Hague Apostille in Barcelona

The apostille has an international character and is defined as a procedure that allows documents issued by the authorities of one country to be recognised and take effect in another country different from the country of origin. In this way, the country of origin recognises that the authority issuing the document is competent to issue it, granting certainty and security to the country where the apostilled document will be used that the document signed in another country is genuine.

It may be better understood with an example:

Let us suppose that a client, called José, goes to the notary to sign a power of attorney to sell a house that he owns in Colombia, and under the formalities provided for in Spanish law. He grants the power of attorney before a Spanish Notary. José, after signing it, sends it to Colombia to be used to sell his property, but how can the Colombian Notary know that the power of attorney is a public document issued by a real and competent Notary from Spain? This is achieved by adding the Hague apostille to the power of attorney, which, issued by the competent body, ensures that the Spanish Notary is real and competent. Once the apostille is added, the Notary in Colombia has certainty of its validity and can recognise it with full effect.

The apostille procedure consists, simply, of adding a stamp to the document where the aforementioned recognition appears, and which must meet the formal requirements established by the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961. The international Apostille has the following appearance:

It is important to know that the Apostille only certifies the authenticity of the signature appearing on the document, the capacity in which the signatory of the document has acted, for example, as a Notary, the identity of the seal or stamp used, but it does not certify the content of the document.

As it does not certify the content, once the document has been apostilled, from a Notarial point of view, what is called a judgement of equivalence and sufficiency must be issued. Through this judgement, the Notary assesses whether, in view of the document presented, the functions of the foreign authority and its legal system, the content of the foreign document is equivalent to the Spanish one, and therefore valid and sufficient to carry out the act within Spanish territory.

The answer is no. The Hague Apostille will only be valid for documents issued and intended to have effect in the countries that are signatories to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961. You can consult the complete list of these countries according to the latest update from the Ministry of Justice.

In this case, it is necessary to resort to the traditional route of diplomatic or consular legalization. The procedure is more complicated, as it requires verification by two bodies, that of the country of origin and that of the destination.

Firstly, the authorities of the country of origin of the document must verify the legality of said document through the competent body, generally the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which includes the corresponding stamp. Subsequently, the destination country, through the Embassy, Consulate or Honorary Consul, will carry out the appropriate control, including the second corresponding stamp.

This system can be simplified if there are bilateral agreements between the different countries.

As we have seen, it will be necessary to apostille documents when they are to take effect in a country different from the country of origin, that is to say:

1. Documents issued in a foreign country that must take effect in Spain. A typical example would be powers of attorney granted abroad to be used in Spanish territory.
2. Public documents issued in Spain that must take effect abroad, as in the example seen above.

Public documents issued by an authority must be apostilled. Under no circumstances can private documents be apostilled (except, as we will see later, if they include a certification from an official). More specifically, the following must be apostilled:

1. Judicial documents, that is, those issued by the judicial authority of a State, including those from the Public Prosecutor's Office or from a lawyer, clerk, officer, or judicial agent.
2. Administrative documents, issued by an official or those incorporated into a private document, for example, those that certify the accuracy of a date stated therein.
3. Notarial deeds.

As a general rule, public documents must be apostilled, but there are exceptions. It is not necessary to apostille:

1. Documents issued by diplomatic or consular officials.
2. Administrative documents directly related to a commercial or customs operation.
3. Documents which, according to an International Convention, are exempt from being legalised or apostilled.

In addition to these documents, according to the Regulation 2016/1191 of 6 July 2016, the member countries of the European Union establish simplified systems for issuing and recognising certain public documents. Thus, member countries must accept some documents issued by another member state without the need for an apostille, directly recognising their validity. These documents that do not require an apostille are, mainly, certificates of:

1. Birth.
2. Proof of life.
3. Death.
4. Name.
5. Marriage, including capacity to marry and marital status.
6. Divorce.
7. Judicial separation or annulment of marriage.
8. Registered civil partnership, including capacity to register as a member of a registered civil partnership and status as a member of a registered civil partnership.
9. Cancellation of the registration of a civil partnership, judicial separation or annulment of a registered civil partnership.
10. Parentage.
11. Adoption.
12. Address or residence.
13. Nationality.
14. Absence of criminal record and the right to vote and stand in municipal elections and elections to the European Parliament.

The process of apostilling notarial documents is relatively straightforward. Once the public deed has been signed before a Notary, you can go to the corresponding College of Notaries to have the document apostilled.

Regarding the College of Notaries of Catalonia, the apostille is usually quick. The procedure requires waiting about three days and then collecting the document. If you want more information, you can click Here.

From JLA Notarios, notaries in Barcelona, we can also take care of apostilling any notarial document signed at our notary office on the Diagonal in Barcelona, by delivering and collecting the document to be apostilled from the College on your behalf. Additionally, we usually offer the possibility of processing these apostilles through an urgent procedure, so that you could collect the notarial document signed at JLA Notarios Barcelona with the apostille included within just one or two days.

In the event that you have granted or are going to grant a deed abroad and need it to take effect in Spain, you must apostille it before the competent public body of the country of origin, which will depend on each country. Once apostilled, it can take effect in Spain.

If the document is written in a foreign language, once apostilled, a sworn translation of the document in question must be provided. Such translation may not be necessary if the Notary is sufficiently familiar with the language in which it is written, but even in these cases the translation may be required if the document must be submitted to another body, such as the Public Registries.

The apostille has no validity or expiry period, but the period is determined by the apostilled document, for example, when the document has a limited period of effectiveness.

There is also no deadline to apostille the document; the interested party can do so whenever they consider appropriate.