Sworn translation for Spanish nationality by residency

The procedure in brief, and where we fit

Spanish nationality by residency is applied for at the Ministry of Justice once you can evidence the legal, continuous residence that applies to you: ten years as a rule, two for nationals of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Portugal and Sephardic applicants, and one in certain cases. On top of that come the two Instituto Cervantes exams —the DELE Spanish-language test, unless you are from a Spanish-speaking country, and the CCSE on constitutional and sociocultural knowledge— followed, once nationality is granted, by registration at the Civil Registry and the oath or pledge.

We do not run the application or coach you through the exams. Your lawyer, your gestor or you yourself handle that through the Ministry's online portal. What we handle is the piece that stalls files most often and leaves no room to improvise: the sworn translation of the documents that reach you from your home country in another language.

Which documents need a sworn translation

Anything issued in Spain stays as it is —your padrón certificate, your Spanish criminal record, your residency card are already in the administration's language. The documents from abroad are the ones to translate. Two of them turn up in almost every file:

• The birth certificate from your home country, in its full or long-form version, never the short extract. The Ministry usually wants it issued recently relative to your filing date, so order it close to the appointment.
• The criminal-record certificate from your country and, depending on where you have lived these last few years, from those countries too. Each has its own format: the FBI Identity History Summary in the United States, the ACRO Police Certificate in the United Kingdom, the Bulletin n° 3 of the casier judiciaire in France.

Both have to reach us apostilled (Hague Convention) or legalised through consular channels before translation. The apostille is part of the document and is translated along with it. Send them without an apostille and we will flag it before we start, so you are not left redoing the procedure.

One thing worth getting straight about validity. Our translation, signed by a translator accredited by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAEC), is valid before the Spanish administration: what we certify is that the Spanish translation is faithful to the original, not that the foreign document is genuine. The latter is what the apostille from your country's competent authority covers on the FBI summary, the ACRO or the B3.

How we do it

Everything is online, with no trips to make. You upload the apostilled documents, the quoter returns price and turnaround on the spot —on the Spanish working calendar, with a guaranteed deadline rather than an estimate— and you pay. From there, a sworn translator for the right pair:

1. Reproduces the full original: seals, signatures, verification codes and the apostille included.
2. Keeps the visual layout close enough for the office to cross-check each detail at a glance.
3. Closes with the official certification: signed declaration, stamp bearing the MAEC accreditation number, and a qualified electronic signature.

As standard we deliver a PDF signed electronically, accepted by virtually every body since the MAEC Resolution of 26 July 2020. If the particular office where you file still wants paper —some Civil Registries and courts do— we post a copy on official stamped paper by registered mail after the digital delivery.

A detail that saves trouble: when your name appears on the certificate in a different order from your NIE or residency card —surnames swapped, accents dropped, particles gone— we add a translator's note linking the two identities. It is one of the most common reasons a file gets bounced, and we settle it in advance.

Why Textualia

We see nationality files every week, so we know the small thing that decides whether an office accepts the dossier or returns it. We work the English-Spanish and French-Spanish pairs only, with translators genuinely accredited by the MAEC, not a brand name with nobody behind it. And we hand back an ordered set: birth certificate and criminal record translated, each with its apostille, ready to attach.

Fixed price and guaranteed turnaround from the start, all online, with a paper copy if your office asks. For the official detail on requirements, resolution times and the fees of the procedure itself, always check the Ministry of Justice's online portal or your adviser. We make sure the translation is never the reason for a rejection.

Upload your apostilled documents and get an instant quote for the sworn translation.