General requirements of documents

Requirements of documents:

Documents must be official, issued by the competent authorities in accordance with the legal system of the country concerned.
Documents shall be legalised by a diplomatic representative or, if appropriate, bear the apostille of The Hague Convention. For the purposes of provisions on submission of certified copies, the original document shall bear the legalisation stamp or apostille before photocopying it. This requirement shall not apply to documents issued by the authorities of the Member States of the European Union or signatories to the Agreement on the European Economic Area.
Where appropriate, they shall be accompanied by their corresponding official translation into Spanish in order to be valid in Spain. It will not be necessary to provide an official translation of the syllabus reflecting the contents and time period or of the academic documentation proving that the applicant has completed the Degree, unless requested by the examining authority.

Submission of certified copies:

Submission of certified copies shall be governed by the provisions of article 8 of Royal Decree 772/1999, of 7 May, governing the submission of applications, letters and communications to the Central State Administration.

When submitting the documents at the registry office, the applicant shall provide a photocopy along with each original document. The registry office will compare the original documents and their copies, verifying the contents, will return the original documents to the applicant and will attach the copies to the application, once they bear the stamp or accreditation of verification, in the terms set forth in article 8.2 of Royal Decree 772/1999.

If the photocopies have already been compared and legalised by a notary public or by the diplomatic or consular representatives of Spain in the country of origin of the document, the submission of the original documents is not necessary.

As a general rule, original documents shall not be submitted, except when required by the examining authorities. Once the procedure is over, documents will not be returned to the applicants, except in exceptional cases where original documents were requested and the return of such documents is possible.

Validation of documents:

In case of doubt about the authenticity, validity or content of the documents submitted, the examining body may carry out the necessary actions for verification, as well as contact the competent authority issuing the latter to validate the dubious contents.

Legalisation of documents issued abroad

On the legalisation of documents issued abroad:

No legalisation is required for documents issued in any of the Member States of the European Union or signatories to the Agreement on the European Economic Area:

Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Slovenia, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Romania and Sweden. Switzerland is also included, as it has signed a bilateral agreement with the EU.

In any other case, documents issued abroad to be used in these procedures should be duly legalised in accordance with the following requirements:

Documents issued in countries signing the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 shall bear the legalisation stamp or "apostille" issued by the competent authorities of the country.
Documents issued in countries that have signed the Andres Bello Agreement (Art. 2. Paragraph 6. Resolution 006/98, adopted by the 19th Meeting of Ministers of Education of the Andres Bello Agreement) must be legalised by a diplomatic representative. (When the country is also a signatory to the Convention of The Hague, the procedure established by this Convention can be used, making it easier). They must be submitted at:
- The Ministry of Education in the country of origin (degree diplomas and certificates) and at the relevant Ministry (birth and nationality certificates).
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country where the documents were issued.
- The Spanish diplomatic or consular representation in that country. Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Spain, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela

Documents issued in the rest of countries must be certified by a diplomatic representative. In order to do so, they must be submitted at:
- The Ministry of Education in the country of origin (degree diplomas and certificates) and at the relevant Ministry (birth and nationality certificates).
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country where the documents were issued.
- The Spanish diplomatic or consular representation in that country.

The documents issued by diplomatic or consular authorities of other countries in Spain must be legalised at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

Translation of documents issued abroad:

Article 36.1 of Act 30/1992, of 26 November, of Legal System applicable to Public Administration and the Common Administrative Procedure, establishes that Spanish will be the language used in any proceedings initiated by the Central State Administration. In line with this, the rules governing these procedures require that all the documents issued abroad shall be accompanied by an official translation into Spanish (when they are not issued in this language) to be taken into account for any proceedings.

The official translation can be carried out:

By a sworn translator duly authorised or registered in Spain.
By any diplomatic or consular representation of Spain abroad.
By the diplomatic or consular representation in Spain of the country of which the applicant is a national or in the country of origin of the document.
By an official translator abroad with a signature duly legalised.

If possible, when the original document is not written using the western alphabet, it is recommended that the corresponding translation includes the name of the degree in its original language, but written with the western alphabet, instead of its translation.