U.S. POLICE RECORDS - CERTIFICADO DE ANTECEDENTES PENALES

This office is receiving a number of calls from American citizens wanting to obtain a "Certificado de Antecedentes Penales" from the United States to be presented to the Spanish authorities, essentially for residency purposes. This document is generally known in the US as police record or criminal record and should be obtained by contacting the state where they previously resided. This is usually the state’s Department of Public Safety, State Police, Attorney General, or state’s Division of Criminal Investigations. It will vary from

At the time of contacting the appropriate state office, please ask that the signature of the record be notarized in order to be legalized, a mandatory requirement for the criminal records to be accepted by the Spanish authorities. This legalization is done by having the document sealed with the Apostille of The Hague. To do so, the original document has to be sent/taken to authority competent to execute it for documents originating within their jurisdiction. Visit http://www.travel.state.gov/law/legal/treaty/treaty_783.html in the Internet for information on who can put The Hague Legalization Convention "apostille" certificate on a document in the United States, depending on the state of issuance.

In some instances, a set of fingerprints may be required before a police record can be issued. This office can provide American Citizens with an introduction letter for the Spanish police requesting that the fingerprints be taken. This office charges a $30 fee for the letter.