Do you need physical copies of documents for immigration procedures in Spain?
Short Answer
For an immigration procedure applied for within Spain, you usually de facto don’t if you applied online. For many other procedures you absolutely do.
Long Answer
Physical copies are something that people talk about a lot, and quite often always with very strong opinions one way or the other. We’ve had clients vociferously insist that they need them and other equally vociferously insist that they don’t. So what’s the deal?
The reality is is that in the legal and legal-adjacent fields, most things have no no singular yes or no answer. That’s why becoming a lawyer (even a bad one 😂) is not particularly easy, whether in Spain or anywhere else.
Most initial immigration procedures applied for within Spain —that is, not at a consulate abroad— do not require physical copies when (and this is the key) you apply online and not in person. However, in every procedure the state reserves the right to ask for the physical documents if they deem it necessary or feel something is questionable. The reality is this happens very infrequently. However it is always a good idea to keep the document on hand until your case is resolved favorably in case of this eventuality. If you are going to apply in person physical copies are absolutely required.
Other non-immigration procedures do require physical documents, like a citizenship application (yes, this is not an immigration procedure!). This may come as a shock, as many people who are in the process of applying for Spanish citizenship will have noticed that the initial application is done online. This is quite right, however, the “swearing in” at the end requires physical documents for everything as this is done either before a notary who sends these documents to Spain’s Civil Registry, or before the Civil Registry proper, and this body requires the physical documents to add you as a citizen. Nothing would be worse than being approved to become Spanish, only to go and take the oath and find you don’t have the documents you need and have no way of getting them!
Why do you provide always physical copies then and why isn’t it optional?
We don’t always. We include physical shipping of documents to Spain, the US or Canada in all of our prices simply because it’s both economical and easy for us to do so. While it may seem rather crazy to include transatlantic shipping for free, or while some people may feel they should pay less if they don’t want it, the reality is it is fairly economical, as the transatlantic leg is always batched: that is, your apostille and many more are all included in the same shipment. We use tracked, certified Correos only for the last, domestic leg. This keeps costs down, lets us add in a sworn translation before sending it out to clients in the event one has been ordered, and gets physical copies quickly to those who truly need them. To those who probably won’t need physical copies, it gives them the peace of mind knowing, if a physical copy were required of them, they have it.
For other countries to which we don’t ship regularly we let clients know the costs of shipping so they can chose if they wish to have the physical copies or not.
Either way, the good news is, if you are applying online for any procedure you can begin your process as soon as the digital document arrives in your inbox. You do not need to wait on the physical copies.