Foreign documents — birth and marriage certificates, university degrees, criminal-record certificates and Powers of Attorney — usually need an apostille and a sworn Spanish translation before Spanish authorities will accept them. Here is how it works, and how we help.
An apostille is an internationally recognised certificate, created by the 1961 Hague Convention, that authenticates a public document so it can be used in another member country without further legalisation. For Spain, most foreign official documents must be apostilled in their country of origin and then translated into Spanish by a sworn translator (traductor jurado).
The apostille is issued by the competent authority in the document’s country of origin — for example the FCDO in the UK — not in Spain.
Once apostilled, the document is translated into Spanish by an official sworn translator so it is legally valid here.
Apostille before translation — the sworn translation should include the apostille. Doing it in the wrong order means paying twice.
We tell you exactly which documents need apostilling and translating for your matter, and arrange the sworn translations.
From the designated authority in the country that issued the document — for example the FCDO (UK), the Department of Foreign Affairs (Ireland) or the relevant Secretary of State (USA). It cannot be obtained in Spain.
Yes. The apostille authenticates the document; a sworn Spanish translation is still required for Spanish authorities to accept it.
We coordinate the process and arrange the sworn translations. The apostille itself is issued in the document’s country of origin, and we tell you exactly how to get it.
Tell us what you need the documents for and we will set out exactly what must be apostilled and translated.
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