Selling property, is UK criminal record required

Member since 23 April 2024

fincafrancesesMember23 April 2024 17:59:02

My partner and I have lived in a rural area on La Palma in the Canaries for the past 22 years but are now in the process of selling our property due to family matters.

The sale is going OK but after 8 months of paperwork, the estate agents have now asked us to apply to the UK for a Criminal Certificate which would be posted to us here in the Canaries and which proves we are not criminals.

Once that is done, we then have to send it back to the UK, get it Apostilled in the UK then sent back to us.

We have nothing to hide but we are not sure this 3 month process is oficially required.

For information, we have our residencia right from the start of living here and of course have our ID card, first the NIE card, now a TIE card.

Also, we pay our tax here and are fiscally resident.

It seems that British buyers in the Canaries/Spain have to go through the process of Criminal Certificate and Apostilled.

But I can't find any information on sellers having to do the same.

I'd be very appreciative if anybody can advise us on this.

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gwynj Bulgaria Expert

Member since 30 June 2020

gwynjBulgaria Expert27 April 2024 05:34:15

2584

@fincafranceses

I've never heard of a criminal record check for buying or selling property in Spain... but I suppose it's possible if there's some kind of military clearance issue, and I don't have any reason to doubt your agent. However... a second opinion wouldn't hurt (perhaps from your local notary). I'm also surprised that any property sale can take 8 months and still not be concluded (but military clearance might be very slow)!

Even if it's a military clearance issue, I thought that applied to the buyer only. Perhaps they want to do the seller too in your case as your original purchase was so long ago. Or perhaps they didn't conduct a check on you at that time (as the UK was in the EU). But your agent should be able to confirm the reason.

If, for whatever reason, a criminal record check IS required, I suggest you ask them if your SPANISH one would be OK (as you're legal Spanish Permanent Residents who have lived there for over 20 years).

If they insist on your UK check, then it's definitely not a 3-month process; probably more like 3 or 4 weeks, if you're organized.

1. You need an ACRO certificate, and they have priority (2 days, extra cost) processing with applications made online.

https://www.acro.police.uk/s/acro-servi … rtificates

It'll be quicker if you have someone in the UK to send it to (and then send it on), but you can also courier it to you in Spain.

2. The ACRO isn't apostilled, but legalised. The legalisation office is in London, and you (or your friend) need to send the physical certificate from step 1 to this office. There's also an online application for this, as you need to pay in advance and get an address/reference label to print off that goes with the certificate.

This step takes 2-3 weeks and they will courier it back to you in Spain.

Overall, you have two online applications for 200 quid, and 3 courier dispatches to ferry the certificate around for another 100.

https://www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised

Good luck resolving this and completing your sale!

compel Active member

Member since 26 March 2021

compelActive member28 April 2024 17:20:40

A criminal check is part of the visa process, but I wonder if it is being asked for now as you were there before Brexit and the information is not on record. The fact you are wanting to take the money out of the country may be the reason. Everyone who is in the legal profession and banks want to make sure their backside is covered