Q&A: Do I need sworn translations?

Short answer

No. But… maybe get one anyway.

Long answer

From your first interactions with Spain’s immigration procedures until the very last step in obtaining Spanish citizenship, you’ll encounter government sites and pamphlets, lawyers’ websites, and gurus’ blogs telling you that foreign-language documents submitted in Spain must be translated by sworn translators. For example, on its page regarding non-lucrative visas, the Consulate General of Spain in Miami, Florida, USA, states that “Foreign ocuments must be legalized or apostilled and, where applicable, must be submitted together with an official translation into Spanish.”

But is this true?

To answer this question, we need to consider:

1. What administrative bodies like consulates and immigration offices can require of you,
2. Whether any legal or regulatory language requires sworn or official translations by default, and
3. Some pragmatic points related to your case.

What can administrative bodies like consulates and immigration offices require of you?

(The Congreso de los Diputados, where our laws are made).

Spanish administrative bodies, including our administration overseas —e.g., consulates, embassies— are governed by Law 39/2015, of 1 October, on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations (LCAPPA).

Article 1.2 of LCAPPA states that “Only by law, when it is effective, proportionate, and necessary for the attainment of the specific ends of the procedure, and in a reasoned matter, shall additional or different procedures than those contemplated in this law be included.” Additionally, article 53.1.d) LCAPPA says that an interested party, an applicant, has the right “To not present information and documents not required by the norms applicable to the procedure in question (…).”

It’s true that article 15.1 LCAPPA says that “The language of procedures processed by the General Administration of the State shall be Castilian. It’s also true that the first additional disposition to LCAPPA states that actions and procedures “in the matter of immigration and asylum” are regulated first by matter-specific legislation, and only subsidiary by LCAPPA.

Does any legal or regulatory language require sworn or official translations by default?

Curiously, both the vertebral subject matter law, Organic Law 4/2000, of 11 January, on the rights and liberties of foreigners in Spain and their social integration, and its regulation, Royal Decree 557/2011, of 20 April, mention translations of any type exactly zero times. If they don’t mention translations, it should be clear that they also don’t require official or sworn translations.

While Instruction DGI/SGRJ/06/2008, on the provision of foreign public documents for processing in procedures in foreigners and immigration matters, does state in its first point that “All document provided within a procedure provided for in the Regulation of Organic Law 4/2000 (…) in force shall be, accordingly, translated to Castilian or a co-official language,” this instruction raises four interesting points:

1. An instruction is neither a law or nor a regulation, but rather an “order” from a hierarchical superior to their hierarchical inferior regarding how the latter should behave, and is inapplicable to you —unless you’re the hierarchical inferior of the Director general of Migration— (remember article 1.2 LCAPPA);
2. This particular instruction is prior to LCAPPA and thus isn’t imbued with the spirit of simplification LCAPPA promotes;
3. This particular instruction, in its very title, applies to foreign public documents, and not all documents lodged in your application will be foreign public documents (e.g., bank statements); and
4. This particular instruction mentions “official” or “sworn” translations exactly zero times.

For citizenship by residence procedures —which are regulated in a different area of law— neither the Civil Code, nor the specific regulation, Royal Decree 1004/2015, of 6 November, nor Order JUS/1625/2016, of 30 September, require official or sworn translations.

No law or regulation on general administrative procedure, general immigration procedure, or citizenship by residence procedure require sworn or official translations?

Where, then, can we turn for an answer if neither general administrative law (LCAPPA) nor subject matter legislation say anything about translations?

While this isn’t the time or the place to explain the process of systemic legal interpretation, suffice it to say that, given the lacunae in the aforementioned legislation, we must turn to Spain’s law on civil procedure, applicable to court procedures of all types, Law 1/2000, of 7 January (LCP). LCP answers our underlying question in article 144:

“1. All documents drafted in a language other than Spanish or, as the case may be, the official language of the Autonomous Community in question, shall be accompanied by a translation thereof.

2. Said translation may be made privately and, in that case, if any of the parties should contest it within five days of service, stating that they do not consider it to be true and accurate and stating the reasons for the discrepancy, the Court Clerk shall order the official translation of the document, at the expense of the party who has submitted it, in respect of the party to whom there is a discrepancy.

However, if the official translation made at the request of the party should prove to be substantially identical to the private translation, the costs arising therefrom shall be borne by the party who requested it.”

(In this work, Thomas (bottom right) is shown doubting Jesus’s (center left) private translations (invisible)).

👁️‍🗨️. What LCP states is that, by default, a private translation is sufficient, unless one of the parties in the procedure questions the validity of the translation, in which case the court clerk or, in our case, the Administration, may order the obtainment of a sworn translation. However, if the two translations turn out to be essentially identical, the doubting Thomas must pay for the translation. If only he’d had but a little faith…

Being practical

Here’s the thing:

• You’re perfectly within your rights to submit your foreign-language documents with a private translation.
• These translations can come from a professional translator, from a friend or a family member with fluency in both languages, from DeepL, from ChatGPT, etc.
• The Administration, including Spanish consulates, should accept these translations.
• But Administrations, especially Spanish consulates —or worse, BLS— probably won’t accept these translations.

When should I put my foot down?

You can stick to your guns and demand that the rule of law be defended. We’re told by lawyers at Melcart Abogados that lawyers love clients with principles and deep pockets. You’ll not only be proven out to be right, but you’ll probably make immigration procedures easier for the next guy or gal wishing to live in Spain. However, you’ll also probably spend thousands of Euros and thousands or tens of thousands of hours in appeals.

You may also want to put your foot down when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union, and Cooperation has no sworn interpreters for a relevant language, such as Kazakh. In these cases, you may have to insist that a private translation is sufficient and, if required to provide an “official translation,” obtain one from a professional translator in the document’s country of origin, with a sworn statement of accuracy and its corresponding legalization or apostille.

When should I kowtow?

If you’re just trying to get things going as quickly as possible, with as few hassles as possible, you may decide that kowtowing to the Administration is the right thing for you. You’ll contribute to the functionary’s or BLS’s conviction that they’re right to demand an official translation, making it harder for the next applicant to exercise their rights, but, at the very least, you’ll also be contributing to the career of a hard-working sworn translator.

It’s up to you. Whether you need private, official but not sworn, or sworn translations, Continentalis can help organize these for you through appropriate translators.