Recommendation Letter in Spanish: 5 Full Samples to Copy

By Mustafa Tarabya, founder of CVBooster · Published 2026-10-07 · Updated 2026-10-07

10 min read

A recommendation letter in Spanish is a carta de recomendación, and a work reference is usually called a carta de recomendación laboral or a carta de referencia. Write it in the formal usted register, put a colon after the greeting, and close with "Atentamente". The one constraint is the reader: if the letter goes to a US immigration office instead of a Spanish speaker, federal rules require a certified English translation, quoted below from the Code of Federal Regulations. This page gives five complete letters in Spanish with an English note on each. Written by Mustafa Tarabya, who hired for his own company, read every application himself and now writes CVBooster's guides.

Machine translation handles Spanish grammar well and your manager's idioms badly. "She hit the ground running" arrives in Spanish as a woman sprinting into the floor, which is not the reference anyone meant to give.

Carta de recomendación or carta de referencia: the words you need

Spanish has more than one name for this letter, and the right one depends on what the reader asked for.

• Carta de recomendación: the general term for a recommendation letter, for a job, a university place or a scholarship.
• Carta de recomendación laboral: a work recommendation from a manager or employer. This is what most people searching for a reference letter in Spanish need.
• Carta de referencia personal: a character reference from someone who knows the person outside work, such as a neighbor, a landlord or a community leader.
• Constancia laboral: a factual letter confirming dates and job title. It verifies employment but does not recommend anyone.

If a Spanish speaking employer asks for "referencias", they usually want names and phone numbers on the application. If they ask for "una carta", they want the letter itself. Here is the most common one, a work recommendation from a US manager for a former employee.

English note: the letter states how long the writer supervised her, what she was responsible for, one result, two character traits with a behavior behind each, and a clear recommendation. That is the same skeleton as an English professional reference letter; only the formulas change.

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The structure of a formal letter in Spanish

A Spanish recommendation letter follows six parts, in this order.

• Place and date, top right or top left: "Houston, Texas, 14 de octubre de 2026". Months are lowercase in Spanish.
• Greeting with a colon, never a comma: "A quien corresponda:" when you do not know the reader, which is the standard form in Mexico and most of Latin America. In Spain, "Estimados señores:" is more common. If you know the name, "Estimada Sra. Ruiz:" or "Estimado Sr. Vega:".
• Opening sentence that recommends: "Me permito recomendar a..." or "Por medio de la presente, recomiendo a...". Spanish letters say who they recommend in the first line.
• The relationship: how long you have known the person and in what role.
• Evidence and character: two or three specific tasks or achievements, then the qualities you saw.
• Closing: "Quedo a su disposición para cualquier información adicional." then "Atentamente," and your name, job title, organization and contact details. A signature goes above the typed name on a printed letter.

Use usted throughout. Tú in a recommendation letter reads as careless, the way "hey there" would in English.

Phrases that translate well

• I am pleased to recommend: Me complace recomendar
• worked under my supervision: trabajó bajo mi supervisión
• I have known her for six years: La conozco desde hace seis años
• reliable and hardworking: responsable y trabajador (trabajadora for a woman)
• I recommend him without reservation: Lo recomiendo sin reservas
• Please contact me if you need more information: Quedo a su disposición para cualquier información adicional

A personal reference uses the same frame but describes a relationship outside work, so the evidence is about conduct, not tasks.

English note: "Se extiende la presente a petición del interesado" is the formula that says the letter was written at the person's request. It is expected in Mexican personal references and harmless elsewhere. For court and immigration versions in English, see the character reference letter samples.

Academic recommendation letters in Spanish

A university or scholarship committee in Spain or Latin America reads a carta de recomendación académica the same way an admissions committee in the US does: what did the student do in your class, and how do they compare with other students you have taught. Name the course, the term and one piece of work.

English note: the comparison with the rest of the group ("el mejor ensayo final de su grupo") is the line a committee looks for. For the English versions, our recommendation letter for a student page has finished samples.

A recommendation for a nanny or household employee

Families in the US often write a letter for a nanny, housekeeper or caregiver whose next employer will read Spanish. Keep it practical: the ages of the children, the hours, the tasks, and the reason the job ended. The next family wants to know why she is free.

English note: the sentence explaining why the job ended ("únicamente porque nuestra familia se muda") is the one the next family reads twice. The English equivalent is on our nanny reference letter page.

When the letter needs an English translation

Write in Spanish when the reader reads Spanish. When a US office is the reader, the language is not your choice. Under 8 CFR 103.2, the federal rule for USCIS filings: "Any document containing foreign language submitted to USCIS shall be accompanied by a full English language translation which the translator has certified as complete and accurate, and by the translator's certification that he or she is competent to translate from the foreign language into English."

In the UK, the GOV.UK guidance on certifying a document asks the translator to confirm in writing that it is a "true and accurate translation of the original document", along with the date and the translator's details.

So for an immigration file, write the strongest letter in the language the writer is most fluent in, then attach a certified translation. The last sample shows the Spanish letter and the certification that travels with its translation.

English note: the certification uses the words the regulation asks for, competent and complete and accurate. The writer of the letter should not translate her own letter for a USCIS file; ask someone else. Our resume translation guide covers the same question for a CV.

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What to leave out of any reference

A recommendation letter should be about the work and the person's conduct. Leave out immigration status, age, religion, health and family plans, even when they come up naturally in a warm letter. The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission puts the employer side plainly in its list of prohibited employment practices: "It is illegal for an employer to give a negative or false employment reference (or refuse to give a reference) because of a person's race, color, religion, sex (including transgender status, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information."

That includes the language itself. "Her Spanish is native, which is unusual for someone born here" says something about origin that the next employer does not need. "Fluent in written and spoken Spanish" says what the job needs.

If you are writing a cover letter in Spanish for the same application, our guide to the cover letter in Spanish uses the same greetings and closings, and the Spanish resume template shows the CV that goes with it. For more English letters across job types, see the reference letter examples.

Frequently asked questions

How do you say recommendation letter in Spanish?

Carta de recomendación. For a work reference from an employer, say carta de recomendación laboral, and for a reference from someone who knows the person outside work, carta de referencia personal. A letter that only confirms dates and job title is a constancia laboral in Mexico, and it does not recommend anyone.

How do you say reference letter in Spanish?

Carta de referencia, or carta de recomendación laboral when it comes from an employer. "Referencias" on its own usually means a list of names and phone numbers on an application form. If a Spanish speaking employer asks for a letter, ask whether they want a recommendation or only a confirmation of employment.

How do you start a recommendation letter in Spanish?

Put the place and date first, then the greeting with a colon: "A quien corresponda:" when you do not know the reader, or "Estimada Sra. Ruiz:" when you do. The first sentence names the person you recommend, for example "Me permito recomendar a la Sra. Lucía Marín, quien trabajó bajo mi supervisión desde 2021."

How do you end a formal letter in Spanish?

Offer to help, then close: "Quedo a su disposición para cualquier información adicional. Atentamente," followed by your name, job title, organization, phone and email. "Saludos cordiales" is also correct and slightly warmer. Avoid "Besos" or "Un abrazo", which belong to letters between friends, not references.

Does a Spanish recommendation letter need a translation for USCIS?

Yes. Under 8 CFR 103.2, any document in a foreign language submitted to USCIS must come with a full English translation and a certification from the translator that the translation is complete and accurate and that they are competent to translate. Keep the original Spanish letter in the file with the translation.

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