What is the NBI Clearance?
The NBI Clearance is the police clearance issued by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) of the Philippines, the investigative agency under the Philippine Department of Justice. It is the Philippine equivalent of a criminal-record certificate or police clearance: based on a search of the NBI's national database, it certifies whether or not any records exist in the applicant's name at national level in the Philippines.
It is the document Filipino nationals provide to foreign authorities when asked for evidence of their record in the Philippines. It is issued in English, one of the country's official languages, which makes the translation pair into Spanish direct. Even so, any procedure before the Spanish administration requires a sworn translation into Spanish.
What it actually certifies
The NBI Clearance sets out the holder's identifying details, the date of issue, its own reference number and the result of the search — normally the indication that there is no derogatory record ("No Derogatory Record" or equivalent wording) or, where applicable, a referral to verification. It carries the seal and signature of the issuing NBI authority.
It should not be confused with other Philippine documents sometimes submitted by mistake:
- The municipal or PNP Police Clearance (Philippine National Police), local in scope. It does not cover the NBI's national reach and is usually not what the Spanish administration expects.
- The Barangay Clearance, a very local neighbourhood certificate with no value as a national record.
- PSA certificates (Philippine Statistics Authority), which cover birth, marriage or death — not criminal records.
If you are unsure which document you have, check the issuing body: the national-scope record certificate is issued by the National Bureau of Investigation.
When you need the NBI Clearance translated for Spain
The most common situations in which we receive this document for translation:
- Residency: visa, NIE, TIE and residency-authorisation applications at the Spanish consulate in the Philippines, or at the Sub-delegation of the Government and Immigration Offices after arrival. The file includes the NBI Clearance apostilled and translated.
- Spanish nationality by residency at the Ministry of Justice. Applicants who lived in the Philippines during the qualifying period typically need the NBI Clearance in their file.
- Nurse and healthcare-worker registration: professionals trained and licensed via the PRC who obtain recognition of their qualification and register with a Spanish professional body evidence a clean record with this certificate.
- Marriage in Spain: the marriage file of a Filipino party usually calls for the record certificate alongside the single-status certificate.
How to obtain your NBI Clearance
The process is heavily digitised. Broadly:
- Online registration and application through the NBI portal, with personal details and an appointment.
- Payment of the fee through the enabled channels.
- In-person appointment at an NBI centre for the biometric capture (fingerprints and photograph) and identity verification.
- Issuance of the certificate, usually the same day unless there is a hit.
If you have held an NBI Clearance before, renewal can be handled more quickly — in some cases fully online with delivery of the document, without returning to the centre. When there is a 'hit' — a name match in the database, often through mere namesakes — the certificate goes into quality control and issuance is delayed. Build in that margin. We walk through the full process in the guide NBI Clearance: apostille and sworn translation for Spain.
Apostille: only from the DFA (apostille BEFORE translating)
The Philippines joined the Hague Convention on 14 May 2019. Since then, Philippine public documents bound for another Convention country — such as Spain — are legalised by Apostille, and the competent authority to issue it is the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). The old chain of consular legalisation no longer applies.
The golden rule is simple: apostille first, translate afterwards. The DFA apostille is affixed to the original NBI Clearance; once that set is complete, we translate it in full — certificate and apostille — as a sworn translation. If you translate first and apostille later, the apostille sheet falls outside the translation and the document has to be revisited. You can see the seal in detail in The Hague Apostille and sworn translation.
The sworn translation step
Once your NBI Clearance is apostilled by the DFA, we translate the full document into Spanish. Our sworn translation:
- Reproduces the full content of the original: the holder's details, reference number, date of issue, result of the search, and the seals and signatures of the NBI authority.
- Translates the DFA apostille fully, reproducing the Hague Convention model in Spanish: country, signer, capacity, place and date of certification, apostille number and seal.
- Adds the official certification of the MAEC-accredited translator: signed declaration, accreditation number and qualified electronic signature compliant with current MAEC rules.
The result is a document Spanish administrative readers understand without friction and which itself attests to the fidelity of the translation against the apostilled original.
Delivery format and timing
We deliver the translation as a PDF signed electronically with the sworn translator's qualified signature. This format has full validity before the Spanish administration. If your specific procedure requires a paper copy with handwritten signature and physical stamp, we send it by post after the digital delivery.
You will see the turnaround and the price in the quoter before paying, calculated on your specific document. Urgent options are available.
Common pitfalls to avoid
- Translating before apostilling. Without the DFA apostille the translation is incomplete and has to be redone. Apostille first.
- Submitting a local Police Clearance instead of the NBI. The national-scope certificate is the one from the National Bureau of Investigation; the municipal or barangay clearance usually does not work for the Spanish administration.
- Validity expiring during the process. If your NBI Clearance is already months old and the procedure (apostille + translation + filing) will run long, request a fresh one before you begin. Always confirm the validity period with the competent authority.
- Name discrepancies. The NBI Clearance is issued in the name on the Philippine records. If it differs from your passport or your Spanish card (a second surname, a compound given name, a hyphen), we add a translator's note linking the two identities to prevent rejection over apparent inconsistency.
Spanish bodies that accept our translation of an NBI Clearance
- Spanish consulates in the Philippines (visa filing)
- Sub-delegation of the Government and Immigration Offices (NIE, TIE, residency authorisations)
- Ministry of Justice (Spanish nationality by residency)
- Civil Registry (marriage file, registrations)
- Nursing and healthcare professional bodies (registration after recognition)
- General State Administration (staff selection procedures)
Related pages
- Sworn translation of a criminal record certificate — the general page covering any foreign criminal record certificate, not only the Philippine NBI.
- Sworn translation of the FBI background check (U.S. records) — the sibling document for anyone who has spent time in the United States.
- Single-status certificate — companion document for the marriage file of a Filipino party.
- NBI Clearance: apostille and sworn translation for Spain — a practical, step-by-step guide to the full process.