What is the legalization of documents?
Legalization is the procedure that involves several steps of validation of the signatures of the authorities that subscribe a document for the purpose of its presentation in a third country.
Therefore, the original documents submitted in the application for approval or equivalence must be duly legalised in the country of origin, either through diplomatic channels or through the apostille of the Hague Convention.
This requirement shall not apply to documents issued by the authorities of the Member States of the European Union or signatories to the Agreement on the European Economic Area and Switzerland. They must be accompanied, where appropriate, by the corresponding official translation into Spanish.
The legalization does not have an expiration date.
What is the apostille of the Hague?
If the country that has issued the academic documents has signed the Hague Convention, legalization through the apostille is simplified. Each country determines the competent authority and procedure for apostilling academic documents, so you must be informed in the country of origin of your degree.
In most cases, the apostille is attached directly to the original document. However, in other countries it is necessary to perform a previous step:
- Certification of a notary or ministry. The authenticity of the document or the signature of the academic authority that subscribes to it is verified.
- Apostille of the Hague. Annotation or page that is added to the original document, certifying the authenticity of the signature and seal of the previous authority.
Electronic or digital apostilles are valid as long as they contain an operational QR or CSV.
The documents to be legalised were not issued by a country that signed the Hague Convention. What should it do?
In this case, the documents must be legalized through diplomatic channels.
The generally established procedure involves a chain of procedures in the following institutions:
- Ministry of Education of the country of origin
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country where these documents were issued.
- Diplomatic or consular representation of Spain in that country.
In order to know and initiate the legalization procedure, you must contact the competent authorities of the country of origin of your degree.
Is legalization valid by means of a compulsa or authentic copy of official documents?
No. No. The compulsa is the procedure by means of which a faithful copy of the original document is issued, without the validity or authenticity of the original document or the signature being recognized.
Therefore, before apostilling, it is necessary to make sure that a signature recognition of the corresponding authority is performed and not a mere compulsa or authentic copy. If what is presented apostilled is a compulsa, it will not be valid for the process of homologation or equivalence.
