When you need the certificate at all
According to the official information sheet of Spain's Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, a criminal record certificate is required for a study stay only when two conditions are met: the stay will exceed six months (180 days), and the applicant is an adult under Spanish criminal law, i.e. aged 18 or over. If your course is shorter than six months, or you're a minor, this document usually isn't requested.
When you do need it, the certificate must cover not your whole life but the countries where you've lived during the last 5 years. If in that period you lived in more than one country, the consulate may ask for a certificate from each of them — not only from your country of nationality.
Where to get the certificate
The certificate is issued by the competent authority in each country — depending on the country, that may be the national police, the ministry of justice, the interior ministry or a central criminal records register. Processing times vary from a few minutes online to several weeks, so find out in advance how long it takes where you are and whether the document can be requested remotely or through a representative.
A practical point: the certificate is usually expected in its original form as issued by the authority of the country concerned. If you're already abroad, some countries allow you to request it through their consulate or online, but check that a certificate obtained this way can still be legalised or apostilled — in some countries the apostille can only be added in the country itself.
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Take the quizLegalisation: apostille or consular legalisation
For Spain to accept a foreign certificate, it has to be legalised. If the issuing country is a party to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, an apostille from that country's competent authority is enough — no further steps through the embassy are needed. If the country isn't a party to the Convention, the document goes through consular legalisation: usually certification by that country's foreign ministry and then by the Spanish consulate. Which authority adds the apostille depends on the country and sometimes on the type of document, so check this with the issuing authority itself. The general logic of apostilles is covered in a separate article.
Validity — no universal figure
It's worth being careful with ready-made answers here. There's no single validity period set by law for all procedures — according to Spanish legal sources, the well-known "three months" rule shouldn't be applied automatically to every case. Even so, for a national student visa, three months from the date of issue is common practice at Spanish consulates. This is the practice of a specific consulate at the time of application, not a rule written into the regulation, so check the current validity period in your consulate's checklist right before applying rather than relying on a figure from an old article.
The order of steps: legalisation first, then translation
The sequence matters and can't be swapped: first the document is legalised (apostille or consular legalisation), and only then is a sworn translation into Spanish made — the translator must also translate the apostille itself. If you do it the other way round, the translation won't include the apostille and will have to be redone. The translation must be done by a sworn translator (traductor jurado) appointed by Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or legalised by the Spanish consulate. Documents issued in Spanish, or bilingual ones, may not need a translation — check with your consulate.
Quick checklist
- Checked whether you need the certificate: aged 18+ and a stay of more than 180 days.
- Certificates requested from every country you've lived in during the last 5 years.
- Legalisation done in the issuing country: an apostille (Hague countries) or consular legalisation.
- Sworn translation into Spanish done after the legalisation, not before it.
- Current validity period checked in your consulate's checklist right before applying.
Getting the certificate and the legalisation can add up to weeks, and if anything in the chain doesn't go to plan, the document risks going out of date before you even apply. — we'll tell you which step to start with so you meet the deadline.
Frequently asked questions
No, only adults (18+) whose stay will exceed 180 days. For shorter programmes and for minors, this document usually isn't required.
Most likely, yes. The requirement covers the countries where you've lived during the last 5 years, so the consulate may ask for a certificate from each of them, each legalised and translated.
It depends on the country that issued the certificate. If it's a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, an apostille is enough; if not, you'll need consular legalisation through that country's foreign ministry and the Spanish consulate.
Three months is common practice at Spanish consulates for a national visa, but it isn't a rule fixed by law. Check the exact period against your consulate's current checklist right before applying.