How a past conviction affects your Spanish residence application

Key rules

• Relevant convictions: Only convictions for conduct that is also an offence in Spain count against you.
• Honesty: Answer truthfully about your record, because hiding a conviction can lead to refusal or later loss of your permit.
• Appeal deadlines: The deadlines run from the day you are notified of the refusal.

Which convictions count

A foreign conviction for something that is not a crime in Spain is not relevant. In practice, violent, property, drug and fraud offences count; a minor traffic or parking fine does not.

The authorities look at your record in Spain and in the countries where you lived over the last five years. They also check for entry bans in the Schengen area and for any public-order or security concern. A visa or permit can be refused for any of these, or for false documents.

Spent or cancelled convictions

Declare every conviction that still stands on record in the country that issued it, and the Spanish authority assesses it. A conviction that is cancelled or spent there does not appear on your certificate: you do not declare it and it is not counted against you.

What you must disclose

Give a truthful account of your criminal record on the form, and provide the police certificates required. Hiding a relevant conviction can lead to refusal, or later to revocation or non-renewal of your permit for false information.

If you have a conviction that would count, take legal advice before you file.

If your application is refused

Note the date on the refusal notice. You have two alternatives:

• Reconsideration: an optional appeal (recurso de reposición) to the body that decided, within 1 month of the notification.
• Court appeal: a contentious-administrative appeal in the Spanish courts, within 2 months of the notification.

You cannot run both at once. If you file reconsideration, the 2 months for the court appeal start again from the day you receive the answer. You can also file a new application instead of appealing.

For a visa refused at a consulate, file the reconsideration at that consulate; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs decides it. The steps are in consular visa refusal versus residence refusal.

Documents you need

• Police certificate (criminal record certificate) from each country covered by your residence history, issued by that country's authority. The countries and period are in Which countries' police certificates you need and for how long, and the maximum age is in How to get a criminal-record certificate from abroad.