Hague apostille: the consulate does not issue it
The sentence that saves a trip: the Spanish consulate does not apostille. Not American documents, not Spanish ones. It has no such power, and its own services catalog says so.
The Hague apostille is the exclusive competence of the authorities of the country issuing the document. That is the whole rule, and the three answers below follow from it.
A US document for use in Spain
It is apostilled by the Secretary of State of the state that issued it: New York's for a New York certificate, Florida's for a Florida one. Federal documents are apostilled by the State Department in Washington.
Once apostilled, no further step at the consulate is needed: you present it directly in Spain, with a Spanish translation where required.
A Spanish document for use in the United States
It is apostilled or legalized in Spain, by the Ministry of Justice or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs depending on the document. The consulate does not do it.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| US document | Secretary of State of the issuing state |
| Spanish document | apostilled in Spain |
| Consular document | cannot be apostilled |
| Copies | originals or certified copies only |
A document issued by the consulate itself
It cannot be apostilled. Documents issued by embassies and consulates fall outside the Hague Convention, and that is one of the commonest misunderstandings.
One further wrinkle worth knowing: when a consular office legalizes a foreign document and does not use a security label, the document then has to be legalized at the Legalization Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Madrid. An extra step nobody expects.
Three rules that stop your document coming back
First: only originals are accepted, or certified copies issued by the same body that issued the original. An apostilled photocopy does not replace the original.
Second: the apostille does not expire, but if the document has limited validity —a birth certificate less than a year old, a criminal record— the apostille inherits that limit.
Third: legalization and apostille certify the signature and the capacity of the signatory, never the content. An apostilled document is not a document whose content anyone has vouched for.
An apostilled photocopy does not replace the original.Details verified on 8 September 2026.
We are not an official body. consuladosespana.us collects and checks information on Spanish consulates in the United States, with no link to the Government of Spain.
No appointments are booked here and nothing is charged for. Always confirm the detail with the office that covers you.