A birth certificate is a structured legal document, not just a certificate with a name and a date. It carries parentage, place and time of birth, marginal notes on marriage, adoption or nationality, registry references, and often a Hague Apostille if it's been prepared for use abroad.

For a sworn translation to be accepted, all of that has to be there, laid out so the receiving office can cross-check it against the original at a glance. That's what a translator appointed by Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAEC) is authorised to certify.

My signature, stamp and declaration of accuracy make the translation legally valid before Spanish civil registries, Extranjería, courts and notaries, and before foreign consulates and authorities that accept MAEC-sworn translations.

I've spent years translating official documents for British and other English-speaking clients on the Costa Blanca. The paperwork behind buying a home, moving here, marriages, births registered here, immigration processes, homologating a degree or dealing with an inheritance.

That means when you send me a document, I already know how the Spanish Administration reads it. Which sections a caseworker checks first, what format they expect and what tends to send a file back.

When you contact me, you deal directly with me. I answer your first message, review the document, prepare the sworn translation and hand it to you signed and stamped. If you also need me in person at a notary, a civil registry or a police station, I can attend as your sworn interpreter with the same MAEC appointment.

If you're not sure which version the receiving office wants, send me what you have and I'll help you check before we start.

The Hague Apostille goes on the original certificate, not on the translation, and it always goes on first. If it's needed, it has to be there before I translate, otherwise the receiving office will send the file back and you'll pay for the translation twice.

If the certificate is going to be used in a country different from where it was issued, and both countries are part of the Hague Convention, it needs an apostille.

Spanish civil certificates are apostilled at the Ministry of Justice; UK certificates at the FCDO Legalisation Office; US certificates at the Secretary of State of the issuing state.

If you're not sure, send me the certificate and tell me where it's going. I'll tell you whether you need the apostille and where to get it before we start.