What sworn translation means in Spain
In Spain, a sworn (jurada) or official translation is a translation accompanied by a declaration by the translator confirming the faithfulness and completeness of the translation. The translator must be officially registered with the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Unión Europea y Cooperación). Each sworn translation includes the translator's official stamp, their registration number, and their handwritten signature.
This format is required whenever a foreign document must be used in Spain for official purposes, or when a Spanish document must be accepted by foreign authorities. The requirement applies to documents submitted to public registries, immigration offices, universities, courts, and government bodies at all levels.
Documents we translate most frequently
After almost a decade of sworn translation work, our team has handled every category of official document. The following gives a sense of the scope of this specialisation.
- Birth, marriage, death and divorce certificates
- Passports, national identity documents and residency permits
- Academic degrees, transcripts and professional qualifications
- Commercial contracts, powers of attorney and corporate deeds
- Court judgements, legal orders and notarial acts
- Criminal record certificates and police clearances
- NIE applications, immigration documentation and residency files
Apostille and legalisation
A sworn translation and an apostille serve different purposes. An apostille is a government-issued stamp that authenticates the document itself -- it is issued by the competent authority in the country where the document was issued. Our sworn translation certifies the accuracy of the translated version. For countries outside the Hague Apostille Convention, full diplomatic legalisation through the relevant embassy is required instead.
If you need both services, our apostille coordination add-on manages the full workflow: obtaining the apostille on the source document and then producing the sworn translation with the required declarations. You send us the original; we deliver the complete package.