Are you a foreigner and want to get married in Spain? You got to the right place! In SPOT, foreign marriages are within our expertise area. In this article, we give you a snapshot of the process, documents and some helpful tips.
First things first. What forms of marriage are available in Spain?
You can get married via a civil or a religious ceremony. A civil marriage takes place in a registry office (Registro Civil) or at the town hall and it is conducted by a registrar. Same-sex marriage is recognized in Spain since 2005. Religious marriages are brought before a priest and they are later registered in a civil registry to confer them legal status.
I’m a foreigner but my partner is a Spanish national. Can we still get married in Spain?
Yes, you can! Being a foreigner does not prevent you from contracting marriage in Spain. You will just need to comply with certain requirements and present some documents for verification. Keep reading!
First, choose what form of ceremony you will go for: civil or religious. For civil ceremonies, you must head to the town hall or civil registry of the place any of you is residing. They will require you to present some documents to open a marriage file and initiate the process. For religious marriages, head to the local parish or religious institution where you plan to get married.
Both parties will need to present your passport and a marriage form. If you are a foreigner, a certificate that proves your single status will be required (known as Certificate of No Impediment in other countries) along with your Birth Certificate. Depending on the town hall, a proof of residence (certificado de empadronamiento) may be needed to prove that any of you reside within the town hall’s area of influence.
All documents must be legalised (via signature validation or Hague Apostille). Finally, all documents not written in Spanish must be translated by a sworn translator (except those exempted by the EU regulations).
This is a process whereby a public document issued in one country becomes valid in another country where it needs to come into effect. There are 2 forms of legalisation. Depending on the country where your documents are issued, you will need to go for Hague Apostille or signature validation.
A sworn translator is an official translator recognized in Spain to give legal validity in Spain to public documents written in another language. Sworn translators (traductores jurados) are registered with the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs with their own signature and stamp.
At SPOT, we are a translation agency focussed on sworn translations with expertise on international, legal and family-related processes. Our team of certified translators will help you streamline your paperwork process by providing professional and reliable translations.
Contact us via the link below and tell us your case.
Your country’s Consulate Office or Embassy in Spain should be able to issue both your Birth Certificate and Certificate of No Impediment.
Make an appointment with your civil registry to present your file and wait for their document review. After this, apply for a date to celebrate your marriage. On that day, remember to bring 2 witnesses to the ceremony and your ID card. Happy marriage!
Reach out to us with your translation project and we will get back to you within 48 hours (excl. weekends and public holidays in Spain). Talk soon! Your Spanish Official Translations Team.
