Most websites explaining au pair placements in Spain belong to agencies, and they all cover the same ground: age, hours, pocket money. What almost none of them explain is that the consular procedure is not about being an au pair. It is about being enrolled on a course, with the au pair agreement added to that file.
This guide starts from a real consular checklist — the one published by the Spanish Embassy in Honduras for the au pair visa — and focuses on what has to be apostilled and translated. Your consulate will publish its own list, but the structure repeats.
What an au pair is, for visa purposes
The checklist defines it precisely, and the definition matters because it rules things out:
- The person lives in the home of the family they live with and perform tasks for.
- The domestic tasks are marginal in character: they are not the purpose of the stay.
- There is an absence of remuneration. No salary is paid: the person receives meals, lodging or expense compensation.
- The age range is 17 to 30.
If your situation involves a salary, working hours and tasks as the main purpose, that is not an au pair placement and this is not the visa. The distinction is not a formality: it determines which file is processed.
The sentence that sets your translation budget
In capitals, in the checklist itself: all documentation must be in Spanish.
That leaves no room for interpretation, and it is what turns this procedure into a substantial translation job, because the documents are not two. They are yours, the family's, and those of whoever is paying.
The course: 20 contact hours and exact details
The centrepiece of the file is proof of admission to a recognised teaching centre in Spain, for a full-time programme of at least 20 contact hours per week. And the consulate specifies what that proof must contain:
the student's full name, passport number, the name of the course, the exact start and end dates, the total cost of the course and the amount already paid.
A generic letter saying "she has been admitted" will not do. If the one your school sends lacks those six details, ask for another before translating anything: translating an incomplete document means paying for something that will be sent back.
Also required: proof of payment of the enrolment fee or place reservation, and the content of the study programme.
The collaboration agreement has mandatory content
The Au Pair Collaboration Agreement, signed by both parties, is not a letter of good intentions. The consulate lists what it must state:
| Must appear | The limit it sets |
|---|---|
| Duration of the agreement | Maximum one year |
| Participation in domestic tasks | No more than 5 hours per day |
| Free time | At least one full day per week, and one of each month's free days must be a Sunday, with facilities for religious observance |
| Address | Where family life is shared, with a degree of independence |
| Pocket money | The specific monthly amount |
| Ending the agreement | The circumstances and breaches allowing termination, with two weeks' notice |
If the agreement the family sends you does not cover those six points, it will come back with a request for correction. And it is worth reviewing before translating, not after: any later change means translating again.
The financial means belong to a third party, and need an apostille
This is the part people do not see coming. Normally you are not the one evidencing the means: the person covering your expenses is. And so the documents to be translated are theirs:
- A notarial deed from the person covering your living expenses in Spain, with a Hague Apostille.
- That person's employment certificate, showing their salary, signed and stamped.
- A recent bank certification with the current and average balance, signed and stamped by the bank. Fixed-term deposits and accounts not immediately available are not accepted.
- Bank statements for the last two years, signed and stamped.
The minimum amount is updated over time. The checklist I consulted stated, for 2022, €579.02 per month of stay or €6,948.24 per year, and noted that the cost of the studies does not count towards that support. Check the current figure: it is tied to references that get revised.
For the notarial deed, the service reference is sworn translation of notarial deeds.
Criminal records: here the window is five years
A detail worth looking at twice. This checklist asks for criminal record certificates from the country of origin or from the countries where you have resided in the last five years, apostilled.
Five, not two. Other Spanish consulates use shorter windows for other visas, so what you read for a general student visa does not apply. Check your consulate's list and count your countries: each one is a certificate, an apostille and a translation. What the document is, in sworn translation of criminal record certificates.
The medical certificate has required wording
Not just any report will do. The checklist asks for a medical certificate on official medical association paper, issued within the last three months by your GP, with specific wording: certifying that the person is free of any disease that could have serious public health repercussions under the 2005 International Health Regulations. Dated, signed and stamped by the doctor.
If your certificate does not contain that reference, request it again before translating. The service model is the medical certificate of good health.
And one exception that saves money: a photocopy of the qualification you hold does not need an apostille according to this checklist. Do not apostille out of habit what does not require it.
If you are a minor, three more documents
For applicants under 18 the file grows: express authorisation from whoever holds parental authority for the trip to Spain, stating the authorised period and the host family's details, apostilled; and a sworn declaration from the host family stating they understand the move is not for the purpose of adoption and committing to facilitate the minor's return. For those living in Barcelona, express authorisation to consult the Central Register of Sex Offenders is also required.
Applicants under 21 not travelling with their parents also need an exit authorisation signed by them and legalised before a lawyer — and this one, per the checklist, does not need an apostille. For travel authorisations for minors generally, how they are translated.
The ten days that cannot be extended
Two final points from the checklist worth holding from the outset.
The consulate recommends applying two to three months ahead and not buying a ticket before the visa is approved.
And if a correction is requested, Spanish rules allow a non-extendable ten working days. If the documentation is not filed within that period, the application is deemed withdrawn. Ten working days is not enough to request a document from abroad, apostille it and have it translated — so the way to avoid that situation is to file a complete application first time.
Send us the agreement, the enrolment proof and the complete financial documents — with their apostilles — the consulate they are going to and your appointment date, and we will give you the exact price and turnaround.