Documents from Bolivia for a Spanish nationality file: criminal record, birth certificate, apostille and validity

Where each document comes from, who issues the apostille, how long each one stays valid and what Spain's own texts say about legalisation and translation, with a source under every line. Free.

Validity clock: your dates, worked out

Type a date you already have and read the date it leads to, with the official rule beside it. Nothing is stored or sent: the calculation runs in your browser. Add a date to your calendar with a reminder.

Where is my file? With your application number, follow it on the Ministry's website: Ministry of Justice: nationality by residence

Payment received. The link to your File Pack is on its way to your email. Did not arrive? Ask for the link again

The payment was cancelled. Nothing was charged.

Last checked: 18 October 2026. Check the official page: sede.mjusticia.gob.es.

CiviqPass is an independent service.

• Criminal record
• Birth and marriage
• Apostille
• Translation
• Consulates
• Order
• Validity clock

1. Criminal record certificate

The Foreign Ministry's apostille page says it lists the types of documents that can be apostilled for each public service involved.^[1] Under the Consejo de la Magistratura it lists a certificate of criminal records (certificado de antecedentes penales), described as a certificate for legal and administrative purposes based on the records generated in the Órgano Judicial.^[2]

Criminal record certificate from Bolivia: who issues it and how long it stays valid

2. Birth certificate, and marriage certificate if you are married

The Órgano Electoral's page says the Servicio de Registro Cívico (SERECI) is a public body that depends on the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.^[1] Its function is to organise and administer the register of natural persons: names, civil status, filiation, birth, vital events and death.^[2]

SERECI's list of civil-registry services includes the sale of duplicate birth certificates^[3] and of duplicate marriage certificates.^[4]

SERECI's sheet for duplicate birth certificates says the holder, first-degree blood relatives, a legal representative (apoderado legal), a legal guardian or a representative of a care home can ask for it.^[5] For an apoderado, the sheet asks for a special power of attorney issued by a notary and addressed to SERECI.^[6] It lists the consular representations of Bolivia abroad, with the cost according to the consular tariff.^[7] The marriage-certificate sheet says the same for consulates.^[8]

The birth-certificate sheet also says the applicant must be registered in the Biometric Electoral Register (Padrón Electoral Biométrico).^[9] We found no official page saying how this applies to someone living abroad.

The Madrid consulate's fee table lists a duplicate birth certificate at 15 $ for Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa and North America^[10] and at 10 $ for South America, Central America and the Caribbean.^[11] We found no official page giving a time for getting a birth certificate through a consulate in Spain.

Spain asks for the birth certificate of the country of origin, legalised and translated where needed.^[12] If you are married, Spain also asks for the marriage certificate of the country where the marriage took place.^[13] We found no official Spanish text saying whether a duplicate or another kind of certification is needed: ask the registry.

3. Apostille and legalisation

The HCCH status table lists Bolivia as joining the Apostille Convention on 6 September 2017, with entry into force on 7 May 2018.^[1] The Foreign Ministry's apostille page says Law 967 of 2 August 2017 ratifies the Convention.^[2]

The HCCH lists the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the designated competent authority.^[3] The Ministry's page describes the apostille as a certification by which the Bolivian government, through the Ministry, certifies the authenticity of the signature and the capacity in which the signatory acted.^[4]

The Ministry says the apostille is a single procedure, done in person or on the platform apostilla.rree.gob.bo for the digital apostille.^[5] It says documents can be apostilled at the Ministry's offices in La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, or the procedure can be started at the institution that issues the document.^[6]

The Ministry's service page says to make the request on the apostille website, except for SERECI and the Ministry of Public Works, where the request is made in their own offices.^[7] It says that after payment the system emails the digital apostille, which can be downloaded as a PDF and printed.^[8] The Ministry's seven-years-of-apostille guide says that once the payment registration is finished the system shows the message that the apostille will be processed in 24 to 72 hours,^[9] and that an interbank transfer adds about 48 to 72 hours.^[10] We found no fee for the apostille itself on the Ministry's pages.

SERECI's list of services includes authentication of its documents for use abroad (apostille) for countries party to the Hague Convention.^[11] SERECI's sheet says the procedure continues with the voucher, the legalisation form and the authenticated document being taken to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.^[12] The same sheet gives a time of 24 hours^[13] and a cost of Bs 92 for a birth certificate, of which Bs 59 is the legalisation form and Bs 33 the certificate.^[14]

The criminal record certificate of the Consejo de la Magistratura appears in the Ministry's list of documents that can be apostilled.^[15][16]

The Spanish Ministry of Justice warning calls legalisation an essential requirement^[18] and says the Hague Convention simplifies it into a single stamp and signature on the document.^[19]

The Bolivian Foreign Ministry's FAQ says the apostille does not expire.^[20] The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs says a legalisation has no expiry date but, if the document has a validity period, the legalisation does not extend it.^[21]

4. Translation into Spanish

The Spanish Ministry of Justice warning says translation is done or checked at Spanish consulates abroad, or at the consulates in Spain of the document's country of origin, and that documents must then be legalised.^[1] It adds that a sworn translator-interpreter appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can do the translation.^[2] The Spanish Foreign Ministry says translations by sworn translators recognised by it do not need any further legalisation by the Ministry's Legalisation Service.^[3]

Spain's order asks for the birth certificate legalised and translated where needed ("traducido en su caso").^[4] We found no official Spanish or Bolivian page saying whether a Spanish-language document from Bolivia needs a translation, or in which language Bolivian documents are issued.

5. Consulates in Spain

The Foreign Ministry's consulate directory lists, for Spain, the consulates general in Madrid^[1] and Barcelona,^[2] consulates in Valencia,^[3] Sevilla,^[4] Bilbao^[5] and Murcia,^[6] and vice-consulates in Granada^[7] and Palma de Mallorca.^[8]

The Madrid consulate general's page says the REJAP certificate can be processed at Bolivian consular offices abroad.^[9] SERECI's sheets list consular representations of Bolivia abroad for duplicate birth and marriage certificates, at the consular tariff.^[10][11]

6. Order of requests and validity

Spain's order says that all documents must be in force when you apply.^[1] For certificates, the validity stated on the certificate itself counts,^[2] and a criminal record certificate with no stated validity counts for six months from the day it was issued.^[3]

Legalisation does not make a document last longer. Spain's Foreign Ministry says legalisation has no expiry date but that, if the document has a validity period, legalisation does not extend it.^[4]

When you create the online application you have two months to complete and file it, or it is deleted.^[5]

1. Find out what validity, if any, each issuer prints on its certificate (the sections above say what we found).
2. Request first the documents that need an apostille and a sworn translation, since those steps come after issue.
3. Request the criminal record certificate when you can still finish its apostille and translation inside its validity.
4. Type its issue date in the clock below and file before the "valid until" date it shows.
5. Create the online application only when you are close to filing: from creation you have two months.

Next steps

The nationality file, step by step

Your file silent after a year

Years to Spanish nationality by country

Criminal record certificate from Bolivia: who issues it and how long it stays valid

Where is my Spanish nationality file? The official ways to check it

The Spanish nationality oath (jura): what to bring and where to do it

Years, exams and fee for Spanish nationality by country of origin: open data

Explanation written with AI from the official source cited on this page.

CiviqPass is an independent service. Built from the texts linked beside each line; procedures change, so confirm on the official pages.