Sworn translation for the EU citizen registration certificate in Spain

What the EU citizen registration certificate is

If you're a citizen of an EU, EEA or Swiss country and you plan to live in Spain for more than three months, the law requires you to register in the Central Register of Foreigners. In return you get the registration certificate: the small, green, card-sized document carrying your name, your NIE and your address that locals just call "la verde". It isn't a residence permit in the usual sense, since as an EU citizen you already have the right to be here. It's simply the official record that you live in Spain.

You apply at the Immigration Office (Oficina de Extranjería) or the National Police station in your province, normally by appointment and with form EX-18. Along with the form, you have to show how you support yourself: that you work as an employee or are self-employed, that you study, or that you have sufficient means and health insurance that won't burden the public system. That's where our part comes in. A good deal of that supporting paperwork is issued in another language, and when it is, the Spanish administration wants it in Spanish as a sworn translation.

An honest heads-up: this page isn't a legal guide to the procedure. The exact requirements, the minimum funds and the precise list of documents change with your situation and your province, so always confirm them with your Immigration Office. What we sort out here is the translation.

Which documents need a sworn translation

The certificate itself is issued by the Spanish administration, already in Spanish, so that one isn't translated. What usually does need a sworn translation is the supporting evidence you use to prove your situation. Depending on the basis you register under, the usual items are:

• Health insurance, public or private, with cover in Spain, when the policy or certificate is written in another language. It's one of the documents most often translated for this procedure.
• Proof of financial means: bank statements, bank certificates, pension or income records. As a rule, you only need the pages showing the relevant balances and movements.
• Employment contract or proof of activity if you register as a worker: a contract with your employer, self-employed registration, or equivalent documents from your country.
• Study and insurance documents if you register as a student: the enrolment or admission letter from the institution and the required health insurance.
• Civil status and family records when you register as the family member of another EU citizen: a marriage or registered-partnership certificate, or your children's birth certificates, proving the relationship.

Not everything in your folder needs translating. Your passport or your European ID card go in as they are; what gets translated is any supporting document written in a language other than Spanish. If you're unsure what's in and what's out, send us the list and we'll tell you, no obligation.

How we do it at Textualia

Everything is online, with no office visits. Upload a scan or a sharp photo of your document, pick the language pair (English→Spanish or French→Spanish), and see the price straight away. A translator accredited by Spain's MAEC does the work, then stamps, signs and certifies that the translation is faithful to the original.

By default you get a digitally signed PDF, easy to attach to your file and valid for online submissions. If your Immigration Office asks for a paper copy, we issue it on official Spanish stamped paper too and post it to your door. You choose: the digital format, the physical one, or both.

We keep the original's terminology and layout. Names, dates, amounts and stamps are reproduced precisely, because a mistranscribed balance on a statement, or a name that doesn't match your passport, can hold up your appointment.

Why Textualia

A sworn translation signed by a translator accredited by the MAEC is officially valid in Spain, which is exactly where you submit it. An agency translation with no accreditation, or a do-it-yourself version, won't do for this procedure, and redoing it with your appointment looming is precisely the jam worth avoiding.

This is all we do, and we do it fast. Pricing is by word count, VAT included, and you know it before ordering anything, with no fine print. If your appointment is tight, you have 24h or 12h rush options. And your documents — statements, policies, personal data — travel encrypted and are handled in confidence.

We don't give legal advice or decide whether your registration goes through: that's down to your adviser or the Immigration Office itself. What we guarantee is that the piece that depends on us, the sworn translation, arrives flawless, on time and in the right format. Gather your documents and order the translation: we'll send your file back ready to submit.