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Criminal record certificate from Guatemala for a Spanish nationality file: who issues it and how long it stays valid

What the official pages of Guatemala 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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Sources (1)
Orden JUS/1625/2016, anexo, 4. Validez de los documentos
How we count

Months and years end on the same day number, or on the last day of the month if there is no such day; they start the day after the date you give. A deadline that ends on a weekend moves to the next working day. Document validity is not moved: the date shown is the last day it stays valid, even on a weekend. Days are working days unless a law says otherwise.

Ley 39/2015, art. 30.4
Ley 39/2015, art. 30.4
Ley 39/2015, art. 30.2
Ley 39/2015, art. 30.2
Ley 39/2015, art. 30.4
Ley 39/2015, art. 30.4
Ley 39/2015, art. 30.5

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In short

  • Criminal record: The Embassy of Guatemala in Spain lists the Certificado de Antecedentes Penales as a certificate of the Organismo Judicial, which the Embassy does not issue; we could not read the Organismo Judicial's own site, so the route, cost and any printed validity are unconfirmed, and the clock below uses Spain's six months.

Each line sums up a section below. The sources are in that section.

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

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1. Criminal record certificate

The Embassy of Guatemala in Spain has a page titled "Certificados que NO emite la Embajada" (certificates the Embassy does not issue).[1] It lists the Certificado de Antecedentes Penales as a certificate of the Organismo Judicial (the judiciary).[2] The page names the issuer only: it gives no route, cost or validity.

We could not read the Organismo Judicial's own website (its servers refused our requests), so this page says nothing about how a person living in Spain requests the certificate, what it costs, or whether it prints a validity. Those points are for the issuer and the Embassy to confirm.

A police certificate is a different document. The government's Catálogo de Trámites describes the Certificación de Antecedentes Policiales as an official document issued by the Policía Nacional Civil that records whether a person has police records in its databases.[3] Its name and issuer differ from the certificate the Embassy attributes to the Organismo Judicial. We found no Spanish official text saying which of the two Spain wants beyond its order's wording "certificado de antecedentes penales"[4]: ask the 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.[5][6][7] We found no validity period stated by the issuer, because we could not read its pages. If your certificate prints a term, Spain's order uses that term; otherwise the clock below uses Spain's six months.

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.[8][9]

Sources (9)
  1. embajadaguatemala.es, Embassy page: Certificados que NO emite la Embajada, title
  2. embajadaguatemala.es, Embassy page: Certificados que NO emite la Embajada, list
  3. tramites.gob.gt, Catálogo de Trámites (MINGOB): antecedentes policiales
  4. Orden JUS/1625/2016, anexo 1.a
  5. Orden JUS/1625/2016, anexo, 4. Validez de los documentos
  6. Orden JUS/1625/2016, anexo, 4. Validez de los documentos
  7. Orden JUS/1625/2016, anexo, 4. Validez de los documentos
  8. Orden JUS/1625/2016, anexo 1.a
  9. Orden JUS/1625/2016, anexo, 5

Next steps

All the documents from Guatemala for a Spanish nationality file: birth certificate, apostille, translation and validity

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What is inside

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

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