Criminal Records for the Spain Working Holiday Visa

Written by Volare | June 8, 2026

When preparing your consular file to travel to the Iberian Peninsula, verifying an impeccable conduct is an unavoidable step. Below, we detail the requirements regarding the police record to apply for the Spain Working Holiday Visa.

Certificate requirement by nationality

This regulation applies to all nationalities that make up the current bilateral agreements, although with slight variations in the presentation format according to the country of origin:

• Applies to Argentina: It is mandatory. It is required to present the criminal record certificate issued by the country or countries of residence of the last 5 years, duly legalized with The Hague Apostille. Being a native Spanish-speaking country, no translation is required.

• Applies to Australia, Canada, South Korea, Japan, and New Zealand: It is mandatory. It is required to present the criminal record certificate of the last 5 years, duly legalized with The Hague Apostille and obligatorily accompanied by its respective official sworn translation into Spanish.

  
  

Legalization and technical specifications

On a technical level, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain manages the security protocols for the youth mobility program based on the precise stipulations of each bilateral reciprocity treaty. The regulatory framework unavoidably requires that every applicant documentarily demonstrate lacking a criminal record during the last five years for crimes foreseen in the Spanish legal system.

This certificate must obligatorily undergo the international legalization process through the Apostille and, for non-Spanish speaking nations, linguistic conversion through a sworn translator endorsed by the Spanish authorities. Rigorously complying with this legalization format in your certificate will prevent the premature rejection of your file, providing you with the indispensable peace of mind to continue planning your arrival and your total immersion in the dynamic European market.

Likewise, it is a mandatory transversal requirement for all nationalities to evidence in the file the possession of a return flight ticket to leave the territory, or else, to present the financial documentation that irrefutably demonstrates the possession of exclusive additional funds for its future purchase.

To ensure you have the appropriate support and the most detailed information at every step of your application, we recommend consulting the complete guide on Volare's Spain Working Holiday Visa (WHV).