Spain - Getting Married

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Procedure

There is no residency requirement for marriage in Spain, but civil registry officials may take up to 45 days to green light an application for marriage. The U.S. Department of State indicates that its not clear whether non-Spanish residents may marry in Spain, but Article 50 in the Spanish Civil Code explains that if both parties are foreigners, then the marriage may be held in accordance with Spanish form. It is dependent upon the Spanish communities to determine the law. The waiting period varies.

The Catholic Church Ceremony

There is only one type of religious ceremony that can be carried out in Spain and that is a full Roman Catholic ceremony. It must take place in a Catholic church and cannot take place outside of the church. It is a legally binding wedding and the local civil registry gets updated with the wedding details.

A Catholic wedding requires a lot of work to be done beforehand with your local Priest. Spain is a very religious country and the sacrament of marriage is a sacred commitment, so all the paperwork must be completed and submitted in the correct manner.

The main advantage of a Catholic wedding in Spain is that it will be a legally binding wedding, and it can take place in any Spanish Catholic Cathedral or Catholic Church.

The Civil Ceremony

A civil service in Spain is a fully legal marriage and is recognised throughout the world, even though your documents will always be in Spanish.

In Spain, a civil wedding can take place at a designated venue but must by law be registered in the civil registry at the local town hall or Justice of the Peace. This means that in most cases a civil wedding ceremony will be held at the venue of your choice alongside an appointment at the local civil registry. There are lots of different rules regarding civil weddings in Spain for both resident and non residents and this will vary from region to region , so it is important to check with the relevant authorities well in advance please note not all areas of Spain allow non-residents to marry in a civil ceremony.

The civil ceremony itself is conducted in English but does have the Spanish Civil code to marriage in Spanish. The bride and groom are encouraged to make it personal and add any special readings, music or vows.

The legal part of the civil ceremony, which takes part in front of the judge in the civil registry, takes around five minutes. Here you agree to abide by the civil code and sign the legal paperwork. The wedding does require a lot of paperwork and the length of time required will depend on your nationality and if you have had any previous marriages. Paperwork is always started in your home town and then sent across to Spain and submitted to the appropriate authority.

The Wedding Blessing

The wedding blessing is the most popular choice in Spain as it offers the most flexibility for the bride and groom and they can choose every detail of the wedding. They are not restricted to any particular venue or day and are most of all not required to do as much legal paperwork.

The ceremony itself takes the same form as a traditional wedding ceremony or a civil ceremony and can be conducted by a Church of England Vicar, Civil non faith celebrant or a Minister. The content of the ceremony can be designed by the couple alongside their chosen celebrant, so they can make it really personal to them. It is not legally binding as the legal side must be done in your home town.

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Required Documents

• Long form birth certificate notarized and translated into Spanish.
• Valid passport and at least four copies to be used when you apply for the Empadronmiento, Residencia and file for the marriage.
• Certificate of Marital Status (Certificado de Estado Civil)
• Certificate of No Impediment (Certificado de No Impedimento), which can be obtained from the registrar office of the home country.
• Divorce degrees (Certificados de divorcio) if applicable
• Spanish Town Hall Registration Certificate (Certificado de Empadronamiento or Padrn)
• Extranieria application form print three copies. Complete the extranjeria form and file it at the national police station. Remember to bring with your passport and a photocopy of it.

Office Locations & Contacts

Civil Registry Offices

Eligibility

Applicants should allow enough time before the intended date of the marriage for the paperwork to be completed. In the first instance both parties must first certify, in a file processed in accordance with the legislation for the Civil Register, that they meet the requirements established by law.

When neither of the parties is a Spanish citizen one of them must usually be legally resident in Spain for the previous two years. Obviously, if one of the couple is a Spanish citizen no residence period applies. There may be variations across Spanish regions and so it is advisable to check with the Civil Registry Office in the area where you wish to get married as to their specific requirements. A list of Civil Registries and further information regarding civil marriage in Spain can be found by regions on the Spanish Ministry for Justices website.

Fees

Explain the fees structure which is required for obtaining the certificate/document.

Validity

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e.g. Birth Certificate Valid Forever

Documents to Use

Data declaration form (PDF. 40 KB)

Marriage Certificate Application Form (PDF. 46 KB)

Sample Documents

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Processing Time

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Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications. 
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Instructions

• Civil marriage: Couples may marry legally in a civil ceremony without a religious aspect. This provides for rights of property, inheritance, pensions and adoption and can be between heterosexual or same sex couples.

• Civil partnership: Most of Spains autonomous communities recongise and provide for civil unions and registered cohabitation between same-sex people. These allow for kinship, inheritance and property rights.

• Religious marriages: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim marriages can be celebrated in Spain without requiring a second civil marriage. Provided the celebrant is legally allowed to officiate at weddings, religious marriages have the same legal status as civil unions.

Required Information

• Full names, marital status (single or widowed) and places of birth for both the bride and groom
• Full names and places of birth for the parents of the bride and groom

Need for the Document

Getting married in Spain is becoming a very popular choice for couples since there are many different ways to get married and to celebrate your big day in the sun.

First you could choose a religious Catholic Church wedding. Second, a civil wedding at a designated venue, or third a wedding blessing. The three options are all different and have their owns rules and regulations. Choosing the right type of ceremony is a crucial part to getting married, as it also influences other decisions like the style and location of the venue.

Information which might help

How to get married in Spain and, as is so often the case with destination weddings will involve the legal documentation (or paperwork) side of things.

Your life history (single, divorced, etc) determines which legal papers you will need to have translated and legalized. There may be other documents for your wedding in Spain.

In Spain, it is possible to arrange civil and religious marriages between foreigners or a foreigner and a Spanish national provided you do your paperwork first. In addition, the Spanish government is working on agreements with major non-Catholic faiths in terms of accepting their religious marriage ceremonies. In the meantime and subject to the agreement of individual priests, it is possible to have a civil marriage blessed in a non-catholic church.

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

The certificate of marriage is called a Libro de Familia and may be obtained after the ceremony from the civil registry, or registro civil, where legal requirements mandate the couple return to register the wedding.

External Links

http://www.weddingvenuesinspain.com/getting-married-spain/

http://www.justlanded.com/english/Spain/Articles/Visas-Permits/Marriage-divorce-in-Spain

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/09/getting-married-in-spain_n_1265772.html

http://www.mjusticia.gob.es/cs/Satellite/en/1200666550200/DetalleInicioTramites.html

Others

Requirements for religious marriages vary according to the denomination and area in which an applicant lives. Religious marriages are recognized as legal under Spanish law, but to obtain an official marriage certificate, the marriage must subsequently be registered with the local civil aut