Documents from Egypt for a Spanish nationality file: criminal record, birth certificate, legalisation and validity

Where each document comes from, who issues the legalisation, 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: 20 October 2026. Check the official page: sede.mjusticia.gob.es.

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

1. Criminal record certificate

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry's consular page on the criminal record certificate (صحيفة الحالة الجنائية) says it is a certificate issued by the General Administration of Criminal Evidence Investigation (الإدارة العامة لتحقيق الأدلة الجنائية) to applicants who are Egyptian or foreign.^[1]

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

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

The Foreign Ministry's table of attestations lists the birth, death and marriage certificates among the documents covered by the civil status row.^[1] For that row it lists the approval of the civil status office in Abbasiya, the one in Giza next to Cairo Mall, the model centre at City Stars mall or the civil registry in El Tagamoa.^[2] For the governorates, it lists the approval of the civil registry accredited with the Foreign Ministry in the governorate.^[3] For paper birth certificates issued by the health offices of the governorates, it lists the approval of the Ministry of Health or the governorate's health affairs directorate, then that of the governorate's secretary general.^[4][5]

The Digital Egypt portal lists, in its civil status group, a service that lets you issue a mechanised birth certificate from where you are and have it delivered to your address.^[6] The service page says the mechanised certificate is issued a second time,^[7] on condition that a printed mechanised birth certificate was issued before,^[8] and that the applicant must be the person concerned or a first-degree relative.^[9] The page does not say whether it can be used from abroad or what it costs.

The Foreign Ministry's consular page on requesting an Egyptian birth certificate asks, among its first requirements, for the original foreign birth certificate with an Arabic translation if it is in another language.^[10] It therefore appears to concern a person born abroad, and we found no consular page on obtaining the certificate of a person born in Egypt. The consular page on powers of attorney says, for those wishing to make one, that it is for Egyptians only, and that special powers of attorney can be drawn up for various purposes, with the documents the mission specifies for each case.^[11][12] It does not mention birth certificates.

Spain asks for the birth certificate of the country of origin, duly legalised and translated "en su caso".^[13] If you are married it also asks for the marriage certificate of the country where the marriage took place, duly translated and legalised "en su caso".^[14] The Foreign Ministry's table lists the marriage certificate among the civil status documents,^[15] and we found no Egyptian page on how to obtain a marriage certificate from abroad. We found no Spanish official text saying which type of copy (extract or full copy) Spain wants: ask the registry.

3. Legalisation

The HCCH status table for the Apostille Convention (last update 30-VI-2026) counts 130 Contracting Parties; we did not find Egypt among those listed.^[1] We found no Egyptian official page naming an apostille authority, so the route described by the Spanish pages is legalisation.

Spain's Ministry of Justice warning says that "en el resto de los casos" there is an obligation to legalise public documents through the diplomatic route,^[2] and describes the two steps: legalisation by the Foreign Ministry of the country that issued the document, then by the Spanish consular office in that country, the last step carrying a fee.^[3] It also names the Foreign Ministry's Servicio de Legalizaciones in Spain, where it says legalisation is always free.^[4] The warning calls legalisation of foreign documents an essential requirement.^[5]

The first step is the Egyptian Foreign Ministry's attestation (تصديق). Its page on the attestation offices says an ordinary attestation costs 115 pounds (the page's word is جنيها, which we read as Egyptian pounds).^[6] The page also says the attestation fee is collected on both the document and its translation.^[7] The approvals it lists for these documents are the ones described above for birth and marriage certificates^[8][9] and for the criminal record certificate.^[10][11]

The second step is the Spanish Embassy in Cairo. Its page says its consular district includes all the governorates of Egypt.^[12] Its instructions for legalisation appointments, attached to a news item dated 1 July 2026, say it legalises only original documents issued by official bodies and legalised by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry,^[13] that the legalisation fee is 9 USD,^[14] and that legalised documents are returned one week after they are handed in.^[15]

The instructions say the embassy requires the applicant to attend in person, or a relative of the first or second degree with proof of kinship.^[16] They say that if the person does not live in Egypt a representative may attend with a notarial power of attorney signed abroad before Egyptian or Spanish authorities,^[17] and that powers signed in Egypt are not accepted.^[18] The embassy asks that appointment requests go only to emb.elcairo.leg@maec.es.^[19] The instructions say the confirmation e-mail with the appointment-system credentials is not immediate and may arrive within two weeks,^[20] and that the credentials expire after three months.^[21] They also say that no more than 10 documents can be legalised per appointment,^[22] that the same person can request only one appointment every 2 months^[23] and that other currencies are not accepted.^[24]

Spain's Foreign Ministry says, about its own diplomatic legalisation, that legalisation has no expiry date but, if the document has a validity period, legalisation does not extend it.^[27]

4. Translation into Spanish

We found no official Egyptian or Spanish page saying in which language Egyptian certificates are issued, or whether a document already in Spanish needs 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] The Spanish Embassy in Cairo's instructions say it does not legalise translated documents.^[5] The same instructions point those who wish to translate their documents before a sworn translator to the list of sworn translators in Spain.^[6]

On the Egyptian side, the Foreign Ministry's page on attestation offices says the rule is to attest the document first and then its translation, by the same body that attested the original,^[7] with a joint seal on the original and the translation, and with the fee collected on both.^[8] It introduces a list with a sentence about an accredited translator at the issuing body, in wording we cannot read with certainty (we read it as the case where there is none).^[9] The list gives the bodies whose translations are accredited with the Foreign Ministry and whose seals it accepts to attest: the Ministry of Justice, the Armed Forces Language Institute, the civil status offices for civil status documents and the state universities.^[10] Its consular page on the attestation of documents, which concerns the Egyptian mission, says that when a translation is attested, the original and the translation must both be attested.^[11]

5. Consulates in Spain

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry's directory of missions abroad lists the Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Madrid, with the address printed as C/ Velazquez, 69, C/ Jose Ortega y Gasset, 27-1, Madrid, Spain.^[1] We did not see any other Egyptian mission in Spain in that directory. The pages described above do not say which of these documents the embassy issues or attests.

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 a legalisation and a sworn translation, since those steps come after issue.
3. Request the criminal record certificate when you can still finish its legalisation 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 Egypt: 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.