Registering a birth in Korea or abroad?

If you need a Spanish-language birth certificate (Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, and others) submitted to Korean immigration, health insurance, city hall, or a school district — or a Korean birth-related record submitted to Spain or a Latin American country — the process has a few non-obvious steps.

Foreign birth certificate → Korean

1. Get the apostille from the issuing country first.
2. Translate the apostilled document into Korean.
3. Attach either a 번역자확인서 (translator confirmation) or a 번역확인증명서 (verification certificate, only from a Spanish-registered translation administrative agent) — a bare translation isn't accepted.

Korean record → Spanish-speaking country

Korea has no government-issued "birth certificate" — birth information appears on the 기본증명서 (basic certificate). If the receiving institution needs a document bearing a hospital's official seal instead, that has to come directly from the hospital. Whether the 기본증명서 gets apostilled before or after translation depends on the destination country, institution, and purpose — we confirm the correct order before starting.

Who needs this

Families registering a newborn's residency or health insurance in Korea, Korean citizens registering a birth abroad, and anyone completing school enrollment, immigration, or inheritance paperwork that requires proof of birth details across the Korean and Spanish-speaking-country systems.

Typical timeline

Once we have the apostilled original in hand, translation and certification of a birth certificate is usually one of the quicker document types we handle — but the apostille step from a foreign issuing country can take considerably longer and is outside our control, so we recommend starting that process as early as possible.

Common mistakes

• Submitting a bare translation without the required 번역자확인서 or 번역확인증명서 attached
• Getting the apostille-then-translate order backwards for the destination in question
• Assuming Korea issues a document literally called a "birth certificate" when it's actually the 기본증명서

Pricing

Starts at ₩38,500 (VAT included) for the certificate translation; apostille and additional certification are quoted separately as needed.