Libbie Stevens | Visa Advisor, Wilmer Health | Published: 5 May 2026
This guide is for informational purposes only and reflects requirements as understood in 2026. Visa requirements can vary by consulate and are subject to change. Always confirm specific requirements with the Spanish consulate or immigration authority handling your application. For specific advice about your individual application, contact us at hello@wilmerhealth.com.
If you are applying for a Spanish long-stay visa from the UK, getting your ACRO Police Certificate sorted is one of the first things you need to do. It is not a complicated document to apply for — but there are enough steps involved, and enough ways for things to go wrong, that it is worth understanding the process properly before you start.
This guide walks you through your options, what each involves, and what to watch out for along the way. For a complete overview of the ACRO certificate and why Spain requires it, see our complete UK guide to the ACRO certificate for a Spanish visa.
Before we get into the how, it is worth being clear on what you need to end up with by the time you submit your visa application.
The ACRO Police Certificate on its own is not enough. For it to be accepted by a Spanish consulate or immigration authority, it also needs to be accompanied by a UK Hague Apostille and a Spanish sworn translation. These are two separate steps that happen after the certificate is issued, and they each take additional time.
So when you are planning your timeline, you are not just waiting for the ACRO certificate — you are waiting for the full package of three documents to be completed and in your hands. Our 2026 ACRO certificate requirements checklist covers exactly what your final documents need to look like before submission.
You can apply for your ACRO Police Certificate directly through the ACRO Criminal Records Office website. Here is what that process looks like.
To complete your ACRO application you will need to supply:
The address history requirement catches a lot of people out. Ten years is a long time, and if you have moved around — including any time spent living abroad — you will need to account for all of it. Gaps or inaccuracies in your address history can delay your application.
ACRO offers two processing options:
Standard service — up to 20 working days. This is the slower option and, given that your certificate is only valid for six months from the date of issue, it does not leave a great deal of time to complete the apostille and sworn translation before your consulate appointment.
Premium service — approximately 2 working days. Significantly faster and much more practical if you have a fixed appointment date to work towards.
One important thing to be aware of whichever service you choose: ACRO only sends certificates by standard post. There is no tracked delivery option and no fast track postal service available. In practice this means that once your certificate has been processed, you have no way of knowing where it is or when it will arrive. Postal delays do happen, and when they do there is very little you can do about it. The processing times ACRO advertise are for the application itself — not for the time it takes to actually land on your doormat.
Once your ACRO certificate arrives, you will need to arrange the UK Hague Apostille through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and then a Spanish sworn translation from an accredited traductor jurado. These are separate providers, separate processes, and they need to happen in the right order — apostille first, translation second.
For more on that process, see our guides to whether your ACRO certificate needs an apostille for a Spanish visa and whether you need a sworn translation for your ACRO certificate.
Going direct is a perfectly valid route, but it does come with a few common stumbling blocks worth knowing about in advance:
Incorrect address history. Gaps or mistakes here are one of the most frequent causes of delay. Double check every address before you submit, including dates.
Blurred or unclear identity photos. ACRO requires a clear photograph of you holding your open passport. If the image is blurry or the passport details are not legible, your application will be returned.
Selecting the wrong options. The ACRO online form has several options to choose from and it is not always obvious which ones apply to an international visa application. Selecting incorrectly can mean your certificate comes back in the wrong format.
Coordinating three separate providers. Once you have the certificate, you are on your own when it comes to finding an FCDO apostille service and a sworn translator, making sure they are done in the right order, and managing the timeline across all three. Getting any of these steps wrong is one of the most common reasons ACRO certificates are rejected for Spanish visa applications.
Wilmer Health’s ACRO certificate service handles the entire process for you — from the initial application through to apostille and sworn translation — for £345.
You complete a straightforward online form with your details, and we take it from there. We apply directly to ACRO on your behalf, and here is where things get meaningfully faster than going it alone.
With direct counter access to the FCDO Legalisation Office in Milton Keynes, we can obtain your apostille in as little as 4 working days — compared to the 20 working days that members of the public face via the standard postal route. We then arrange your Spanish sworn translation through our network of accredited traductores jurados, coordinate everything in the correct sequence, and send your completed documents to you via tracked courier — to a UK or international address.
No chasing separate providers. No wondering where your documents are. No risk of getting the order wrong. Everything arrives together, correctly prepared and ready for your consulate submission, within 12 working days.
If you are confident in navigating government websites, have plenty of time before your consulate appointment, and are comfortable coordinating multiple providers independently, applying directly through ACRO is a reasonable route.
If you have a fixed appointment date, want the process handled correctly without the back and forth, or simply want one less thing to think about while you are planning a move to Spain — a managed service is likely to be the more straightforward choice.
Either way, the key is starting early. Factor in the full processing timeline — not just the ACRO certificate itself — and work backwards from your consulate appointment date to make sure everything will be ready in time.
Getting your ACRO certificate for a Spanish visa involves more than just a single application. By the time you submit your visa documents, you will need the certificate itself, a UK apostille, and a Spanish sworn translation — all completed in the correct order and within the consulate’s validity window.
Whether you go direct or use a managed service, plan ahead, and make sure you are not leaving everything to the last minute.
If you have a criminal record or are unsure what your ACRO certificate will show, see our guide to ACRO certificates and criminal records for Spanish visa applicants before you apply.