What documents I need for Spain's non-lucrative visa, and which ones need an apostille and a sworn translation

It is the visa for living in Spain without working or carrying on a professional activity, with guaranteed means of subsistence; it does not authorise you to work. You apply at the Spanish consulate for the district where you legally reside, in person (through a representative only exceptionally and with justification), and the visa application includes the application for the initial residence authorisation: they are processed together.

The legal deadline to decide on the visa is one month from the day after the favourable decision on the residence authorisation is received. The visa is valid for 365 days and, once in Spain, you have one month from entry to apply for the foreigner identity card at the immigration office or police station. Your spouse, registered or proven stable partner, minor children or children who have not formed their own family, and adult children with a disability requiring support may come with you.

Each consulate books appointments its own way: London at the BLS centre, New York by email with each applicant's details; Washington covers residents of Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland and the District of Columbia, and Los Angeles southern California, Arizona, Colorado and Utah.

All four consulates ask for sufficient means for the initial year of residence, or a regular source of income, of a minimum amount equivalent to 400% of the IPREM for the applicant, plus 100% of the IPREM for each dependent family member. The IPREM is Spain's Public Multiple-Effect Income Indicator, created by Royal Decree-Law 3/2004; its amount is set every year by the General State Budget Act, so check the figure in force on your application date rather than relying on a euro amount published on a website.

Any document proving the means is valid: bank statements and certificates, pension letters, rental income, investments. New York details what the information on accounts abroad must include: the bank's name and address, the account identification, the opening date, the balance at 31 December of the previous year and the average balance over the last year. Statements are the longest documents in the file: they are translated per page and you can translate only the pages you need.

• Dated certificates first. The criminal record certificate covers the countries where you have lived in the last five years; the medical certificate must refer to the 2005 International Health Regulations. Request them in good time, but not so early that they expire before the appointment: the consulate page does not set a maximum age, so ask when booking.
• Then the apostille, on the original. In the United States, the federal one from the Department of State for the FBI check; in the UK, the Legalisation Office for the ACRO certificate and civil registry certificates. If the country is not in the Hague Convention, legalisation.
• Last, the translation, apostille included. The translation reproduces the whole document, apostille included, so it is made on the already apostilled document. It is made by a sworn translator appointed by Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs; New York calls it an "official translation".
• Insurance and forms are not translated if they are already in Spanish: an insurer authorised in Spain usually issues the certificate in Spanish, and the visa and EX-01 forms are official templates.

• Translating before apostilling. The apostille is translated too; if you add it afterwards, the translation is incomplete.
• A local or state police certificate instead of the FBI check. New York says so expressly: it accepts the FBI's only.
• A medical certificate without the 2005 International Health Regulations wording. The consulate asks for that specific reference.
• Insurance from an insurer not authorised in Spain or that does not cover all the risks of the public system.
• Financial means without details. New York asks for specific data on each account (bank, address, identification, opening date, balances).
• A passport issued more than ten years ago or with less than a year's validity. The consulates do not accept it.
• Forgetting each family member's documents. Each one files their form, EX-01, photo, passport, insurance, criminal record, medical certificate, proof of residence and fee, as well as the certificate proving the relationship.