Why it matters

Spain doesn’t just ask whether your passport country trusts you — it asks about the places you’ve actually lived recently. The Digital Nomad Visa requires criminal record certificates from your countries of residence over roughly the last two years. For the many Americans with a London chapter — a posting, a degree, a partner’s job — that means the FBI check alone doesn’t cover the story. The UK years need their own certificate, and that certificate is ACRO’s.

Files that miss this arrive “complete” and get a requerimiento asking for the UK record — adding a month of UK bureaucracy at the worst possible moment, while you’re in Spain watching your other documents age.

When you need it

  • You lived in the UK during the recent lookback window (commonly the last two years) before applying
  • Any Spanish residence application — nomad visa, UGE permits generally, long stays
  • Each adult in the application with UK residence history needs their own

How it works

  • 1 · Apply online with ACRO. Police Certificate application — ID, addresses, photo, paid online from anywhere.
  • 2 · Certificate issued. ~10 working days standard; premium is faster.
  • 3 · UK apostille. The FCDO Legalisation Office attaches it — the UK’s version of the apostille step.
  • 4 · Sworn translation of certificate + apostille into Spanish.
  • 5 · Into the file, fresh. Timed so it’s within ~three months of issue on filing day — synchronized with the FBI chain.

Common mistakes

  • Assuming the FBI check covers everything. Residence history drives the requirement — each recent country contributes its own certificate.
  • Sending a UK document for a U.S. apostille. Apostilles are national: UK documents → FCDO, U.S. documents → State Department. No exceptions.
  • Ordering ACRO early “to be safe.” Freshness cuts both ways — an ACRO from six months ago is expired paper at filing.
  • Address history gaps in the application. ACRO wants a clean address timeline; inconsistencies delay issue.
  • Forgetting a spouse’s UK years. Both adults’ histories are checked — his posting in Manchester counts even if the main applicant never left Texas.

Frequently asked questions

Very likely yes. Spain asks for criminal record certificates from the countries where you’ve lived in the recent past — commonly the last two years — not just your passport country. UK residence in that window means an ACRO certificate next to your FBI check.

Standard service runs about ten working days from a complete application, with a faster premium option. The apostille afterward adds time — plan the chain, not just the certificate.

The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) Legalisation Office — the UK equivalent of the U.S. State Department apostille. A U.S. authority can never apostille a UK document, or vice versa.

The UK’s disclosure model: older, minor matters can stop being shown on the certificate over time under police retention rules. What Spain sees is what the certificate prints — which is why the certificate, not your memory, is the reference.

Like all criminal record certificates in a Spanish file, it should be fresh — roughly within three months of issue at filing. Order it inside the window, timed with your FBI chain.

Yes — the application is online, with ID documents uploaded digitally, and the certificate can be delivered abroad or to a UK address. Living in the U.S. is no obstacle.

Yes. Certificate plus apostille, translated into Spanish by a sworn translator, exactly like the FBI package.

Multi-country histories are normal here

FBI plus ACRO plus a semester in Canada — layered histories are half my caseload, and the chains run in parallel when planned together. The free assessment asks where you’ve lived recently, and my follow-up lists exactly which certificates your history requires.

Sources: ACRO Criminal Records Office — Police Certificates · GOV.UK — Get a document legalised. This page is general information, not legal advice. Last updated: July 2026.