DOCUMENTATION FOR PROCEDURES AT THE USC: REQUIREMENTS AND SUBMISSION PLACES 1. REQUIREMENTS FOR DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED TO THE USC Registry offices In compliance with Article 38.4, Law 30/1992, of the Law of the Legal Regime of Public Administrations and Common Administrative Procedure, official documents may be submitted in one of the following registry offices: a) USC General or auxiliary Registry Offices b) Official Registry Offices of the General State Administration (Royal Decree 772/1999, of the 7 th of May, modified by RD 209/2003, of the 21 st of February) or Autonomous Regions (in Galicia, Decree 164/2005, of the 16 th of June) c) In Registry Offices of City Councils, provided that there has been an agreement signed d) In the Spanish Post Office, using the Registered Mail Service (http://correos.es/eng/01p-enviardoc/01- CPostales/02-CCertificadas/01P0102-CCertificadas.asp). The envelope must be submitted open so that the staff at the Post Office certifies the submission date with a stamp. e) In Spanish diplomatic representations or consular offices abroad. If the document submission or sending is done through other channels than those stated above or they lack the required formalities, the entry date for the relevant purposes, will be the date and time in which it is recorded in the USC Registry Office or in the administrative office in charge for the proceedings. Documents to be submitted by electronic or telematic media will be ruled by specific norm or by what is set out in the announcement. Attested or collated copies issued in Spain Attested copies will only be valid when done by the following organs or administrative units: 1) Registry Offices set out above. 2) Administrative unit where the proceedings are dealt with. 3) Spanish organ where the document was issued. 4) Spanish notaries. 5) Spanish diplomatic representation, if submitted abroad. Attested or collated documents by any other entity different from those above will not be accepted. In those cases, the original document will be requested for its checking by the administrative unit in charge of the procedure. Original documents will also be requested if there is no clear identification of the organ issuing the attested copy and the position, name and surname of the person signatory in the attested copies.
Requirements for the documents issued abroad To have effect at the USC, foreign documents must be translated and legalised or with the Hague apostille, except stated otherwise in a related norm or the official announcement. A) Legalisation of Documents 1.- The documents submitted must be official, issued by the relevant authorities and legalised through diplomatic channels or, if applicable, by means of the Hague Convention Apostille. 2.- The legalisation or apostille must be placed on the original document before copying the document intended to be attested. This requirement will not be necessary for documents issued by authorities of EU Members or countries signatory of the Agreement of the European Economic Area, and it will not be required either for study plans and course programmes. 3.- Information corresponding to this legalisation must be provided with by the Authorities or Consular Services of the origin country. 4.- Documents issued in EU Members or countries signatory of the Agreement of the European Economic Area do not need any kind of legalisation. These countries are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom. B) Legalisation through Diplomatic Channels The documents submitted must be official and properly legalised through diplomatic channels, notwithstanding Section C) below. The legalisation requires the recognition of the signatures stated in the original document. For these purposes, it is necessary: 1.- That the signatures on the original document are recognised by the Ministry of Education in the country of origin, when dealing with certifications of an educational nature. 2.- That the signatures on the original document are recognised by the authorities of the corresponding Department in the country of origin, when dealing with certifications of any other nature. 3.- That the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country of origin legalises the recognition stated in 2 above. 4.- That the Spanish Diplomatic Agent in the country of origin recognises the signature of the legalisation above. All documents issued by the consular services of the foreign country in Spain must be legalised by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. C) Hague Apostille and Andrés Bello Agreement
1.- HAGUE APOSTILLE The legalisation of documents issued by countries signatory of this Agreement will be adjusted to what is foreseen therein (Spanish Official Gazette 25/9/1978 and 17/10/1978). In this case, the signature s authenticity will be certified by means of an apostille placed by the relevant authority in the State issuing the document. The apostille is placed on the document or its extension. The information corresponding to this legalisation will be provided with by the Authority or Consular Services of the country of origin. The countries signatory of the Hague Convention 2.- ANDRÉS BELLO AGREEMENT The documents issued in countries signatory of the Andrés Bello Agreement (Art. 2º, Section 6, Resolution 006/98, approved by the 19th Meeting of Ministers of Education of the Andrés Bello Agreement) will be legalised through diplomatic channels and they will be submitted in: a. The Ministry of Education of the country of origin for qualifications and study certifications and the relevant Ministry for birth and nationality certificates. b. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the issuing country. c. In the Spanish diplomatic or consular representation in the issuing country. The signatory countries of this agreement are: Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain and Venezuela. When the country is also signatories of The Hague Convention, the procedure stated in the previous section can also be used. D) Translation of Documents Once legalised, the documents will be, if applicable, accompanied by their translation. Official translations can be done: a) By the relevant Office in the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. b) By the UNESCO. c) By any Spanish diplomatic or consular representation abroad. d) By the Spanish diplomatic or consular representation in the country from which the candidate is citizen. e) By sworn translator, properly authorised and registered in Spain. E) Attested Copies of Foreign Documents As a general rule, original documents will not be submitted. When an attested copy is required and this copy is related to a document issued abroad not requiring a Hague apostille or legalisation, the original document must be submitted together with a photocopy and it will be handed back to the interested party once the attesting has taken place. If the copies had already been attested and legalised before a Spanish notary or Spanish diplomatic or consular representations in the issuing country, the simultaneous submission of the original will not be necessary. The attesting of the documents legalised through diplomatic channels or with The Hague apostille will not be necessary.
2. LEGALISATION OF USC CERTIFICATIONS AND DOCUMENTS To be effective abroad, the official documents issued by the USC will also have to comply with the norms stated in the corresponding announcements. If either the Hague apostille or the legalisation is required, the following procedures will be carried out: 1.- The relevant authorities or organs to place the apostille on Spanish documents are: a) Judicial documents: The Secretary of the Government of the Superior Court of Justice in the relevant Autonomous Region for documents authorised by relevant authorities or judicial civil-servants. In Galicia it is located in: Palace of Justice: Plaza de Galicia, s/n 15004 A Coruña Tel.: 981 182 056 / 057 b) Notarial documents: The Deans of the relevant Notarial Associations for documents authorised by a notary and private documents whose signatures are legitimised by a notary. In Galicia it is located in: Calle Arcebispo Lago, 12 15004 A Coruña Tel.: 981 120 481 and 981 120 478 c) Other documents: Ministry of Justice for documents of the Central State Administration: C/ San Bernardo nº 45 28015 Madrid Tel.: 913 90 20 11 and 913 90 21 48 2.- In compliance with Order of the 16th of April 1990 (Spanish Official Gazette num. 94), academic documents of an official nature and valid in the whole national territory will be subject to the signature s recognition either by the Ministry of Education and Science or by the services determined for this purpose by the regional administrations with complete authority on educational issues, depending on the type of document, and previously to the apostille procedure. In any case, after the recognition of the signature by the Ministry of Education in Madrid or by the Regional Ministry of Education and University Regulation, the apostille will be issued by the Ministry of Justice (C/ Sano Bernardo num º 45 / 28015 Madrid / Tel.: 913 90 20 11 and 913 90 21 48) 3.- Order of the 16th of April 1990 (Spanish Official Gazette of 19th of April 1990) sets out that academic documents of no official nature and validity in the whole national territory (postgraduate and specialisation courses: Specialist, Expert, etc ) can be legitimised by notaries. For these academic documents to be legitimised, either those signed by the Rector or by the director or other persons responsible, the interested party must follow the steps:
a) Recognition of the signature: The recognition of the signature can be carried out by the following notaries in Santiago and Lugo: Notaría de D. Marcelino Estevez Fernández. Calle de la Agro, 7-1º 15706. Santiago de Compostela Notaría de D. Manuel Remuiñán López. Calle Montero Ríos, 17, Baixo.15706. Santiago de Compostela. Notaría de Héctor R. Pardo García. Calle General Pardiñas, 18. - Entreplanta C. 15701. Santiago de Compostela Notaría de Manuel Ignacio Castro-Gil Iglesias, Calle Reina, 1, 4ª, CP 27001 Lugo. b) Legalisation of the document by including the Hague Apostille: Delegación del Colegio Notarial de Galicia Calle Arzobispo Lago, 12 15004 A CORUÑA Tel. 981 120 481 and 981 120 478 Fax: 981 122 014 4.- Other non-academic documents can be legitimised by the above-mentioned notaries in Santiago and Lugo.