Legalisation of documents

No legalisation is required for documents issued in a Member State of the European Union or a signatory of the agreement on the European Economic Area, i.e.:

• Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Island, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Romania and Sweden (plus Switzerland via a bilateral agreement with the EU).

Otherwise, documents issued abroad submitted in these procedures must be duly legalised as follows:

• For documents issued in countries that are signatories of the Hague Convention of October 5, 1961 the only requirement is that they bear the single legalisation stamp or "Apostille" affixed by the relevant authorities of the issuing country.

The list of signatories of the Hague Convention is available on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

• Documents issued in countries that are signatories of the Andrés Bello Convention: (Art. 2. Section 6. Resolution 006/98, approved by the 19th Meeting of Education Ministers of the Andrés Bello Convention) must be legalised through diplomatic channels (though when the country is also a signatory of the Hague Convention, the simpler procedure established under the latter may be used). Documents must be submitted to:

  • The Education Ministry of the country of origin in the case of qualifications and certificates of studies, and the relevant ministry for certificates of birth and nationality.

  • The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country of issue of the document.

  • The Spanish consulate or diplomatic representative in the relevant country.

  • Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Spain, Panama, Paraguay, Peru &Venezuela

• Documents issued in other countries must be legalised through diplomatic channels.  To that end they must be submitted to:

  • The Education Ministry of the country of origin in the case of qualifications and certificates of studies, and the relevant ministry for certificates of birth and nationality.

  • The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country of issue of the document.

  • The Spanish consulate or diplomatic representative in the relevant country.

• Documents issued by the consulates and diplomatic representatives of other countries in Spain must be legalised by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign affairs.