Sworn translation for Indian nationals in Spain

India is party to the Hague Convention and its public documents travel with an apostille. So far so good. The catch is that the apostille is not the first step but the last, and that is where most files get sent back.

The step almost nobody expects

The apostille is issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the only authority in India that can do it. But the MEA will not apostille a document that arrives straight from the body that issued it: it must first be authenticated by the relevant state authority.

• Personal documents — birth, marriage, affidavits — are authenticated by the Home Department or the General Administration Department of the issuing state or union territory. In some states the route runs through the Sub-Divisional Magistrate.
• Educational documents — degrees, certificates, transcripts — are authenticated by the Education or Human Resource Development (HRD) department of the state where they were issued.

Skip that step and the document comes back without an apostille, costing weeks. It is worth confirming the exact route for the issuing state before moving anything, because it is not identical everywhere.

The MEA also outsources collection: originals are handed to the designated agency, normally together with a copy of the document and of the applicant's passport.

Language: what we can and cannot do

Most Indian official documents are issued in English, and that is our pair: English into Spanish, signed by a MAEC-accredited translator.

What we do not do is worth stating plainly: we do not translate from Hindi or other Indian languages. If your document is drafted in a regional language, you need to request the official English version from the issuing body — nearly all of them provide one — and we work from that. Knowing this in advance saves you a wasted round trip.

Which Indian documents we translate

• Police Clearance Certificate (PCC), the criminal record certificate Spanish consulates and the immigration office ask for.
• Birth and marriage certificates from the state civil registry.
• Degrees, certificates and academic transcripts, for recognition or equivalence before the Spanish Ministry of Education.
• Employer letters, payslips and bank statements, to evidence financial means and employment.
• Deeds, powers of attorney and company documents.

These are the ones that move most in the study, work, digital nomad and family reunification visas processed at the Spanish Consulate in India.

The driving licence

We are not going to let an assumption stand here. Exchanging a foreign licence in Spain is only possible where a bilateral agreement exists, and the list is published by the Spanish traffic authority. Check it before counting on an exchange: if your country is not on the list, there is no exchange and you must obtain the Spanish licence by examination.

We do translate the licence for the uses where it serves — car hire, insurance, evidencing driving history — but we will not sell translations for a procedure that cannot then be carried out.

The order, and how we work

State authentication first. Then the MEA apostille. Translation last, covering the document and the apostille as one block: translate earlier and the apostille is left out, which means a second translation.

1. Upload the document, already apostilled, as a PDF or a clear photo.
2. See the firm price and the delivery date before paying.
3. Receive the sworn translation as a PDF with a qualified electronic signature, valid for electronic filing with the Spanish authorities.
4. If your procedure demands paper, we post the official stamped-paper copy to your address in Spain.

The time difference is no obstacle: there is no appointment to coordinate. One point about scope: a sworn translation signed by a MAEC-accredited translator has full validity in Spain; to file Spanish documents in India, the route runs the other way.