Criminal record certificate from Costa Rica for a Spanish nationality file: who issues it and how long it stays valid
What the official pages of Costa Rica and of Spain say about the criminal record certificate: who issues it, how to ask for it from Spain, cost and time where they are stated, and how long it counts for your file, with a source under every line. Reading this page is free.
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In short
- Criminal record: The Judiciary's Registro Judicial issues the hoja de delincuencia, which the Madrid consulate's page says it processes by email and which a person authorised by the applicant collects in San José; the Judiciary's flyer prints "VIGENCIA POR TRES MESES" on a sample certificate marked for national use, we found no page saying from which date the three months run, and the clock below counts them from issue as our assumption.
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Last checked: 19 October 2026. Check the official page: sede.mjusticia.gob.es.
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1. Criminal record certificate
The Costa Rican Judiciary's service page on the "Hoja de delincuencia" (certificación de antecedentes penales) says it can be requested by adults who bring a suitable identity document that is in good condition and valid.[1] The page lists the Registro Judicial, in the Anexo A building of the First Judicial Circuit of San José, as one place to ask for it.[2]
The Judiciary's page on the electronic version says it can be requested through the Judiciary's app or website with a user name and password or a digital signature.[3] It says the user name is requested in person, once only, at judicial offices, showing an identity document.[4] We found no page saying whether a person living outside Costa Rica can get that user name another way or use this route. A Judiciary flyer says the electronic version will be ready to download in the course of the working day.[5]
For people abroad, the Judiciary's service page says that nationals and foreigners who live or lived in Costa Rica and are now outside the country, if they need the certification, may go to or contact the nearest Embassy or Consulate to make the request, naming the person authorised to collect the certification in Costa Rica.[6][7]
The website of the Costa Rican Embassy in Spain (the Foreign Ministry's directory links to it) says in its consular section that the Consulate in Madrid processes the request before the Registro Judicial, the institution that issues the document.[8] It says the request is sent by email to concr-es@rree.go.cr,[9] that a person authorised by the applicant must collect the certificate in San José,[10] and that the applicant receives an email from the Consulate when the certificate is ready in Costa Rica.[11] The page states no fee and no processing time for this request.
The Judiciary's flyer says that certifications processed through consulates are delivered at 3:00 p.m. if requested before midday, and those that come in after 12:00 noon at 3:00 p.m. the next day, on working days.[12] It does not say to whom they are delivered, and we found no page giving a processing time for the Madrid consulate route.
A news item on the Judiciary's own news site (9 March 2023), about the certificate requested at the Registro Judicial, says it has no cost and is valid for three months.[13] We found no official page stating a cost for the consular route.
Which certificate. Spain asks for the certificado de antecedentes penales of the country of origin,[14] and says it may be replaced by the Certificado Consular de Conducta, duly translated and legalised.[15] The Costa Rican pages above call the document the hoja de delincuencia (certificación de antecedentes penales),[16] and the Madrid consulate's page says the Registro Judicial is the institution that issues it.[17] We found no Costa Rican page about a consular certificate of conduct: ask the consulate and the Spanish civil registry.
Validity. Spain's order says all documents must be in force when you apply, that the validity stated on a certificate itself counts, and that a criminal record certificate with no stated validity counts for six months from issue.[18][19][20] The Judiciary's flyer shows a sample certificate that prints "VIGENCIA POR TRES MESES",[21] and the news item above also says three months.[22] The same sample also prints "VÁLIDO: A NIVEL NACIONAL" and "USO NACIONAL".[23][24] The Foreign Ministry's page asks for the wording "PARA USOS VARIOS INTERNACIONALES" on the certificate (see the apostille section),[25] and we found no sample of a certificate with that wording, so we cannot say that the three months printed on the sample apply to it. We found no page saying from which date the three months run. The clock below counts three months from the issue date, which is our assumption: check what your certificate prints.
Spain asks for the criminal record certificate of the country of origin, legalised and translated, and says that as a rule it must be issued by the competent body of that country.[26][27]
Sources (27)
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The nationality file, step by step
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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
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