Short answer: no. No Spanish regulation puts an expiry date on a sworn translation. The long answer is worth five minutes of your time, because every week someone writes to us convinced their translation has "expired" when what actually ran out was something else entirely.
What the regulation says: nothing about expiry
Sworn translation in Spain is governed by Royal Decree 724/2020, which approves the Regulation of the Office of Language Interpretation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Article 17 gives translations by MAEC-accredited sworn translators their official character; Article 18 states that the translator certifies the fidelity and accuracy of the work with their signature and seal.
Go looking if you like: nowhere in the entire regulation will you find an article about expiry, validity periods or anything of the sort. A sworn translation is a faithful snapshot of the original document at a given moment. As long as the original doesn't change, the snapshot stays accurate — whether the signature is three months old or three years old.
So why was I asked for a "recent" translation?
Because what does expire is the original document underneath. And when the original dies, the translation dies with it. Not because it stopped being a valid translation, but because the paper it translates no longer serves.
The classic example: criminal record certificates. For Spanish nationality by residence, Order JUS/1625/2016 spells it out: if the certificate doesn't state its own validity period, it is deemed valid for six months from issuance. After that, you need a fresh certificate — and a fresh sworn translation, because it's a different document (new date, new reference number).
Civil status certificates work much the same way: many Spanish offices want a recently issued original (birth, marriage, no-impediment certificates), with time limits that vary by procedure and office. The translation inherits that clock; it doesn't reset it.
The rule that saves you grief: the countdown starts on the issue date of the original, never on the date of the translation. Order the document as close to submission as you can, get the apostille sorted — apostille first, translation second — and translate last.
What actually happens at the counter
Let's be honest, though: the regulation says one thing and some counters do another. Certain immigration offices, registries and universities ask for translations "less than three months old" or simply "recent", as an internal habit, even though Royal Decree 724/2020 gives them no basis for it.
Is it worth arguing? Almost never. If your NIE application or nationality file depends on a clerk who wants fresh paper, the practical move is to give it to them. But keep the two scenarios apart, because the fix is different:
- The original has expired → you need a new document and a new translation. No shortcut.
- The original is still valid but they want a recent translation → the sworn translator simply reissues the translation with today's date. Far quicker and cheaper than starting over.
What about the digitally signed PDF?
Since 2025, the electronic signature of sworn translators has its own rulebook: Order AUC/213/2025 allows translations to be certified with a qualified electronic signature, which can replace the handwritten signature and physical seal without excluding them. This order sets no expiry for the translation either: the signed PDF keeps identifying the translator, their registration number and the date of the work, today and five years from now.
One practical caveat: the translation not expiring doesn't mean every office accepts the digital format. Most do; the odd one still insists on paper. If that happens, the translator can print, stamp and hand-sign the very same translation.
When you genuinely need to translate again
What actually sends you back to the translator:
- The original has been reissued: new date, new number, new document. New translation.
- The apostille was added after translating: the apostille is part of the document and must appear in the translation.
- The office demands a recently dated translation: a reissue with today's date, no retranslating from scratch.
And when you don't: if the original never expires — a university degree, a deed, a final court judgment — its sworn translation by a MAEC-accredited translator is good today, next year and the year after. Keep it safe.
At Textualia every translation is delivered as an electronically signed PDF, so if an office asks for a reissue with an updated date months down the line, nothing needs redoing: we pull up your file and reissue. That's the upside of a translation that doesn't expire — the only thing on a deadline is the paperwork behind it.