Last updated: 30-Sep-2026. Salamanca, Spain
Update: Plain-language revision explaining the existing alternatives, two proposed Spanish documents and the decision they would support. The agreed solution is unchanged.
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Solution: use any lawful substitute already available in the particular procedure, such as a qualifying Consular Conduct Certificate in nationality proceedings or a previously filed certificate that remains legally sufficient. Apply any existing exception before requesting a new Belarusian certificate. [2–4]
If none of the existing options resolves the case and the required evidence genuinely cannot be obtained, IBDED proposes an additional immigration procedure with two Spanish documents:
1. An official record explaining why the certificate cannot be obtained — which Belarusian certificate is needed, what the applicant tried or could not access, and what prevents them from obtaining it.
2. A Spanish report of the additional criminal-record checks — the lawful checks in Spain and EU systems, an official or diplomatic request to Belarus where lawful and useful, the information obtained and what remains unknown.
Practical result: once the time allowed for checks has ended, the Spanish authority assesses the evidence it can lawfully use and explains its decision. It would not automatically close the application just because Belarus has not replied. The legal requirement concerning the applicant's criminal record remains; the proposal changes how unavailable evidence is handled.
Who should act: the migration authorities should clarify the options already available and determine how to put the two-document procedure into operation. The regulatory option examined below concerns Royal Decree 1155/2024, not a change to the criminal-record requirement in Organic Law 4/2000. These two documents are proposals, not forms that already operate in every case. Neither would certify that a person has no convictions anywhere in the world. No reply from Belarus is not proof of a clean record. Nationality follows its own rules.
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The authority needs to decide whether the applicant meets the criminal-record requirement for the particular Spanish procedure, not just why a document is missing. The requirements for temporary residence and nationality by residence differ. A criminal-record certificate, police information and a document showing that someone is entitled to practise a profession also answer different questions. Organic Law 4/2000, Article 31(5), establishes a residence condition concerning criminal records in Spain and previous countries of residence; the nationality procedure has its own documentary rules. [1–3]
This explains the separate proposal. A civil-status declaration cannot establish a criminal-record condition, and an academic assessment cannot replace it. Within criminal-record matters, a rule for residence cannot be extended to nationality or professional registration merely because the foreign document has a similar name.
Article 130(2) of Royal Decree 1155/2024 identifies the relevant foreign countries and period for the procedures within its scope: residence during the five years before entry into Spain. It also provides exceptions for continuous presence in Spain during the five years immediately before the application and for the specified previous-application situation where the relevant circumstance was already established and the person has not subsequently left Spain. The provision must be applied to the actual procedure and facts; it is not a general exemption for every foreign national or every application. [2]
Where Article 28 of Law 39/2015 applies, the authority should retrieve a document already submitted if it still provides the evidence needed. This avoids making the applicant submit the same material again. It does not make an old certificate cover a later period or prove events after its issue. [4]
Someone who lived in Belarus may need evidence from Belarus even if they are not a Belarusian citizen. The relevant question may be where the person lived, rather than their nationality. A consular checklist for Belarusian citizens does not show what route is available to a former resident of another nationality. Check separately who holds that person's records and whether they can request them. [2]
Order JUS/1625/2016 provides for the origin-country criminal-record certificate and permits a Certificado Consular de Conducta where it is based on consultation with the competent authorities of the country of origin and meets the applicable translation and legalisation conditions. Its Annex, paragraph 5, separately addresses justified force majeure preventing production of the origin-country certificate: certificates are then required from each country of residence during the five years immediately preceding the application. This is an alternative evidentiary route with its own conditions, not a general waiver. [3]
The qualifying consular certificate belongs to this nationality analysis. Its admissibility must not be presented as automatic in immigration procedures. Likewise, a residence exception does not automatically satisfy the separate nationality assessment.
Additional Provisions 20 and 21 of Royal Decree 1155/2024 contain a diplomatic-retrieval mechanism for their specified files. They do not establish that non-response by a foreign authority proves the absence of convictions. The enacted mechanism can return the documentary burden to the applicant after unsuccessful official retrieval. The filing deadline was 30 June 2026; these provisions are not presented here as an open route for new applications. Their relevance is to qualifying timely applications and the expressly proposed transitional arrangements. [2]
The Belarusian Embassy in Madrid publishes separate procedures for a criminal-record certificate and a Certificado de Buena Conducta. The published intake requires personal attendance by appointment and valid documents establishing identity and nationality. The good-conduct procedure includes a request for information from the Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs and consent to data processing. The Embassy directs applicants to Spanish legalisation and asks them to confirm acceptance with the receiving authority. [5]
Two different problems can arise. The person may be unable to obtain the certificate because, for example, they cannot provide the valid identity document the Embassy requires. Advertising the service does not show that this person can use it. Alternatively, the certificate may already have been issued, but a required authentication step cannot be completed. Asking for another identical certificate may not solve that second problem.
A certificate issued by a consular mission follows a different authentication route from an ordinary public document issued in Belarus. The Embassy's guidance expressly excludes its certificates from apostille and directs the applicant to legalisation in Spain. Authentication, the contents certified and their sufficiency for the receiving procedure remain separate questions. [5–6]