Criminal Background Check for Spain (Certificado de Antecedentes Penales)
Applying for a Spanish visa from the United States? Spain asks for a certificado de antecedentes penales, a criminal record certificate. For U.S. applicants, that means your FBI background check (Identity History Summary) with a federal apostille, translated into Spanish.
Anshin Mobile Notary & LiveScan handles all of it: fingerprints, the FBI request, the federal apostille and the Spanish translation. Clients come to our Los Angeles or Beverly Hills office, book mobile service, or send their documents from abroad.
For every step in detail, see our step-by-step guide to getting your FBI background check apostilled.
What Spain Requires
The Spanish Consulate General in Los Angeles asks non-lucrative visa applicants for:
- An FBI criminal record certificate for every applicant over 18.
- Issued within the last 6 months, counted from the date the FBI issues it.
- A federal apostille from the U.S. Department of State. A California apostille is not accepted.
- A Spanish translation of the certificate.
- Certificates from other countries where you have lived in the past 5 years.
Other Spanish consulates can set a shorter window, some 90 days, so check with the consulate handling your application.
A California DOJ background check is not what Spain asks for. You need the FBI check.
How We Handle It
If You’re in Los Angeles
- Fingerprints and FBI submission. At our Los Angeles or Beverly Hills office, or we come to you. We take your fingerprints and submit them to the FBI electronically.
- Your FBI record. The FBI sends the record to you. Forward it to us.
- Federal apostille. We submit your FBI record to the U.S. Department of State and collect the apostille.
- Spanish translation. We translate your apostilled FBI record into Spanish.
- Ready for your appointment.
If You’re Living Abroad
Get fingerprinted on FD-258 cards at your local police station and send them to us. We submit them to the FBI in person, then handle the federal apostille and Spanish translation, and ship everything to you. See FBI Background Check Apostille Abroad.
Time it to your appointment. The 6-month window starts on the FBI issue date. If you start too early, the certificate can expire before your consulate appointment. We go through exactly when that clock starts, and the mistakes that reset it, in When Does the Six-Month Validity Clock Start?
How long it takes: about three weeks if we fingerprint you here in Los Angeles, and longer if you’re applying from abroad. We walk through both timelines in How Long Does an FBI Background Check Apostille Take?
Where the FBI Check Fits in Your Spain Move
Your FBI check is one step in a longer chain, and the order is where people get tripped up:
- Pick your visa. Non-lucrative, digital nomad, student or work: the visa you choose decides which documents the consulate wants to see.
- Gather your originals. The FBI check, plus whatever else your visa calls for, such as birth and marriage certificates for your family, bank letters or diplomas.
- Get them apostilled. This is where we come in. California documents get a California apostille; the FBI check gets a federal one from the U.S. Department of State.
- Have them translated into Spanish. A sworn translation comes after the apostille, because the apostille usually gets translated too. We do this as well.
- Go to your consulate appointment. Anything expired or out of order can mean a delay, or a rejection.
- Settle in. Once you land, you’ll apply for your residence card and register your address with the local town hall.
The Other Documents in Your File
The FBI check is rarely the only document that needs an apostille. Birth and marriage certificates for your family, notarized bank letters and diplomas usually do too, and those are state documents, not federal, so they go through a different office. We handle both. For the details, see Apostille for Spain, and if you’re bringing a diploma, read our Spain diploma warning first.
A Note on the Golden Visa
Spain’s Golden Visa closed to new applicants in April 2025. The non-lucrative, digital nomad, student and work visas remain, and each still needs the apostilled, translated FBI check.
Frequently Asked Questions About Criminal Background Checks for Spain
What background check do I need for a Spanish visa?
Your FBI Identity History Summary with a federal apostille, translated into Spanish. Spanish consulates call it a certificado de antecedentes penales.
How recent must it be?
The Spanish Consulate in Los Angeles requires it to be issued within 6 months. Other consulates may ask for 90 days, so check yours.
Do I also need a California background check?
No. Spain asks for the FBI check.
Can a California apostille be used?
No. The FBI check is a federal document, so the apostille must come from the U.S. Department of State.
Do you translate it into Spanish?
Yes. We provide the Spanish translation.
I’ve lived in other countries. What else do I need?
A criminal record certificate from each country where you lived in the past 5 years, also apostilled and translated into Spanish.
Why does the apostille have to come before the translation?
Because the sworn translation usually covers the apostille as well. Translate first, and you’ll end up translating twice.
Is a copy of my FBI report good enough?
No. The consulate wants the real document with its apostille, not a photocopy or a printout of a screenshot.
I live abroad. Can you still help?
Yes. Get fingerprinted locally and send us your cards. See FBI Background Check Apostille Abroad.
Call or text (310) 526-0200 · Message us on WhatsApp
¿Necesita su certificado de antecedentes penales del FBI con apostilla y traducción para España? Llame o envíe un texto al (310) 526-0200.
