Originals, copies and scans: how to submit your file

Terms used

• traductor jurado — A traductor jurado is a translator officially authorised to produce translations that Spanish offices accept for official documents.
• TIE — The TIE is the foreigner identity card issued to non-EU residents, and it includes the NIE.
• Oficina de Extranjería — The Oficina de Extranjería is the immigration office that handles foreigners' registrations, permits and changes to your NIE record.

Key rules

• Order: Keep apostilles and sworn translations right behind the document they belong to.
• Originals: Show originals and hand over copies; consulates normally return originals after checking them.
• Copies: Spanish offices usually want the original plus one photocopy, but the count varies by office.
• Scans: Upload one clearly named PDF per document, within the portal's size limits.
• Local rules: Your office or consulate may set its own order or format, and that takes priority.

Show originals, hand over copies or scans, and keep your documents in one fixed order. What you hand in depends on where you file: a consulate abroad, an office in Spain, or an online portal.

Put your documents in this order

Use the same order for paper and for scans:

1. A cover index listing every document.
2. Application forms, filled in.
3. Proof that you paid the fee for your own route. The fee depends on your route, not on how you assemble the file.
4. Passport copy and photo.
5. The main evidence for your route: means, a contract or a family link.
6. Criminal record certificate, then medical certificate.
7. Insurance.
8. Any extras.

Put each apostille or legalisation, and each sworn translation (traductor jurado), directly after the document it belongs to. Never group them at the back.

Foreign documents need the apostille or legalisation and the sworn translation that the country of issue requires; each case is set out in How a Spanish residence application file is built.

Keep a complete copy of everything you filed. A notice to fix the file or a refusal comes with short reply and appeal deadlines.

Filing at a consulate abroad

Consulates usually want you to show the originals in person, or upload scans on their online system. Visa applications are filed at the Spanish consulate, usually in person or through an outsourced provider such as BLS or VFS, and some posts accept online submission.

Consulates often ask for the original plus one or two copies. They normally keep the copies and return the originals after checking them at your appointment. Some keep certain originals, such as the application itself. Your passport may be held for the visa sticker, or returned after approval.

Each consulate sets its own appointment and delivery method.

Filing in Spain

Most offices in Spain, including immigration offices (Oficinas de Extranjería) and the police stations that issue the TIE, ask for the original plus one photocopy of each document. A Spanish office generally accepts a translation by a sworn translator.

Most residence applications filed in Spain can be submitted electronically through the Mercurio platform or the sede electrónica. If you have no digital certificate, you can usually still file at the Oficina de Extranjería with an appointment (cita previa). Fingerprints and TIE collection are always in person at the police station, also by appointment. Digital nomad and some highly qualified worker applications are filed online with a special central unit. Online filings need scans only, no paper copies. EU citizens register under their own rules.

Scanning for online portals

• Save each document as its own PDF, with a clear name such as "passport" or "criminal-record".
• Scan whole pages, in colour or greyscale, at 200 to 300 dpi. Every edge and stamp should be visible.
• Portals usually accept PDF, and often JPG.
• Each file has a size limit, usually a few megabytes. Check the limits on the portal before you upload.

Timeline and deadlines

• Get your criminal record certificate: no more than 3 months before you file

• Add the apostille or legalisation and the sworn translation to your documents: after you receive each document and before your appointment

• Show your originals and hand over your copies or scans: at your appointment or when you upload the file

Documents you need

• Application forms for your route, filled in.

• Passport copy, with all pages if the office asks, plus a photo. Bring the original passport too.

• Evidence of your route's main requirement: means, contract or family link.

• Criminal record certificate, recent, with its apostille and a sworn translation (traductor jurado) into Spanish.

• Medical certificate, recent, with apostille and sworn translation where it comes from abroad.

• Insurance document, placed after the medical certificate.

Checklist

• Confirm whether your route is filed online, at the counter with an appointment, or at a consulate.
• Check the portal's size limit for each file and for the whole submission.