Consulates, immigration offices (oficinas de extranjería), town halls and notaries in Spain accept official documents issued in Türkiye on two conditions: the document must carry an apostille, and it must be officially translated into Spanish. If either step is missing, the file usually comes back with a request for documents and the process takes longer.
What an apostille is
An apostille is a certificate, under the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961, confirming that the signature and seal on an official document are genuine. Since Türkiye and Spain are both parties to the Convention, Turkish documents do not need separate consular legalisation; the apostille is enough. According to the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, documents from a country that is party to the Convention are validated by apostille, not by legalisation.
An apostille only confirms the signature and seal; it does not confirm that the content is correct or determine what effect the document will have in Spain. For example, a Turkish court's divorce judgment may need separate recognition before it takes effect for some procedures in Spain.
The apostille is placed on the document itself or on an attached sheet; each apostille has a number and date that allow it to be verified. It is added in the country that issued the document. In Türkiye, governorships and district governorships (valilik and kaymakamlık) handle administrative documents, and the justice commission offices of the first-instance courts handle court documents. For barcoded documents obtained through e-Devlet, it saves time to ask the competent office in advance how the apostille will be done.
Documents that need an apostille
- Criminal record certificate
- Birth, marriage and divorce certificates, and the full civil registry extract
- Diplomas and transcripts (some applications also require recognition or further verification)
- Court decisions, such as divorce or custody judgments
- Powers of attorney and notarised declarations
- Other official letters from public bodies
- Certificate of residence (ikametgâh); some consulates ask for it to show that you live in Türkiye
If you use a notarised copy instead of the original, the apostille is placed on the notary's certification of the copy, and the translation must include the notary's certification too. Some authorities want to see originals, so ask in advance whether a copy will be accepted.
Documents issued by private individuals or companies, such as an employer's letter or a bank statement, are not public documents. If they need an apostille, they are usually notarised first. Consulates state in their own lists whether they require an apostille for such documents; often, even where no apostille is required, a Spanish translation is.
Who can make a sworn translation
In Spain, official translations are made by sworn translator-interpreters (traductor-intérprete jurado) appointed by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They certify the accuracy of the translation with their signature and seal, and their translations are valid in Spain without any further certification. The Ministry publishes a list of sworn translators by language on its website. When choosing a translator, check that their name appears on the current list. A sworn translation can be signed and sealed on paper, and some translators also offer electronically signed translations; ask in advance whether the authority you are applying to accepts an electronic version.
A notarised translation, which is common in Türkiye, does not replace a translation by a Spanish sworn translator. According to the Ministry, other options exist but are limited: translations by the Ministry's own language office (Oficina de Interpretación de Lenguas), and translations made or checked and accepted by a Spanish consulate abroad, which are valid only for procedures handled at that consulate. Check on the consulate's website which translations it accepts.
A practical order, and what to watch for
- First obtain the original document and have it apostilled.
- Then give the document, with its apostille, to the sworn translator. In practice, it is often required that the apostille is translated too.
- Ask for the translation to be delivered together with a copy of the document, so it is clear which document it belongs to.
- For short-lived documents such as the criminal record certificate, the period is generally counted from the date of issue. The days spent on the apostille and translation come out of that period.
- Make sure names are spelt exactly as in your passport. Turkish characters (ç, ğ, ı, ö, ş, ü) written in different ways can create mismatches between documents.
- Keep the originals and translations together until your appointment; some authorities ask to see the originals.
- If the same document will be used in more than one application, find out whether each needs its own original and translation; some authorities do not return documents submitted to them.
Translation fees and turnaround times vary from one translator to another. Sworn translators working between Turkish and Spanish can be fully booked at busy times, so it helps to contact one several weeks before your appointment.
When advice is worth getting
If you will be using more complex documents, such as court decisions, custody documents or company records, or if names or dates do not match across your documents, you need to establish how they will be corrected or completed in Türkiye before starting on apostilles and translations. That stage concerns Turkish law and Turkish authorities, so it has to be resolved in Türkiye.
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This article is for general information and is not legal advice. Legislation and case law may have changed since it was written.