Spanish visa applications: criminal records

Raymundo Larraín Nesbitt, March, 4. 2024

Marbella-based Larraín Nesbitt Lawyers has over 21 years' taxation & conveyancing experience at your service. We offer a wide range of over 50 legal and corporate services. Our team of native English-speaking lawyers and economists have a long track record successfully assisting expats all over Spain. You can review here our client’s testimonials.

1^st of March 2024

A staple requirement across all visa applications in Spain is that applicants must supply a criminal record over the previous 5 years.

This record should be clean, showing no records of any kind ("no trace / no live trace").

However, at times some applicants made a juvenile mistake which led them to commit a misdemeanour i.e. drunk driving offence. Unbeknownst to them, 30 years on this still shows on their record. If the conviction is spent, you can request to have it removed so your criminal record appears as clean. If unspent, you simply cannot.

As stated, for the purposes of a Spanish visa application, your criminal record must always appear as clean. If there is any conviction showing, whether spent or unspent, your visa application is going to be turned down by Spanish Immigration Authorities.

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At Larrain Nesbitt Abogados, we have assisted hundreds of non-EU nationals, and their families, to successfully attain a Spanish residency permit since 2013.

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At Larrain Nesbitt Abogados (LNA) we have over 21 years’ experience assisting clients buying, selling, or renting properties. We can also offer you a competitively priced accounting service to file your landlord taxes every tax quarter nationwide. We are also specialized in immigration & residency visas. You can contact us by e-mail at info@larrainnesbitt.com, by telephone on our UK line (+44) 07543 838 218, Spanish line (+34) 952 19 22 88, or by completing our contact form to book an appointment.