Authentication and translation of documents

Before some New Zealand documents can be used overseas, they may need to be authenticated. This is because non-New Zealand officials are not able to determine on sight the authenticity of New Zealand documents.

Authentication for countries that have signed the Hague Legalisation Convention is done by means of an Apostille Certificate. Both New Zealand and Spain are signatories to this convention. Before commencing this process you should check the requirements of your particular case with the Spanish authorities or their representatives.

The Apostille Certificate is affixed to the document at the Authentications Unit of the Department of Internal Affairs in Wellington.

For information on document authentication including obtaining an Apostille Certificate, go to the "Services" category of the Department of Internal Affairs website.

If you require documents for official use, we recommend that you ask that they be translated by the Translation Unit of the Department of Internal Affairs in Wellington. Go to the "Services" section. In Spain, we recommend that you use a Sworn Translator (traductor jurado).

The Embassy can in certain circumstances translate some original New Zealand documents into Spanish once they have been authenticated. A fee will be charged for this. Please consult the Embassy first before sending your documents.

How to request information from the New Zealand Police

If you need to obtain a Police Law Enforcement Certificate (Certificado de Penales), you can access the New Zealand Ministry of Justice´s website www.justice.govt.nz, where you will find an application form for "Criminal Records". It is important that you specify when requesting your criminal records that it is to be used in Spain and therefore translated and apostilled by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) before couriering it back to you. The Criminal Records certificate must be sent from the Ministry of Justice to DIA for authentication and translation.