Criminal Records for Spain’s 2026 Extraordinary Regularization: Exactly What You Need

Originally published April 2, 2026 — before Royal Decree 316/2026; revised after the decree of 14 April 2026 and the closing of the application window. Later sections reflect the rules as revised.

Under the legal framework of Royal Decree 316/2026 of 14 April, which amended the Immigration Regulation (Royal Decree 1155/2024), the Spanish government established a window for the regularización extraordinaria 2026, targeting undocumented foreign citizens residing in the country. The procedure required properly authenticated criminal record certificates for the countries of residence required by the program’s current rules.

The application period closed on June 30, 2026 (concluding with 1,174,978 applications received according to the Ministry of Inclusion). The process required precise compliance in requesting, authenticating, and translating criminal records to avoid rejection. This guide covers which documents were required, which authorities to contact, and how foreign records are authenticated for Spanish residency procedures. For document assistance, visit our Spain document service.

What Royal Decree 316/2026 Actually Required

Immigration offices (Oficinas de Extranjería) have zero flexibility on criminal records. The regulation demanded exact compliance with:

  • Certificate from each country of residence: Not just your nationality country. If you lived in the United States for a year before moving to Spain, you needed certificates from both countries.
  • Complete period coverage: The document had to cover the entire duration of your residence in that country.
  • Apostille or consular legalization: If the issuing country is a Hague Convention 1961 member (most of Latin America, US, Europe), the document requires the apostille de La Haya. Non-Hague countries (like Cuba) require the full consular legalization chain.
  • Sworn translation: If the document is not in Spanish, it must be translated by a traductor jurado officially registered with the MAEC (Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
  • Certificate date: RD 316/2026 does not set a general 90-day validity rule for this procedure — check the required certificate date in the official instructions for your application.
  • Submission: Applications were filed telematically through the government’s dedicated regularization portal announced by the Ministry of Inclusion, and in-person filing with a prior appointment was also authorised — the official portal and the current instructions set the applicable channel.

Which Countries Do You Need Records From?

The rule: background checks for the countries of residence required by the program’s rules — this can cover countries where you lived for 6 months or more in the last 5 years (2021–2026), depending on the official checklist.

The most common scenarios:

Scenario 1 (most common): You lived only in your home country (e.g., Honduras) and then moved to Spain. You only need 1 certificate.

Scenario 2 (prolonged transit): You are Peruvian but worked in Chile for 2 years before moving to Spain in 2023. You need 2 certificates — Peru and Chile, both apostilled.

Scenario 3 (short stay): You went to Mexico for 4 months for a course, then flew to Spain. Less than 6 months = exempt. You only need the certificate from your home country.

Scenario 4 (time in Spain): You have been in Madrid for 3 years. The government’s published requirement list for this regularization included a Spanish criminal record certificate (“certificado de antecedentes penales en España”) among the documentation, and Spanish criminal-record data may also be checked by the administration. Do not assume you are exempt — follow the official instructions on whether and how to provide a Spanish certificate in your case.

Certificate by Country — Exactly What to Request

The leading cause of rejection in the procedure is uploading a local or regional police document instead of the mandatory national/federal-level certificate.

Mexico Request the Constancia de Antecedentes Penales Federales from the SSPC. The apostille is processed through the SEGOB online apostille; confirm the current published turnaround of the official channel before ordering. The SEGOB online apostille frequently undergoes weekend maintenance — do not wait until the last moment.

Colombia The Certificado de Antecedentes Judiciales from the Policía Nacional. When requesting the apostille on the Cancillería portal, it is absolutely critical to select “fines migratorios” from the dropdown. Any other selection = automatic rejection by Extranjería.

Venezuela The most critical and urgent case. Certificate requested online from the MPPRIJP; apostille from the MPPRE via the SLAE electronic system (https://legalizacionve.mppre.gob.ve/web/login) as a separate second step. Both government procedures are free. For Venezuelans this was the most time-sensitive step — timing depended on MPPRIJP and SLAE system availability; no fixed timeline could be guaranteed. Contact us about pending cases →

Argentina Certificado de Antecedentes Penales from the Registro Nacional de Reincidencia (RNR) via the TAD system. Apostille processed online through the Argentine Cancillería. Warning: the digital download link from the RNR expires quickly — submit for apostille immediately upon issuance.

Peru Certificado de Antecedentes Penales from the Poder Judicial (S/40.40, 90-day issuer validity). The MRE apostilles eligible digital documents — S/18, with the portal indicating up to 5 business days; wet-signed documents follow the in-person route (S/31). The MRE apostilles; it does not issue the certificates.

Chile Certificado de Antecedentes para Fines Especiales from the Civil Registry — free online (ClaveÚnica / Módulos Express ChileAtiende; office copy CLP 1,050). The apostille goes before the competent authority for the document — for criminal-record and civil-status documents, the Registro Civil — and the official apostille is free where available, with timing depending on the office and channel.

Brazil Certidão de Antecedentes Criminais from the Polícia Federal. The apostille is decentralized through the CNJ — you must obtain it at an authorized local notary (Cartório). Processing time varies by state.

United States Extranjería systematically rejects state-level, county, or local police checks. The only valid document is the federal FBI Identity History Summary. The apostille cannot be issued by a state Secretary of State — it requires a federal apostille from the US Department of State in Washington D.C. exclusively. Mail processing is currently within five weeks from receipt; the seven-business-day in-person option applies only to the Department’s specified circumstances — start this one as early as possible. Full FBI guide →

Canada Canada joined the Hague Convention in 2024. Required document: RCMP Certified Criminal Record Check based on fingerprints. Apostille from Global Affairs Canada. Check the published timeline of Global Affairs Canada — starting early was essential within the programme’s window. If you lived in Canada, contact us about pending cases.

Dominican Republic Certificado de No Antecedentes Penales from the Procuraduría General de la República. Apostille via the MIREX online portal.

Ecuador Certificate from the Ministry of the Interior. Electronic apostille through the MREMH digital system. Pay close attention to PDF formatting and file size requirements.

Bolivia Certificado de Antecedentes Penales from REJAP. Apostille through the Bolivian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Age-Limit Trap — The Most Expensive Mistake

The date that mattered to Spanish immigration was NOT when you started gathering documents, nor the date the apostille was applied. It was the issuance date of the original police certificate compared against the exact submission date recorded on the official platform.

If you request your police certificate in January 2026 out of anxiety, but due to delays in gathering other residency proof you do not submit until May 2026, your certificate could be too old if the instructions for your application set an age limit. Even though the apostille de La Haya stamp itself never expires, check whether the underlying police document must be recent.

Example: if the instructions for your application set a 90-day limit and you submit on June 25, 2026, the certificate would need to have been issued after March 27, 2026. Check first whether your application sets any limit.

For countries with slow systems like Venezuela (MPPRE) or Canada (RCMP), applicants needed to plan several months in advance.

Sworn Translation — What Many People Forget

If your certificate was issued in English, French, or Portuguese, you must present an official translation. Two grave errors to avoid:

Error 1: Translating before apostilling — confirm the order first. The apostille stamp itself contains text in English or French (the 10 standard Hague fields). Translating before apostilling does not automatically invalidate every translation, but where translation is required, include the content the receiving office demands (in most procedures, also the apostille stamp text). Confirm the order and scope with the receiving office before ordering the translation: there is no universal sequence — ask whether the translation must include the apostille; where it must cover the document already apostilled, translate the full apostilled document.

Error 2: Using an unauthorized translator. You cannot use a public notary in Miami or a “perito traductor” in Mexico. Spanish law requires translation by a traductor jurado officially registered with the MAEC. Average cost: €50–€120 per document. Delivery: 2–3 business days.

Complete Checklist Used for the 2026 Regularization

  • List the countries of residence required by the program’s current rules
  • Request national/federal level certificate (never local or regional)
  • Verify if issuing country is Hague member (apostille) or non-Hague (consular chain)
  • Submit to the correct competent authority (SEGOB, Cancillería, MINREL, MPPRE, US Dept of State, etc.)
  • Timing critical: Do not request certificates more than 60–70 days before your planned submission date (except Venezuela and Canada)
  • Confirm the apostille/translation order with the receiving office
  • Confirm translator included all 10 apostille stamp fields and applied certified digital signature
  • The day before uploading: verify the certificate issuance date is within the age limit on your checklist (often 90 days)
  • Name PDF files without special characters or spaces (e.g., Criminal_Record_Colombia.pdf)

Application Timeline Applied to the June 30, 2026 Closing Date

During the process (where the application period closed on June 30, 2026), timelines were organized according to processing speeds:

Submissions in the final week (June 25–30):

  • Venezuela or Canada documents required months of advance preparation.
  • May 1–15: Request certificates from fast countries (Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Peru) so they carry a May date
  • May 15 – June 10: Obtain all apostilles via respective government platforms
  • June 10–20: Send complete authenticated PDFs to MAEC sworn translators
  • June 20–28: Final dossier review and submission on the official platform

Submissions in the first half of June (June 1–15):

  • For Venezuela, USA, or Canada, expedited service was needed.
  • April 15–30: Request original police certificates
  • May 1–25: Obtain all apostilles
  • May 25 – June 5: Receive sworn translations
  • June 5–12: Submit the complete file on the official platform

FAQ (Application Period Closed 30 June 2026)

Do I need a Spanish criminal record if I have been living here for years? The government’s published document list for this regularization included a “certificado de antecedentes penales en España” among the requirements. Some criminal-record data is checked by the administration on its own initiative, which is different from documents the applicant must provide; do not assume you are exempt from providing it — follow the official instructions for your application.

I lived in the USA for only 4 months — do I need the FBI check? During the application window: no. The procedure’s rules required documents only from countries where residence exceeded 6 months as recorded for the applicant, and a 4-month stay was exempt.

My country is not in the Hague Convention — what do I do? You need the full consular legalization chain: your country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs → Spanish Embassy or Consulate in your home country to apply the final stamp.

Can I submit while waiting for my Venezuelan apostille? The general rule is that the system requires a complete application, but there is an exceptional procedure when a requested foreign certificate is not received after one month: you must attach proof that the certificate was requested, sign a sworn declaration, and authorize the Spanish authorities to request it directly from the issuing country. The exact requirements are set by the official instructions for your procedure — check them before your submission, and remember that acceptance of the exception is never guaranteed.

What if my certificate expires the day before I submit? If the age limit on your checklist is 90 days and your certificate is 91 days old from its issuance date, it may not be accepted and you may need to request a new one from your country of origin. Always check the checklist for your specific procedure.

Do I need an apostille for my Spanish criminal record? A Spanish certificate does not carry an apostille for use in Spain — apostilles and legalization chains apply to foreign documents presented to Spanish authorities. Whether you must provide a Spanish certificate at all depends on the current official instructions: the government’s published requirement list for this regularization included it among the documents, and some checks are done by the administration directly.

I lived in 3 different countries — do I need 3 apostilled certificates? Yes — in the application window. If you lived in Colombia, Panama, and then Spain, Extranjería required the apostilled certificate from Colombia and Panama.

How much does the entire process cost? Government fees vary from free to $20–30 depending on the country. If the document requires a MAEC-registered traductor jurado, add €50–€120 per document. Agency coordination fees apply if you hire professionals to process documents from abroad while you are in Spain.