When names or dates differ between your documents

Key rules

• Reference: The name and date of birth in your passport are the reference for every form and document.
• Correct first: Where possible, get the issuing authority to correct the wrong document before you file.
• Spelling: Use one identical spelling in the application, supporting documents and translations.
• Decision: The consulate officer, or the Oficina de Extranjería if you file in Spain, decides whether your proof is enough and may refuse the file until the difference is resolved.

Your passport is the reference

Write your name and date of birth on every form exactly as they appear in the passport. If another document differs, either fix that document or prove the link between the two. The passport is the reference for every applicant, including UK citizens with Withdrawal Agreement rights and non-EU family members of EU citizens. An EU citizen who registers can show a national ID card instead, and that card is then the reference.

Fix the wrong document first

If a document has an error, the authority that issued it must correct it. Do this before filing, where possible. A corrected document is the cleanest answer, because nobody has to judge whether your explanation is enough.

If you cannot correct it, send proof that links the names or dates, with the apostille or legalisation and the sworn translation (traducción jurada) that the country of issue requires; each case is set out in How a Spanish residence application file is built.

Names and surnames

• One surname: put it in the first-surname field and leave the second field empty.
• Compound surname: enter the whole surname in the first-surname field, as in the passport.
• Middle names: put them with your given names in the name field.

Forms and offices handle the second-surname field differently, so read the instructions on the specific form.

Names in non-Latin scripts

Write your name in Latin letters exactly as in the passport's data page and the two lines of characters at the bottom of it. Any variant spelling can make the application be questioned.

Dates

Spanish forms use day/month/year, for example 25/03/1990. If your documents show different dates of birth, correct the wrong one with the issuing authority, or provide your birth certificate and an explanatory letter.

If your passport shows 01/01 because the day or month is unknown, write it exactly as the passport does.

Before you submit

Compare your passport, every supporting document, the translations and the form, letter by letter and date by date.

Documents you need

• Passport: the reference for the spelling of your name and your date of birth on every form and document.
• Proof linking different names, such as a marriage certificate, a name-change decree or a certificate of identity, issued by the authority that holds the record. Needed only if a name differs and cannot be corrected.
• Sworn translation (traducción jurada) into Spanish of any document in a non-Latin script or in another language, using the passport's spelling of your name.
• Birth certificate, to prove your date of birth if documents show different dates and the wrong one cannot be corrected first.
• Short explanatory letter that says which names or dates differ and why. It goes with the proof documents.