Sworn & certified translation
Spanish translation: sworn & certified
Your Spanish ↔ French documents are translated and certified by a court-sworn expert translator with a French court of appeal from our network, with legal validity recognised by French and foreign authorities.
Behind a language that looks "close" to French lie very concrete traps — two surnames to map, terminology that shifts between Spain and Latin America, ID papers bearing different names. Here’s what matters, and how we handle it.
At a glance
Spanish in brief
Family
Indo-European → Romance, Ibero-Romance branch. Spanish (Castilian) grew out of the spoken Latin brought to the Iberian peninsula from the 2nd century BC; it rose from the 10th century onward with the Reconquest and became a world language through the colonisation of the Americas.Comrie, The World’s Major Languages
Speakers
By far the most spoken Romance language — around 470 million native speakers, plus up to 90 million second-language users.Comrie · Ethnologue
Where
The national language of nineteen countries, from Mexico and Colombia to Spain, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, Chile… down to Tierra del Fuego, plus a vast Spanish-speaking minority in the United States and official status in Equatorial Guinea.Comrie
Norm
Since 1714 the Real Academia de la Lengua has overseen spelling and usage; regional variation stays moderate and rarely disrupts mutual comprehension.Comrie
Script
The Latin alphabet plus the letter ñ (and digraphs ch, ll); acute accents and diaeresis (ü). No transliteration, but very specific spelling conventions.Comrie
Where files get rejected
Why Spanish demands genuine expertise
Closeness to French is deceptive — and that is exactly where files get rejected.
Two surnames — issue #1
In the Spanish-speaking world a person carries two surnames: the apellido paterno (first surname, the father’s) followed by the apellido materno (the mother’s). On a Spanish or Latin American record, María García Fernández has the given name María, surname García (paterno) and Fernández (materno). Mis-mapped into the French "surname" / "given name" fields, this double name creates mismatches between birth certificate, passport and residence permit — and gets the file refused. We map it correctly and annotate it where needed.
Spain vs Latin America
Same language, different administrative terminology: a birth certificate is a partida or acta de nacimiento depending on the country; the ID document is the DNI in Spain but the cédula (de identidad) in several Latin American countries. The names of authorities, registries and endorsements vary by state — we know these national templates.
Spelling & special letters
The ñ and the accents are not cosmetic: año ("year") is not ano. We follow the exact spelling of names and places.
Personal names & civil status
Very common compound given names (José María, María del Carmen), particles, accents: we reproduce them faithfully and align spelling with your official ID.
Layout (DTP)
Stamps, seals, tabular registers, marginal notes: our studio mirrors the source document faithfully.
Documents
Spanish documents we translate
From Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador and across the Spanish-speaking world. Tell us the country of origin and the intended use: we adapt terminology and layout to the national template.
Legalisation & apostille
By country
The procedure depends on the issuing country; we check it case by case based on the document and its intended use.
Hague Apostille Convention member → apostille, with no consular legalisation.
Most Spanish-speaking countries are Apostille Convention members → apostille.
Most Spanish-speaking countries are Apostille Convention members → apostille.
Most Spanish-speaking countries are Apostille Convention members → apostille.
Status as of 6/2026 (source: HCCH). We never presume a given country’s status: we set out the exact steps once the document is identified.
Spanish ↔ French, sworn or certified
When legal validity is required (OFII, prefectures, town halls, courts, universities), your Spanish ↔ French translation is entrusted to one of our expert translators sworn before a French court of appeal, who signs and certifies it (ne varietur).
When sworn status isn’t required, our agency certification is enough for many uses. Every file’s quality is overseen in-house by our team, for consistent reliability.
Your questions, answered
Frequently asked questions
How do you handle the two Spanish surnames?
We identify the apellido paterno and apellido materno and map them correctly to French “surname” and “given name” fields, consistent with your passport or residence permit; a translator’s note can be added to remove ambiguity.
Spain or Latin America — do you tell them apart?
Yes — terminology (partida/acta de nacimiento, DNI vs cédula), authority names and layout are adapted to the country of origin.
Will my translation be accepted by OFII and the prefecture?
Yes — produced by a translator sworn before a court of appeal, with stamp, signature and ne varietur, it is accepted by all French authorities.
Do I need an apostille?
Often yes: Spain and most Spanish-speaking countries fall under the Apostille Convention. We verify the exact procedure by issuing country and intended use. Request a free quote — answer in under 2 hours.
What are the turnaround and price?
From €35/page, 2–5 business days, with a rush option available. Request a free quote — answer in under 2 hours.
Your file · our craft
Ready to translate your Spanish documents?
Free quote in 2 hours · Delivery in 2–5 days · Accepted by every authority.
Sources
Sources: Comrie (ed.), The World’s Major Languages (Routledge), ch. 10 “Spanish” (J. N. Green) · Ethnologue (speaker data) · HCCH — Hague Apostille status. Original prose; data verified.