CANCELLATION OF CRIMINAL RECORDS

If you committed a crime in Spain and you need to erase your criminal records, this is the blog you need to read.

ARE CRIMINAL RECORDS ERASED AUTHOMATICALLY?

The answer is NO.

Everyone convicted by a final judgement, who have extinguished their criminal responsibilities, have to clear their criminal records (background check) from the Spanish Ministry of Justice; otherwise criminal records will not be erased.

ALTHOUGH YOU SERVED A SENTENCE, YOU WILL KEEP CRIMINAL RECORDS UNTIL YOU CLEAN THEM.

WHICH ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR CANCELLING CRIMINAL RECORDS IN SPAIN?

There are three requirements to be fulfilled in order to clear your records:

FIRST: pay the civil liability or the amount imposed in the conviction.
SECOND: you must serve the sentence imposed, and during that period you cannot commit any new crime.
THIRD: wait for a specific period of time (explained below).

SHOULD I PAY THE FINE (“MULTA”) TO CANCEL THE CRIMINAL RECORDS?

The answer is YES.

It is mandatory to pay the fine (“multa”) before asking for the cancelation of criminal records.

HOW LONG SHOULD I WAIT UNTIL I CAN ASK FOR CRIMINAL CANCELLATION?

The cancellation of criminal records is recorded at Article 136 of the Criminal Code.

After you have served your sentence, you must wait a specific period of time before you can submit your request for final expungement.

This depends on the type of conviction:

For minor offenses, you must wait 6 months after completion.
For crimes for which the sentence is less than 12 months (for example less than 1 year of driving license withdrawal), you must wait 2 years after completion.
For the rest of the less serious crimes (whose penalty is between 1 and 3 years), you must wait 3 years of waiting time.
For serious penalties of between 3 and 5 years, you must wait 5 years after serving the sentence.
And, finally, for serious sentences (such as sentences of 5 or more years of imprisonment), a total of 10 years of waiting time after serving the sentence.

In case of security measures (i.e.: fines, social works, etc), criminal records can be cancelled once the security measure has been completed or prescribed.

It is important to keep in mind that the time limits are counted from the day after the sentence is served (i.e.: if you have to pay a fine, the period starts counting the day after the payment).