Spain Visa Documents to Notarise From Australia
Table of contents
For a Spanish long-stay visa from Australia, most documents need a DFAT apostille and a Spanish translation, but few need a notary. A police certificate and registry certificates usually go straight to DFAT. A notary is needed for private documents the consulate wants apostilled, such as a sworn declaration, an employer letter or a verified degree copy.
Key takeaways
- Spanish consulates in Australia, at our last check, required foreign documents for national visas to be apostilled or legalised and translated.
- Apostille first, translate second, so the translation covers the apostille too.
- Australian police certificates and registry certificates can generally go to DFAT directly, with no notary.
- A notary is needed for private documents: sworn declarations, employer letters, and degree copies verified with the university.
- Ask the consulate who may translate. A NAATI translation is not the same as a Spanish sworn translation.
Which Spanish office handles your application?
Spain divides Australia between its consular offices, and you apply to the one covering where you live. At our last check, the Consulate General in Sydney, the Consulate General in Melbourne and the Embassy in Canberra each covered a set of states and territories. Check which office covers you on its current page before preparing anything.
Read that office's page for your visa type. The offices update their pages without notice, and they do not always agree with each other. On at least one visa, discussed below, they have given different instructions. The page of the office that will decide your application governs, not this one and not a friend's experience with another office.
What is the general rule for Australian documents?
At our last check, the consulates' pages for student, non-lucrative residence, work and family visas carried the same rule. Foreign documents had to be legalised or apostilled, and accompanied by the corresponding translation. Canberra's page referred to an official translation into Spanish.
As of our last check of the HCCH status table, the Apostille Convention has been in force for Spain since 25 September 1978. For Australian documents, that means an apostille from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), with no Spanish legalisation step after it. Check the table on the day.
DFAT's list of documents it can legalise is the place to check which public documents go straight to DFAT. Private documents, which carry a signature DFAT has no record of, go to a notary first.
Why does the apostille come before the translation?
The translation should cover the apostille as well as the document, so the apostille has to exist first. Translate first and you may pay twice: once for the document, and again when the consulate asks for the apostille to be translated.
Ask who may translate. At our last check, the consulate pages did not say clearly whether they required a Spanish sworn translator (traductor jurado) or accepted a translation made in Australia. Ask the consulate before you commission one. A NAATI translation is a professional translation, but it is not a Spanish sworn translation, and the consulate decides which it accepts. If a translation made in Australia is accepted, see document translation.
- Read your office's page for your visa type, and note each document's validity window.
- Obtain the right version of each document: the fingerprint-based police certificate, the standard registry certificates, and the doctor's certificate in the set wording.
- Notarise the private documents only. Bring photo identification, and leave any declaration unsigned until you are in front of the notary.
- Send each document to DFAT for its own apostille.
- Translate last, covering the document and its apostille, by a translator the consulate accepts.
Work backwards from your appointment date. The document with the shortest validity window, usually the police certificate, sets the pace for everything else.
Which police certificate does Spain want?
At our last check, for non-lucrative, work and family visas, the consulates asked for a criminal record certificate from each country you had lived in over a recent set period. For a student visa, it was needed only for longer stays. Your office's current page states the period.
For Australia, the Sydney consulate's pages specified the National Police Certificate based on a name and fingerprint check. That is not the quick online name-only check. It is a separate application with fingerprints and takes longer, so order the right one first time.
At our last check, the consulates also wanted the certificate to have been issued within a limited period before you apply. Allow for the apostille and the translation inside that window. A national police check is on DFAT's list of documents it can legalise, so it can generally be apostilled directly, without a notary. Confirm with DFAT for the format of certificate you hold.
What about the medical certificate?
At our last check, student, non-lucrative, work and family visas also needed a medical certificate. It had to state that you had no disease that could have serious public health consequences under the International Health Regulations 2005. The Sydney consulate provided the exact Spanish wording the doctor had to use. Ask your doctor to use your office's current wording word for word.
Whether the medical certificate itself must also be apostilled was not clear from the consulate pages. It is a private document, so an apostille would first need a notary to deal with the doctor's signature. That usually means the doctor attending a notary, or a notary certifying a copy, depending on what the consulate accepts. Ask the consulate before arranging anything.
Why is the digital nomad visa harder?
Spain's international telework visa is where the offices have disagreed. At our last check, the Sydney and Melbourne pages asked for a police certificate covering a shorter recent period plus a sworn declaration of no criminal record for a longer one. Canberra's English page asked for a certificate covering the longer period. The telework pages also differed on whether they repeated the apostille rule.
Follow the page of the office that will decide your application. If it is unclear, email that office and keep the answer. Spain's government also describes a route for remote workers already lawfully in Spain, who apply there for a residence authorisation instead of a visa. Your Australian documents still need preparing in Australia either way.
Where does an Australian notary fit?
- Sworn declarations. Where a visa asks for a declaration, such as the telework declaration of no criminal record, ask whether it must be sworn and in what form. If so, a notary can administer the oath and witness your signature for the apostille.
- Degree copies. Where a visa or a Spanish body asks for proof of qualifications, DFAT's current rule is that a notarised copy of a university document is accepted only if the notary's certificate states that the original was verified with the university.
- Private letters, such as employer or bank letters, if the consulate says they too must be apostilled. A notary deals with the signature first; DFAT then apostilles the notary's certificate.
Registry certificates and police certificates usually go straight to DFAT. For the notary's part, see document notarisation; for the DFAT step, apostille and authentication.
| Document | Notary? | Then |
|---|---|---|
| National police certificate | Usually not | DFAT apostille, then translation |
| Birth or marriage certificate | Usually not | DFAT apostille, then translation |
| Medical certificate | If the consulate wants it apostilled | Ask the consulate |
| Sworn declaration | Yes | DFAT apostille, then translation |
| Degree copy | Yes, with university verification | DFAT apostille, then translation |
| Employer or bank letter | If it must be apostilled | DFAT apostille, then translation |
What if you are coming the other way?
Spanish documents going to an Australian body follow different rules. For an Australian visa, the Department of Home Affairs is the receiving authority. It generally accepts clear scans of Spanish documents, or a certified copy made by an authorised person, and wants translations made in Australia to be by a NAATI-credentialled translator. Translations made overseas should show the translator's full name, address, telephone number and qualifications.
A Spanish civil registry certificate is certified in Spain, if at all, not by an Australian notary, because an Australian notary cannot vouch for a Spanish registry's record. A Justice of the Peace can certify copies for Home Affairs in Australia, but a JP's certification is not accepted by a Spanish consulate going the other way. Keep the two directions separate, and read the checklist of the body that will actually receive each document.
Here is an illustration, not a real case
A retired couple in Hobart apply for Spain's non-lucrative residence visa. They check which office covers Tasmania, then read its page. They apply for fingerprint-based national police certificates and, while waiting, ask their doctor to sign a certificate in the consulate's Spanish wording. They ask the consulate in writing whether the medical certificate needs an apostille and who may translate. DFAT apostilles the police certificates and their marriage certificate directly, with no notary. The translations are done last, covering each apostille.
In short
Spanish consulates want Australian documents apostilled and translated. Police and registry certificates can generally go straight to DFAT; private documents such as declarations, letters and degree copies need a notary first. Apostille before translating, ask the consulate who may translate, and fit every step inside each document's validity window. Where the offices disagree, the page of the office that covers you governs.
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Moving to Spain? Send us your consulate's document list, and we will explain each step before you book.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use my standard online police check?
Not for a consulate that specifies a name and fingerprint check, as the Sydney consulate's pages did at our last check. Read your office's current page before ordering.
Do my English documents need translating into Spanish?
At our last check, the consulates said foreign documents must be accompanied by a translation. Ask whether they accept one made in Australia.
Which comes first, the apostille or the translation?
The apostille, so that the translation can cover it. Translating first can mean paying for a second translation.
The Sydney and Canberra pages say different things. Which is right?
The page of the office that covers where you live, and that will decide your application. If it is unclear, email that office and keep the answer.
Does my police certificate need a notary before DFAT?
Usually not. A national police check is on DFAT's list of documents it can legalise directly. Confirm the format you hold with DFAT.
Does the medical certificate need an apostille?
It was not clear from the consulate pages at our last check. It is a private document, so an apostille would need a notary first. Ask the consulate.
Is a NAATI translation accepted in Spain?
The consulate decides. A NAATI translation is a professional translation, but it is not a Spanish sworn translation, so ask before commissioning one.
Can a Justice of the Peace certify copies for the consulate?
No. A JP's certification is for Australian use; it is not recognised overseas and cannot be apostilled. Use the original, or a notary where a copy is accepted.
Is Spain part of the Apostille Convention?
Yes, as of our last check, in force since 25 September 1978. Check the HCCH status table on the day. No Spanish legalisation follows a DFAT apostille.
Do I need a notary for a Spanish tourist visit?
Australians making short visits to Spain generally deal with Schengen entry rules, not a consular visa file. Check the current rules before you travel.
