Documents and legalisation

Criminal record certificate for Spain: your home country and the Spanish one

The criminal record certificate is the most perishable document in any immigration file: it has a short shelf life, and you sometimes need it from two or three countries at once. Here is how the Spanish certificado de antecedentes penales differs from the certificate from your home country, where and for how much you get each one, and how not to misjudge the deadlines.

Krepko teamUpdated: 2026-08-048 min

Key takeaways

There are two different certificates: the Spanish certificado de antecedentes penales and the one from your home country - different procedures need different ones, sometimes both.
The Spanish one is issued by the Ministerio de Justicia: the fee under modelo 790 codigo 006 (benchmark 3.86 euros for 2026), an online request usually takes 1-3 working days.
The home-country certificate is filed with an apostille and a sworn translation; the apostille is affixed only in the issuing country.
Authorities usually accept certificates no older than 90 days from the issue date - the apostille and translation do not extend that period.
For residency you generally need certificates from the countries you have lived in over the last 5 years - the slowest part of the file.

Two different certificates: do not mix them up

In Spanish procedures the term "criminal record certificate" hides two different documents:

Certificado de antecedentes penales - the Spanish certificate covering convictions on Spanish territory. It is issued by the Ministry of Justice (Ministerio de Justicia).
The certificate from your home country - the criminal record document from your country of citizenship and the countries where you have lived. It is issued by that country's authorities (in Ukraine - the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in Russia - the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and so on).

Which certificate you need depends on the procedure:

Procedure	Which certificate is usually required
Residency, arraigo, visas	From your country of citizenship and the countries you have lived in over the last 5 years
Spanish citizenship	From your home country; the authority checks your Spanish history in its own databases
Work with minors	The separate Spanish Certificado de Delitos de Naturaleza Sexual
Licences and permits in Spain	The Spanish certificado de antecedentes penales
Paperwork abroad	The Spanish certificate with an apostille and translation

The specific authority's requirements always come first: check your procedure's document list before ordering.

The Spanish certificate: modelo 790 codigo 006

The certificado de antecedentes penales is issued by Spain's Ministry of Justice. The procedure goes like this:

Pay the fee using form modelo 790 codigo 006 - the 2026 benchmark is 3.86 euros. The form is completed online on the ministry's website; payment is by card or through a bank.
File the request. The fastest route is online via sede.mjusticia.gob.es with a digital certificate or Cl@ve: the certificate usually arrives within 1-3 working days. The alternatives - in person at the ministry's offices and the Gerencias Territoriales, or by post - take longer.
Receive the document - electronically with an authenticity verification code (CSV) or on paper.

An electronic certificate with a CSV code is equivalent to the paper one - Spanish authorities verify it online. If the certificate is needed for another country, an apostille is additionally arranged (for administrative documents - through the Ministry of Justice) plus a translation into the destination country's language.

The certificate from your home country

For Extranjería the certificate from your country must go through full legalisation. The chain is always the same:

Obtain the certificate in your country of citizenship. For Ukraine the criminal record extract is ordered online via the Ministry of Internal Affairs services and Diia - the document arrives electronically, no travel required. In other countries - via the interior ministry, government service portals or consulates.
Affix the apostille - only in the country that issued the certificate. In Ukraine the apostille on these certificates is affixed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the procedure can be completed remotely through a representative.
Order a sworn translation into Spanish from a translator accredited by Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs - after the apostille, so the stamp is translated too.

If you have lived in several countries over the last 5 years, a residency application usually needs a certificate from each of them. This is the slowest part of the file: some countries issue the certificate online in a day, others only in person or by power of attorney over several weeks. Plan this chain first.

Validity: the 90-day rule

Most criminal record certificates carry no official expiry date printed on the form. In practice, though, Spanish authorities accept documents issued no more than 90 days (3 months) before filing. The key consequences:

the clock runs from the certificate's issue date, not from the date of the apostille or translation;
the apostille and translation do not extend the validity - if they took two months, the filing window has almost closed;
ordering the certificate just in case six months before filing is pointless - it will go stale.

The working strategy: assemble the rest of the file, plan the certificate - apostille - translation chain day by day and launch it last, so the document is as fresh as possible on filing day.

Typical mistakes

The certificate was ordered too early - by filing day it is older than 90 days and the authority asks for a new one.
No apostille - the home-country certificate was filed as is, and the file came back.
The translation was done before the apostille - the stamp was left untranslated.
A regular or notarised translation instead of a sworn one - Spain requires a traductor jurado.
Inconsistent transliteration - the name in the translation does not match the passport and NIE.
A second country of residence was forgotten - Extranjería requested the certificate and the filing deadline slipped away.

Each of these mistakes costs from several weeks to several months of waiting. All of them are prevented by planning.

How Krepko does it for you

We build the entire chain day by day: we order the certificates in Spain and in your home country (including remotely, without you travelling), arrange the apostille, order the sworn translation and hand over the finished set by your filing date. Legally significant steps are performed by licensed professionals - lawyers, gestores and sworn translators.

More about document work on the Documents and legalisation service page. Or just leave a request - we will tell you which certificates your procedure needs and when to start them.

Frequently asked questions

There is no single law on validity, but most authorities accept certificates issued no more than 90 days (3 months) before filing. The clock runs from the certificate's issue date, not from the date of the apostille or translation - they do not extend it. That is why the certificate is ordered last, once the rest of the file is ready.

Within Spain - no: the certificado de antecedentes penales is filed with Spanish authorities as is. An apostille is needed only if the Spanish certificate will be used in another country, for example Ukraine or Kazakhstan.

Yes. The criminal record extract is ordered online through the electronic services of Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Diia, and the finished document arrives electronically. For filing in Spain you will need the version with an apostille, which is affixed in Ukraine - this can be handled remotely through a representative.

As a rule, Extranjería requests certificates from the countries where you have lived during the last five years - not only your country of citizenship. If you have lived in several countries, prepare a certificate from each: with an apostille and a sworn translation. This is the longest part of the file, so start with it.

The fee under modelo 790 codigo 006 is a benchmark 3.86 euros for 2026. With an online request via sede.mjusticia.gob.es using a digital certificate or Cl@ve the certificate usually arrives within 1-3 working days; filing in person takes longer. Check the current fee on the ministry's website.

No. Authorities look at the issue date of the certificate itself. If the apostille and translation took two months, you are left with a very small filing window. The right strategy is to line up all the steps in advance and move through the chain quickly.

Sources

Need your certificates without stress or expired dates?

Leave a request - the review is free. We will plan the chain day by day and order the certificates, the apostille and the sworn translation - we do it for you, in Spain and remotely in your home country.

Discuss your case

This material is for information purposes and is not legal advice. Fees and requirements change; check the current details on the official websites. Krepko organises the process and takes the routine off your hands, while legally significant steps are performed by licensed professionals - lawyers, gestores and sworn translators.