To clear a criminal record in Spain, your sentence must have been extinguished and the period set by article 136 of the Criminal Code (Código Penal) must pass without you reoffending: six months for minor penalties, two years for penalties of up to twelve months or for offences of negligence, three or five years for other less serious penalties and ten years for serious ones. The Ministry of Justice can clear it of its own motion, but you can also apply yourself on its online portal.
Clearing your criminal record is the final step in truly putting a conviction behind you. While it remains on the register, it can block a public-sector job application or complicate renewing your residence permit. But it is not for ever: once the legal periods have passed, you are entitled to have it removed. We explain how.
What a criminal record is
It consists of the entries for final convictions held in the Central Register of Convicted Persons (Registro Central de Penados), which comes under the Ministry of Justice and is regulated by Royal Decree 95/2009. Only a final conviction creates a criminal record: an arrest, a complaint or a dismissed case is not a criminal record, although it may leave a trace in police databases (we explain this in how to find out whether you have a police record and how to delete it).
Under article 136.4 of the Criminal Code, these entries are not public. Certificates are only issued in the cases provided by law: to the person concerned, to judges and courts, and to public authorities that need them for a specific procedure with your consent (article 16 of Royal Decree 95/2009).
Periods for clearing a criminal record
Article 136.1 of the Criminal Code, in the wording in force since 1 July 2015, sets these periods according to the sentence imposed:
| Sentence imposed | Period before clearance |
|---|---|
| Minor penalties (for example, a fine of up to three months) | 6 months |
| Penalties not exceeding twelve months and penalties for offences of negligence | 2 years |
| Other less serious penalties under three years | 3 years |
| Other less serious penalties of three years or more (up to five years’ imprisonment) | 5 years |
| Serious penalties (imprisonment of more than five years, among others) | 10 years |
Whether a penalty is minor, less serious or serious is determined by article 33 of the Criminal Code. If your judgment imposes several penalties at once (prison and a driving ban, for example), it is worth checking with a lawyer which one sets the period.
When the period starts
The period starts on the day after the sentence was extinguished (article 136.2): when you finished serving it, paid the fine, the sentence became time-barred or you were granted a full pardon (article 130). It does not run from the judgment or from the date of the offence.
If your prison sentence was suspended, the rule is different. Once the judge orders final remission, the period is calculated backwards, as if you had served the sentence from the day after the suspension was granted. For example, with a one-year suspended prison sentence granted in March 2022, the sentence is treated as served in March 2023 and the two-year period ends in March 2025, provided that remission has been ordered by then.
Requirements for clearance
Article 136 as currently in force requires two things:
- Criminal liability must have been extinguished. The sentence must have been served, remitted, time-barred or pardoned, and that extinction must be recorded in the Register.
- You must not have reoffended during the period. If you are convicted of an offence committed within that time, you will not be able to clear the earlier conviction on those terms.
You may have read that you also have to pay the civil liability (compensation). That requirement appeared in article 136 until the reform by Organic Act 1/2015, which removed it. However, if your sentence was suspended, paying compensation in line with your financial means is a condition of the suspension, and failing to meet that commitment when you are able to allows the judge to revoke it (articles 80.2 and 86.1 of the Criminal Code). In practice, paying is still important.
Important: if the requirements are met and clearance has not yet taken place, the judge cannot take that record into account (article 136.5). Nor does it count towards the aggravating circumstance of reoffending or as grounds for refusing to suspend a new sentence (articles 22.8.ª and 80.2 of the Criminal Code).
Automatic or on application: why it is better not to wait
Clearance can take place of the Register’s own motion, when the Register itself detects that the requirements are met; on your application; or on notification from the court (articles 18 and 19 of Royal Decree 95/2009).
But if the Register has not recorded the date on which the sentence was extinguished, it cannot clear the record until the court updates the conviction entry. If you apply yourself, the Register must ask the court clerk (letrado de la Administración de Justicia) to review it within a maximum of ten days (article 19.2). If you need a clean certificate by a particular date, apply well in advance.
How to apply for clearance
- Check the period. Find the judgment and the date on which the sentence was extinguished (or the remission order if it was suspended), and work out whether the article 136 period has passed.
- Submit the application. You can do this online on the Ministry of Justice’s online portal using Cl@ve or a digital certificate, or using the official form at any public registry or by post (article 18.2 of Royal Decree 95/2009).
- Identify yourself and state the grounds. The application must include your personal details, your valid DNI, NIE or passport, an address for notifications and the grounds for clearance. You can attach supporting documents, such as the certificate confirming the sentence has been served.
- Wait for the decision. The Ministry has three months to decide and notify you. If it does not reply, the application is deemed refused and you can bring proceedings in the administrative courts (article 19.2).
Once cleared, the entry moves to a special section accessible only to judges and courts (article 19.3). Convictions for sexual offences also have their own register, the Central Register of Sex Offenders (Registro Central de Delincuentes Sexuales), with a different clearance procedure.
The criminal record certificate
The certificate shows whether or not you have a record in the Central Register of Convicted Persons on the date it is issued. You can request it on the Ministry of Justice’s online portal using Cl@ve; according to the Ministry, it is generally issued immediately or within about 24 hours, although some cases take longer. A fee is payable and, if it is to be used abroad, it must be legalised.
Before any process that requires it, request it yourself: if a conviction appears that should already have been cleared, you will still have time to apply for clearance.
Effects on work, public-sector exams and immigration
Work and public-sector exams
The Basic Statute of Public Employees (Estatuto Básico del Empleado Público, article 56.1.d) bars from public employment anyone disqualified by a court decision, and some bodies are stricter: the National Police entry regulations require candidates not to have been convicted of an intentional offence, although they accept rehabilitation proven by an official document (article 7 of Royal Decree 614/1995). Clearing your record is therefore decisive.
Residence and nationality
If you are a foreign national, Organic Act 4/2000 requires you to have no criminal record to obtain temporary residence (article 31.5). On renewal, any record is assessed, taking into account pardons and suspended sentences (article 31.7). In addition, a conviction for an intentional offence carrying a prison sentence of more than one year may be grounds for expulsion, unless the record has been cleared (article 57.2).
For nationality by residence, the Civil Code requires proof of good civic conduct (article 22.4), and the application includes a check of the Central Register of Convicted Persons (Royal Decree 1004/2015, article 5). If this applies to you, see our service as a criminal lawyer for foreign nationals in Alicante.
Clearing a criminal record from Alicante
The application is decided by the Ministry of Justice, but much of the groundwork goes through the local courts. Since 31 December 2025, under Organic Act 1/2025, the province’s former criminal courts are Criminal Sections (Secciones de lo Penal) of the Court of First Instance (Tribunal de Instancia), and each one enforces the sentences it hands down. If the extinction of your sentence is not recorded in the Register, that Section must be asked to declare it and notify it.
At our firm we review your judgment and the enforcement file, calculate the exact period, ask the court for anything missing and submit the application for you. If the period has not yet passed and you need it sooner, we look at whether a pardon might be appropriate. And if your situation is different, it is important to tell the two apart: clearing a conviction is not the same as the limitation period for an offence, which prevents you from being convicted when too much time has passed. Our team will assist you in English.
Frequently asked questions
Is a criminal record cleared automatically?
It can be cleared of the Register’s own motion, because article 136 of the Criminal Code and Royal Decree 95/2009 allow it, but this does not always happen. If the Central Register of Convicted Persons has not recorded the date the sentence was extinguished, it cannot do so. So once the period has passed, the safest course is to request a certificate and, if the conviction still appears, apply for clearance yourself.
How long does the Ministry take to clear a criminal record?
The maximum period for deciding and notifying is three months from the application, under article 19.2 of Royal Decree 95/2009. If there is no reply in that time, the application is deemed refused and you can appeal to the administrative courts. If information from the court is missing, the Register asks the court to update the conviction entry within a maximum of ten days.
Do I have to have paid compensation to clear my record?
Article 136 of the Criminal Code no longer requires it since the reform by Organic Act 1/2015, which removed that requirement. What you do need is for the sentence to have been extinguished. If your prison sentence was suspended, the commitment to pay in line with your means was a condition of the suspension: failing to meet it when you are able to pay can lead to the suspension being revoked, and then the sentence is not extinguished.
Can an employer see my criminal record?
Not directly. Entries in the Central Register of Convicted Persons are not public (article 136.4 of the Criminal Code), and the certificate is issued to you, to your authorised representative or to the public authority that needs it for a procedure with your consent. An employer can ask you to provide it, but cannot look it up on its own.
If you want to know whether you can now clear your record, or you are in a hurry because of a job or a residence application, tell us about your case. Our team will assist you in English. We support you throughout the process through our service as a criminal record lawyer in Alicante. You can message us on WhatsApp at 607 449 491, 24 hours a day: we will reply straight away.
Legal basis and sources
- Criminal Code (LO 10/1995): arts. 22, 33, 80, 86, 130 and 136
- Royal Decree 95/2009 on the system of administrative registers supporting the Administration of Justice: arts. 16 to 19
- Ministry of Justice: application to clear a criminal record
- Ministry of Justice: criminal record certificate
- Organic Act 4/2000 on the rights and freedoms of foreign nationals: arts. 31 and 57
- Royal Decree 1004/2015 on the procedure for nationality by residence: art. 5
- Civil Code: art. 22
- Basic Statute of Public Employees: art. 56
- Royal Decree 614/1995, National Police selection processes: art. 7
