that can be authenticated in Spain with an Apostille Stamp include:

• Spanish birth certificates, death and marriage certificates issued by the Ministry of Justice
• Criminal Background Certificates (Certificado de Antecedentes Penales)
• University degrees, diplomas and certificates
• School certificates
• Last Will and Testament Certificates (Certificado de Actos de Última Voluntad)
• Certificates of Single Status
• Municipal Registration Certificates (Certificado de Empadronamiento)
• Trade documents (certificates of origin, certificates of free sale).
• Company documents including Company Registration Certificates (Nota Simple), Annual Accounts and Articles of Association (Escritura)
• Medical Certificates
• Documents certified by a Spanish notary (powers of attorney, affidavits etc.)

To confirm whether your document is eligible for apostille authentication in Spain, please Contact us and we’ll check your document free of charge. For further information about our Spanish apostille services and for assistance obtaining official copies of Spanish documents, see:
Spain Apostille Services

Apostille from Spain can be obtained in 1-2 business days, depending on the document and the avaialability of appointments.

Spanish Apostille stamps, issued by the Ministry of Justice, can be verified online:
Verify an Apostille

Document legalization (or attestation) is a procedure which authenticates a public Spanish document so that it can be submitted in another country for official or legal purposes - for example, if you need to submit a Spanish birth certificate to the authority or embassy of another country, it will often need to be legalized.

Legalizing a document in Spain certifies the authenticity of the signature appearing on the document as that of an authorized public official in Spain and confirms the capacity of that official.

• Because Spain is a member of the Apostille Convention, Spanish documents can be legalized by means of an Apostille Stamp when being submitted to countries that are also members of the Hague Apostille Convention
• If a Spanish document is required for a country that is not a member of the Apostille Convention, it will need to be legalized both by Spanish authorities and by the embassy of the recipient country (embassy in Spain or non-resident embassy accredited to Spain).
  See: Document legalization - Wikipedia

Isarey Certification Services provides a range of services in Spain including Apostille and legalization services, notarization services, certified translation services and document retrieval services.

You can see reviews from past clients who have used our attestation and apostille services:

• ISAREY reviews on Trustpilot
• ISAREY reviews on Google

Spain Apostilles follow the standard format laid down in the Apostille Convention. Some examples of Spanish documents certified with Apostille stamps:

• Legalized Spanish Criminal Record Certificate (PDF)
• Spanish Marriage Certificate with Apostille Stamp (PDF)
• Spain Marriage Certificate attested by Embassy of the United Arab Emirates (PDF)
• Spain Birth Certificate with Apostille Certificado Literal (PDF)

See What does an Apostille look like?

Spanish birth, death and marriage certificates can be obtained online with digital ID, or by applying by post or in person. Applications by post or in person can be made through the Civil Registry Office where the birth, death or marriage was registered. Certificates for births, deaths and marriages registered by a Spanish Consulate abroad, may be obtained by contacting the consulate (registration as a resident in the area of the consulate's jurisdiction may be required).

• Spanish birth certificates
• Spanish marriage certificates
• Spanish death certificates

For assistance and further information on obtaining and authenticating marriage, death and birth certificates from Spain, see:
Spanish birth, death and marriage certificates

If you need an apostille for a Spanish birth, marriage or death certificate, we can obtain a newly issued copy from the register. This normally takes 1 – 2 weeks. Then we’ll obtain an apostille from the Spanish Ministry of Justice (1 – 2 days). Certificates in Spain must be less than 3 months old in order to obtain an apostille.

Spain issues certificates in Spanish only and multilingual certificates (valid in countries party to the Vienna Convention). Certificates needed for presentation to the authorities of another European Union state should not require an Apostille (see Regulation (EU) 2016/1191).

For further information, see:
Certify Spain Documents

Spain issues various types of birth certificate:

• Long form certificates (Certificado Literal): This is a full copy of the birth registration and includes all data recorded in the register. The certificate is issued in Spanish. A specific certificate is required if it is needed to apply for a Spanish ID or passport for the first time.
• Extract: This is a short form certificate containing a summary of data recorded in the registry. This type of certificate will not always be sufficient for submission to foreign authorities.
• International or multilingual: Standard form certificate issued in accordance with the Vienna Convention in a multilingual format. This certificate may not be valid for submission to non-EU countries, other than countries which are signatories to the Vienna Convention (Turkey, Macedonia, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, Moldova).
• Negative Certificate: A negative certificate certifies that there is no record of the birth, death or marriage in the issuing civil registry.

For further information on obtaining and authenticating Spanish birth certificates for use abroad, see:
Spanish birth, death and marriage certificates

Apostilles are not required when submitting Spanish certificates of marital status to the authorities of another Member State of the European Union.

A multilingual standard form may be requested to accompany the original. A multilingual standard form must always be issued and signed by a Spanish authority, providing a translation aid designed to help the receiving authority understand the certificate when in a language not accepted by the receiving EU country.

EU Member States are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden
See: Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of 27 April 2016 (EU GDPR)

Apostilles are not required when submitting Spanish Multilingual certificates of no impediment to marriage issued to the authorities of a country that has acceded to the Munich CIEC Convention. Members of the Munich CIEC Convention are as follows:
Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Moldova, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Switzerland, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey.

Apostilles are not required when submitting Spanish birth, death and marriage certificates to the authorities of another Member State of the European Union. A multilingual standard form may be requested to accompany the original. A multilingual standard form must always be issued and signed by a Spanish authority, providing a translation aid designed to help the receiving authority understand the certificate when in a language not accepted by the receiving EU country.

EU Member States are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden
See: Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of 27 April 2016 (EU GDPR)

Spanish birth, marriage and death certificates (multilingual extracts from the civil status registers issued in accordance with the conventions of the International Commission on Civil and Civil Status) should not require Apostille Stamps when being submitted to countries that have acceded to the Vienna CIEC Convention. The following countries are contracting states of the Vienna Convention:
Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cape Verde, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey.

To confirm that a Spanish company is in good standing with active registration, a Registration Certificate can be obtained from the Commerical Registry

The Registration Certificate (Nota Simple) confirms basic information on the company and certifies the registration status of the company.

Isarey can obtain certified company documents and company search reports from Commerical Registry in Spain for authentication with an Apostille Stamp or legalization. Please Contact us for details.

If you need an apostille for a Spanish Criminal Record Certificate, we can obtain the certificate for you from the Ministry of Justice. This normally takes 1 – 2 weeks. Then we’ll obtain an apostille (1 – 2 days). Certificates in Spain must be less than 3 months old in order to obtain an apostille.

Certificates needed for presentation to the authorities of another European Union state should not require an Apostille (see Regulation (EU) 2016/1191).

For further information see: Certify Spain Documents

Spanish Criminal Record Certificates (Certificado de Antecedentes Penales) can be obtained from the Ministry of Justice. Applications may be submitted online, by post or in person (offices in Spain and Spanish consulates abroad).

• To apply for a criminal background check online, a Cl@ve Digital ID is required.
  Criminal Record Certificates (apply online)
• Applications by post or in-person can be submitted to a Regional Office of the Ministry of Justice or to the Central Office (in Spanish) in Madrid. From abroad, applications can also be submitted in person at a Spanish Consulate
  Criminal Record Certificates (apply online)

Isarey can obtain Spanish criminal record certificates for clients outside Spain who require apostille authentication or consular legalization.
Spanish Criminal Record Certificates

Apostilles are not required when submitting Spanish Criminal Record Certificates to another Member State of the European Union when the certificate is issued to a Spanish national and when the criminal record is clean (no convictions). In other cases, the recipient Member State may require an Apostille.

EU Member States are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
See: Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of 27 April 2016 (EU GDPR)

Copies of divorce agreements (convenio de divorcio) and judgements can be obtained from the court and then certified by the High Court of Justice of the corresponding Regional Government before being authenticated with an Apostille Stamp for submission abroad.

Spain does not issue divorce certificates. To provide proof of divorced status, a full-form marriage certificate or certificate of status can be obtained from the Civil Registry Office.

Degree certificates and diplomas issued by Spanish universities and required for submission to the authorities of the United Arab Emirates can be legalized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and attested by the UAE embassy in Madrid.

Depending on the type of diploma issued by the university, prior certification is required by the Ministry of Universities or by a notary and the Ministry of Justice.
Spanish Degree Attestation

Degree certificates and diplomas issued by Spanish universities and required for submission to the authorities of the Vietnam can be legalized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and attested by the Vietnamese embassy in Madrid.

Depending on the type of diploma issued by the university, prior certification is required by the Ministry of Universities or by a notary and the Ministry of Justice.

Degree certificates and diplomas issued by Spanish universities and required for submission to the authorities of Taiwan can be legalized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and attested by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Madrid.

Depending on the type of diploma issued by the university, prior certification is required by the Ministry of Universities or by a notary and the Ministry of Justice.

Degree certificates and diplomas issued by Spanish universities and required for submission to the authorities of Saudi Arabia can be legalized with an Apostille Stamp from the Spanish Ministry of Justice.

Depending on the type of diploma issued by the university, prior certification is required by the Ministry of Universities or by a notary. Now that Saudi Arabia is a member of the Apostille Convention, attestation by the Saudi embassy is no longer required.
Apostille Spanish university degrees

Degree certificates and diplomas issued by Spanish universities and required for submission to the authorities of China can be legalized with an Apostille Stamp from the Spanish Ministry of Justice.

Depending on the type of diploma issued by the university, prior certification is required by the Ministry of Universities or by a notary. Now that China is a member of the Apostille Convention, attestation by the Chinese embassy is no longer required.

A medical certificate must be issued using an official form, with the signature and stamp of the registered doctor. An Apostille can be obtained from the Ministry of Justice, with prior certification from the College of Physicians of the Province where the doctor is registered.