Guides: FBI background checks for living abroad

Plain-language answers to the questions people ask before applying.

• FBI background check for Spain: residency and visa applications
  What Spain asks for when you need an FBI background check for residency or a long-stay visa: fingerprints, the FBI result, the apostille and a sworn translation.
• Why Spain asks for a sworn translation of your FBI check
  What a sworn translation (traducción jurada) is, why Spanish authorities ask for one, and why the apostille must be translated too.
• How long is an FBI background check valid in Spain?
  The FBI result has no expiry date of its own, but Spanish authorities often only accept one issued in the last 90 days. How to time it.
• FBI background check for Portugal: visas, AIMA residence permits and citizenship
  When Portugal asks for an FBI background check: for the visa, often again at AIMA, and for citizenship. The steps, the timing and how to plan each check.
• FBI background check for Greece: digital nomad visa, Golden Visa and residence permits
  When Greece asks for an FBI background check, how to get it from Greece or abroad, the apostille, and the three ways to have it officially translated into Greek.
• FBI background check for the Spain digital nomad visa
  Which criminal records the Spanish digital nomad visa asks for, why Americans need the FBI check, the apostille and sworn translation, and how recent it must be.
• Where to get FBI fingerprints in Spain
  The US embassy does not take fingerprints for FBI checks, police stations may or may not. Your options in Spain, and how electronic fingerprints avoid posting paper cards.
• Do you need an FBI background check for Mexican residency?
  When Mexico asks for an FBI background check (and when it usually does not), the apostille, the Spanish translation by a certified translator, and how to plan it.
• FBI background check for a Colombian visa
  When Colombia asks for an FBI background check, the apostille, the official translation into Spanish, and why a Colombian police printout is not a substitute.