French ↔ Spanish sworn translation

Who needs this service?

This service is most often used by French and Belgian nationals settling or marrying in Spain, cross-border families completing Registro Civil inscriptions, students from Francophone countries validating diplomas, and applicants whose civil documents were issued in French in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal or other Francophone jurisdictions. Spanish nationals also use it in the opposite direction for procedures in France, Belgium or Switzerland.

Translation direction

Both directions are handled from this same page; the direction you need depends on the destination authority and procedure.

Countries and issuing authorities

• France — mairies (extrait or copie intégrale d'acte de naissance), the casier judiciaire national (bulletin n°3), universities and notaires.
• Belgium — communal administrations and the extrait de casier judiciaire; some Belgian records are issued bilingually in French and Dutch.
• Switzerland — cantonal civil-status offices, whose documents are often multilingual (French/German/Italian).
• Francophone Africa — civil registries and courts issuing French-language records; issuing systems differ by country and are not French administration documents.

Common documents

• Birth certificate
• Marriage certificate
• Criminal record certificate
• Academic transcript / diploma
• Notarial deed / power of attorney
• Single status certificate (certificado de soltería)
• Family book (libro de familia)

Common procedures

• Spanish Nationality
• Extranjería
• Marriage in Spain
• Registro Civil
• University Admission

Translation considerations

• French civil-status extracts come in several formats (extrait avec filiation, copie intégrale, plurilingual CIEC forms) — the sworn translation states which format was issued.
• Accents and compound surnames (particules, hyphenated names) are preserved exactly and matched to your existing Spanish paperwork to avoid discrepancies.
• Belgian and Swiss documents use administrative terminology that differs from France's — the translator renders the issuing country's terms, not a generic "French" equivalent.
• Bilingual or multilingual originals (Belgian, Swiss, or Arabic–French Maghreb documents) are translated with each language section accounted for.
• Marginal annotations (mentions marginales) on French civil records — divorces, name changes, recognitions — form part of the certified translation.

Turnaround options

Delivery and digital format

Upload a clear scan of the document (including any apostille and marginal annotations); the sworn translation is delivered as a digitally signed PDF (PAdES) valid under Orden AUC/213/2025 where applicable. If the receiving authority also wants paper copies, that requirement comes from them — check their instructions.

Apostille and legalisation

France, Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg are parties to the Hague Apostille Convention, and some EU public documents circulate between member states without apostille under EU rules — but practice varies by authority and procedure. For French-language documents from other jurisdictions, the issuing country's own legalisation route applies. Always confirm the requirement with the authority receiving your documents; Traducet does not determine the legal validity of the original.

Common questions