Documents from Chile 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.

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Last checked: 19 October 2026. Check the official page: sede.mjusticia.gob.es.

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

1. Criminal record certificate

The Chilean civil registry's (Registro Civil) page on ChileAtiende about the Certificado de antecedentes says it lets you find out officially whether a person has a criminal record or is free of one.^[1] The page says there are two types: one for special purposes, which serves for procedures at a public or private institution, and one for particular purposes, which it says is requested, for example, to look for work.^[2] We found no official page saying which of the two Spain's registry wants: ask the Spanish registry.

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

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

The Registro Civil's page on the birth certificate, on ChileAtiende, says the certificate shows the registration number, name, RUN, register, and the date and place of birth of a person.^[1] It lists three types (Todo trámite, Asignación Familiar and Matrícula).^[2] We found no official page saying which type Spain's registry wants: ask the Spanish registry.

The Foreign Ministry's page for Chileans abroad says to go to the respective Chilean consulate for the birth certificate, at a cost of US$ 3 or the equivalent in local currency,^[3] and that you can also download it free of charge on the Registro Civil website.^[4] For the marriage certificate, its page says you must go to the respective Chilean consulate, and that the cost depends on each consulate.^[5]

The Madrid consulate's page lists birth and marriage certificates among those you can download directly from the Registro Civil website as an apostilled registry certificate.^[6]

Spain asks for the birth certificate of the country of origin, legalised and translated where needed.^[10] If you are married, it also asks for the marriage certificate of the country where the marriage took place.^[11] We found no official Spanish text saying which kind of copy (extract or full) it wants: ask the registry.

3. Apostille and legalisation

The HCCH status table lists Chile with an accession dated 16 December 2015 and entry into force on 30 August 2016.^[1] The HCCH authorities page lists, among Chile's designated competent authorities, the Under-Secretary of Justice and the Regional Ministerial Secretaries of Justice,^[2] and the National Director and Regional Directors of the Civil and Identification Registration Service.^[3] It does not list the Foreign Ministry; that page was last updated on 7 April 2022.

The Foreign Ministry's page on legalisation and apostille says legalisation does not apply in member countries of the Hague Convention, where the apostille is done instead.^[4] It says the apostille and legalisation only certify the signature and do not review the content of the document.^[5]

The same page says the Foreign Ministry apostilles the documents that the other ministries it names cannot apostille.^[6] For documents issued by the Registro Civil, it says they can be apostilled directly at the Registro Civil in Santiago (Moneda 1142) or in regional offices,^[7] and that since 24 June 2022 the Registro Civil's electronic documents are apostilled automatically and can be downloaded online.^[8] The consular portal says that since that date the Registro Civil has an online apostille available for 28 certificates; the page does not list them.^[9] The same portal gives a different Santiago address for documents apostilled at the Registro Civil (Amanda Labarca 70).^[10]

In the online flow, the Barcelona consulate's page says you tick the option to present the documents abroad and select the country; at the end you receive the certificate and the apostille immediately by e-mail.^[11][12] It gives an approximate period of 25/30 days to receive the apostilles,^[13] without saying whether it refers to the online route or the consulate route, or whether the days are working or calendar days. The page says issuing the certificates and the apostille has no cost,^[14] and the Foreign Ministry's page says the procedure has no cost.^[15] These official pages do not agree on cost; ask the consulate before you pay.

The Barcelona consulate's page says consulates are not authorised to apostille documents, and that documents issued by Chilean bodies are apostilled by the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Justice or the Ministry of Education, as applicable.^[16]

The Foreign Ministry's page says the apostille and legalisation do not expire, but that the document itself may have an established validity.^[17] Spain's Foreign Ministry says legalisation has no expiry date but, if the document has a validity period, legalisation does not extend it.^[18]

Spain's Foreign Ministry says documents from countries that signed the Apostille Convention are not legalised.^[19]

4. Translation into Spanish

We found no official Chilean or Spanish page saying that a document already in Spanish needs, or does not need, a translation. Spain's order says "traducido en su caso" for the birth certificate and "traducido" for the criminal record.^[1][2]

The Spanish Ministry of Justice warning says translation is done or checked at Spanish consulates abroad or at the consular offices in Spain of the document's country of origin, and that the documents must then be legalised. It adds that a sworn translator-interpreter named by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can do the translation or check.^[3][4]

5. Consulates in Spain

We could not read the consular map on the Chilean Foreign Ministry's consular portal, so we name only the two consulates general whose pages we read. The Madrid page says the Consulado General de Chile en Madrid serves residents of Andalucía, Canarias, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León,^[1] Madrid, Extremadura, Galicia, Asturias, Ceuta and Melilla.^[2] It says it attends Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 14:00, by appointment only.^[3]

The Barcelona consulate's page says its jurisdiction includes Navarra (Pamplona) and La Rioja (Logroño),^[4] Cataluña (Barcelona, Tarragona, Lleida and Girona), Murcia, the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community,^[5] and Aragón, the Basque Country and Cantabria.^[6] It says it attends Monday to Friday from 09.00 to 14.00, by appointment.^[7]

All four consulate pages we read are marked as more than three years old. Check the page of the consulate for your province before you apply.

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 Chile: 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.