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Federal Apostille and Notary Processing

U.S. Apostille, DMV & Sworn Translation Services for Americans in Barcelona

If you live in Barcelona and a Spanish office has asked for an apostilled U.S. document, you do not need to fly home and you do not need to post an original into a government queue on another continent. Upload it or mail it to us and the work is done by our U.S. offices: federal apostilles hand-delivered to the U.S. Department of State, state apostilles filed with the issuing Secretary of State, plus DMV record requests and sworn translation. The finished originals are couriered to you in Spain.

Online Upload or Mail-In Federal & All 50 States DMV Record Requests Sworn Translation

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U.S. Offices · Served Remotely

Everything Handled Stateside, Nothing Left to You

A U.S. apostille is issued only inside the United States — by the Department of State for federal documents, or by the Secretary of State of whichever state produced the rest. From Spain the do-it-yourself version means working out which of fifty-one authorities applies, mailing an irreplaceable original into it, and waiting blind. Most of the failures we see are not the apostille at all; they are the document arriving in the wrong queue or in a form that was never eligible.

Our service exists on the other side of that. You submit online or by post, we identify the right authority, prepare the filing, lodge it in person at the counter, and send the apostilled original back to Barcelona by tracked courier. Everything is run by our U.S. offices in your language and on your timeline, and nothing depends on you being in the country.

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What We Handle Remotely

Services for Expats in Barcelona

FBI Background Check

The document expats in Spain ask for most. Residency applications and renewals routinely want an apostilled FBI Identity History Summary, and because it is federal it can only be authenticated in Washington.

Birth, Marriage & State Records

These are state documents, not federal — an Ohio birth certificate is apostilled by Ohio. We file with the correct Secretary of State and clear the county-level step first in the states that require one.

Naturalization & Federal Certificates

N-550, N-570, N-560 and N-561 certificates, federal court orders, IRS Form 6166 and DD-214s — all authenticated federally, all hand-delivered by our Washington office.

DMV & Driving Records

Certified driving histories and abstracts requested from your state DMV and apostilled — commonly needed when a Spanish authority or insurer wants documented proof of your U.S. driving record.

Sworn Translation

Sworn and certified translation with a signed certificate of accuracy, prepared alongside the apostille so the two arrive together and in the order the receiving office expects.

Upload or Mail It In

Start online with scans so we can check eligibility before an original crosses the Atlantic, or post the originals straight to our U.S. intake. Either route costs the same and runs on the same schedule.

Simple · Tracked · Reliable

Three Steps From Your Flat in Barcelona

There is no appointment to book and no counter to visit. Start the order online, send what we ask for, and the next thing you handle is the courier at your door. Clients across Catalonia and the rest of Spain — and plenty elsewhere in Europe — use the service without ever meeting us in person.

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Upload or Post It

Submit scans through the secure portal, or mail the originals in. We confirm what the document is and which authority can authenticate it.

Filed in Person in the U.S.

Federal documents are walked into the U.S. Department of State by our Washington team; state documents go to the issuing Secretary of State.

Couriered to Spain

The apostilled original — with its translation, if you ordered one — arrives by tracked courier at your address in Barcelona.

Why It Goes Wrong From Abroad

Four Things That Cost Expats Months

Filing from outside the United States takes away every chance to fix a mistake quickly. These four account for most of the lost time.

Paying for legalization Spain never asked for Spain belongs to the Hague Apostille Convention, so an apostille stands on its own. Consular legalization is not required for a U.S. document here, and buying it costs weeks and money for nothing.
Sending a state document to the federal government Washington cannot authenticate a California birth certificate, and California cannot authenticate an FBI report. A packet in the wrong queue comes back unprocessed.
An original that was never eligible An uncertified photocopy, a certification that has gone stale, a seal that is not the registered one. Submitting scans first catches this before anything irreplaceable gets posted.
Ordering the translation at the wrong moment Translate too early and the apostille is not on the document yet; some offices want the apostille translated too. Ordering both together means the sequence is right.

Questions & Answers

Barcelona & Spain — Common Questions

Do I have to come in, or can this be done entirely remotely?

Entirely remotely, and that is how nearly all of it is done. Upload scans through the portal or post the originals to our U.S. intake; the apostilled documents come back to you by courier. Our Barcelona contact point at Passeig Joan de Borbó 99, 08039 is there if you would rather speak to someone locally first, but no visit is required at any stage.

Can a U.S. apostille be issued in Spain?

No — only a U.S. authority can issue one: the Department of State for federal documents, or a state's Secretary of State for everything else. That is exactly why the service is run from our U.S. offices rather than from a desk in Europe. Treat any provider claiming to issue U.S. apostilles inside Spain with suspicion.

Does Spain accept an apostille, or do I need consular legalization?

An apostille is enough. Spain is a Hague Convention member, so a properly apostilled U.S. document is accepted by Spanish authorities with no embassy or consular step on top. If someone has told you a U.S. document needs legalization for use in Spain, that advice is wrong.

What are DMV requests used for?

A certified driving record or abstract from your state DMV, apostilled for use abroad. Expats need it when a Spanish authority, employer or insurer wants documented proof of driving history from the U.S. We request the record from the state on your behalf and apostille it in the same job, so you are not coordinating a DMV from six time zones away.

Which kind of translation will my Spanish office accept?

Ask them before you order, and tell us the answer. We provide sworn and certified translation with a signed certificate of accuracy, which satisfies most requirements. Some Spanish public registries specifically demand a traducción jurada from a translator appointed by Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs — a Spanish credential — so if that is what your office requires, say so at the start and we will confirm how to handle it rather than have the translation rejected at the counter.

What does it cost?

Federal apostilles are $120 per document, flat, with the U.S. government fee included. State-level apostilles are {{STATE_PRICE}}, since every state sets its own fee. DMV record requests and translation are quoted with the job, as is international courier to and from Spain — nothing is buried in the headline price.

How long should I allow?

The U.S. filing runs about 10 business days for federal documents; state filings vary by state. Add the courier legs across the Atlantic and a realistic plan is a few weeks end to end. Tell us your actual deadline when you start — residency appointments do not move, and we would rather know at the beginning than be told at the end.

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U.S. Apostille, DMV & Sworn Translation Services for Americans in Barcelona