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Certificate of criminal record

Certificate of absence of criminal record or “Certificado de Antecedentes Penales”

Spanish authorities require foreign citizens to provide a certificate of non-conviction from their former country of residence when submitting documents for a variety of procedures: from legalization or registration of residence permits, purchase of real estate in the so-called military zone “Zona militar” (the most famous is the coast of Orihuela Costa On the southern Costa Blanca) and for the marriage register.

A certificate on the absence of a criminal record should be obtained personally or through a proxy,

in instances dealing with such cases at the place of registration of the person concerned in the country of residence. They issue certificates of the established form. On the original of the certificate it is necessary to put the apostil from the same above-mentioned instance. Further the certificate with the apostille needs to be translated into Spanish and submitted to the General consulate of Spain.

If the certificate was not submitted to the Spanish consulate,

it can be translated in Spain from an official interpreter or consular department. This, however, does not mean that the Spanish authorities will accept such certificate. The power of attorney for obtaining a certificate in the above listed instance can be issued in the consular section of your embassy in Madrid.

APOSTILLE:

This is a simplified form of legalization of documents for the countries participating in the Hague Convention. To make an apostille, it is necessary to have a notarized document.

LEGALIZATION:

Documents issued and valid in the territory of one state may be used in the territory of another state only after they have been legalized in accordance with the established procedure.

There are a number of documents that can not be legalized and apostilled:

  • Originals and copies of passports.
  • Trade-union tickets.
  • Labor books.
  • Military tickets.
  • Identity documents.
  • Pension books.
  • Driver’s license.
  • Characteristics.
  • Documents on belonging to estates and religions.