Documents from Uruguay 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 Uruguayan procedures catalogue (gub.uy) lists the Ministry of the Interior's Dirección Nacional de Policía Científica for the Certificado de Antecedentes Judiciales (CAJ).^[1] It describes the CAJ as the document that certifies whether or not judicial records exist in the national territory,^[2] and says it is also popularly known as the certificate of good conduct or the certificate of antecedentes penales.^[3]

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

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

The procedures catalogue lists the Ministry of Education and Culture's Dirección Nacional del Registro de Estado Civil for the request of partidas (civil registry certificates).^[1] It describes the request as one for the document that certifies a birth, recognition, marriage or death that took place in the country or abroad, and also divorces abroad.^[2]

The page says that certificates of events registered from 1 January 2022 are digital and are downloaded online at no cost.^[3] For handwritten certificates it gives 153 Uruguayan pesos for the ordinary procedure and 612 Uruguayan pesos for the urgent one.^[4] It adds that the cost of the chosen payment system is added to handwritten requests made online.^[5] It also says that, for the time being and until further notice, the ordinary procedure requested online is collected at the Montevideo office from 7 working days after payment; if you prefer delivery to your home, the term grows with the delay of the Uruguayan post, about 48 more working hours.^[6][7][8]

The registry's page says that, for the Dirección General del Registro de Estado Civil, certificates do not lose validity, and that their validity depends on the office where they are presented.^[9] Spain's order says all documents must be in force when you apply.^[10]

The Uruguayan embassy page for Colombia says a certificate obtained from the registry's system has no handwritten signature, only verification codes that can be validated online.^[11] The Foreign Ministry's apostille page asks for an original document issued by Uruguayan authorities, with a registered signature.^[12] We found no official page saying whether a digital certificate can be apostilled: ask the Foreign Ministry.

The same Madrid page says you can also ask a relative, a friend or an agent to request the certificate at the civil registry or the municipal office and have it apostilled at the Foreign Ministry.^[16]

Spain asks for the birth certificate of the country of origin, legalised and translated where needed.^[17] If you are married, it also asks for the marriage certificate of the country where the marriage took place.^[18] The Uruguayan page lists marriage certificates among the documents it issues.^[19] 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 Uruguay with an accession dated 9 February 2012 and entry into force on 14 October 2012.^[1] The HCCH page lists the Dirección General para Asuntos Consulares as Uruguay's competent authority.^[2]

The Foreign Ministry's procedure page is run by its Dirección de Asuntos Consulares.^[3] It says the apostille is the authentication of the signature on documents issued or handled by Uruguayan public bodies so that they can be presented abroad.^[4] Spain's Foreign Ministry says documents from countries that signed the Apostille Convention are not legalised.^[5]

For the criminal record certificate, the Foreign Ministry says the apostille procedure can be started by attaching only the ticket issued by the Dirección Nacional de Policía Científica or the Jefatura of the holder's department.^[6] The page's second stage is in person and applies to all documents: on the day of the appointment, the applicant must come with the original document uploaded earlier.^[7] For documents in general, if the holder cannot attend, the page says the holder must complete the authorisation form and present it on the day of the appointment;^[8] for criminal record certificates the page names a separate form for a third party, the formulario de retiro CAJ.^[9]

The page gives the apostille fee for 2026 as 777 Uruguayan pesos.^[10] It gives the address Cuareim 1384, ground floor, in Montevideo,^[11][12] and we found no processing time for the apostille on it.

The Foreign Ministry announced in 2023 that Uruguay would start issuing electronic apostilles.^[13] We found no page saying whether a given document receives an electronic or a paper apostille, or whether the Spanish registry accepts either: ask the registry.

The Foreign Ministry's instruction says apostilles and legalisations have no expiry,^[14] and that the validity of the document depends on the body that receives it and can vary by country of destination.^[15] Spain's Foreign Ministry says, about its own diplomatic legalisation, that it has no expiry date but, if the document has a validity period, the legalisation does not extend it.^[16] We found no Spanish text saying the same of an apostille.

4. Translation into Spanish

We found no official Uruguayan 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

The Uruguayan embassy's directory of consulates in Spain lists five consulates general. The Madrid one has its office at Paseo Pintor Rosales, 32,^[1] and covers Madrid, Castilla y León, Castilla La Mancha, Andalucía, Extremadura, Navarra, La Rioja, Ceuta and Melilla.^[2]

The Barcelona consulate general is on Avda. Diagonal, 453 bis,^[3] and covers Cataluña, Aragón and the Balearic Islands.^[4] The Valencia one is at C/ de la Barcelonina, 2,^[5] and covers the Comunidad Valenciana and the Región de Murcia.^[6]

The Santiago de Compostela consulate general is at Rúa República de El Salvador, 12,^[7] and covers Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the País Vasco.^[8] The Las Palmas de Gran Canaria one is at C/ Los Martínez de Escobar, 8,^[9] and covers the Canary Islands.^[10]

The directory is dated 10/10/2024; check the page of the consulate for your region before you go. We only read the Madrid consulate's page on apostilled certificates, quoted above.

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 Uruguay: 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.