Getting married in Spain from the UK: Legal requirements

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Getting married in Spain from the UK works differently for a destination wedding than for a couple who live in Spain or plan to move there.

In this guide, we’ll explain who can legally marry in Spain and which ceremonies count. We’ll also walk you through each step, from your UK certificates to the apostille and sworn translation rules.

TL;DR – How to get married in Spain as a British citizen

Here’s the short version of the steps we’ll discuss later in the guide:

1

Check whether you or your partner meets Spain’s residency rule.
2

Pick a civil or Catholic ceremony, or marry in the UK first.
3

Collect your certificate of no impediment (CNI) and your birth certificates.
4

Apostille every UK document, then add sworn Spanish translations.
5

File with the Registro Civil, then book your date.

Can UK citizens legally get married in Spain?

Yes. You can marry in Spain as a UK citizen. But your eligibility for a civil marriage still depends on your residence or nationality.

If both of you live in the UK and neither of you is Spanish, a short tourist stay in Spain usually won’t qualify you for a civil marriage because Spanish registries expect at least one of you to live in Spain or be a Spanish national.

Here’s how the residency requirement works:

Residency requirements for civil marriage in Spain

GOV.UK’s guidance on getting married in Spain says you or your partner must live in Spain or be a Spanish national. Some registries require about 2 years of residence; you can confirm this with the registry in the town where you plan to marry.

Marrying in Spain while you live in the UK usually means you must have a Catholic ceremony or a UK wedding first.

If you plan to move to Spain or already live there, you can file for a civil marriage once you meet your registry’s residency period.

What counts as proof of residence in Spain?

Spanish registries look for a padrón certificate first, which you can get from your town hall once you register your home address in Spain.

Many also ask for your Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero (TIE), the residence card that confirms your right to live in Spain.

Note: Your eligibility also depends on proof that you’re free to marry, which you can prove with a single status certificate, such as a CNI.

Your options for getting married in Spain

You have 4 options for marrying in Spain as a foreigner.

Here’s a quick overview of whether each option creates a legal marriage:

1

Civil marriage: Your civil marriage takes place at the Registro Civil or another approved venue before 2 adult witnesses, after the Spanish registry opens your marriage file and interviews you both. You can file only if you or your partner lives in Spain or is a Spanish national, although some registries expect about 2 years of residence first.
2

Religious marriage: Catholic ceremonies are open to non-residents with the bishop’s permission, but at least one of you must be Catholic. Start preparing about 6 months ahead, and ensure that after the marriage, the church reports your union to the Registro Civil to give it civil effect.
3

Symbolic ceremony: Your symbolic ceremony lets you exchange vows anywhere you choose, although it has no legal effect. No residency requirement applies for symbolic ceremonies.
4

Marrying legally in the UK first: In this case, you give notice at your local register office and marry in the UK before you celebrate in Spain, which removes the Spain residency rule. If you later relocate to Spain, your Spanish registry will usually ask for an apostille and a sworn Spanish translation of your UK marriage certificate.

Bride and groom celebrating a Catholic religious wedding ceremony inside a traditional Spanish church.

Documents needed to get married in Spain

To marry in Spain from the UK, you must have the core documents, such as each partner’s certificate of no impediment and full birth certificate. Your area’s registry might request additional documents. You can check this by asking for its full list early.

Here are the 4 core documents you need to marry in Spain:

1. Certificate of no impediment

Spain asks UK nationals for a certificate of no impediment, the most common UK form of the single status certificate we mentioned earlier, which confirms you’re free to marry.

You apply for the certificate in person at a UK register office, which requires a 28-day notice period before issuing it.

If you can’t obtain a CNI, you can use a statutory declaration of single status instead, provided your registry accepts one.

You can order an apostille for the statutory declaration once a solicitor or notary registered with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has witnessed it.

2. Birth certificates and valid passports

You both need an original full birth certificate, which is the long version that lists your parents’ names.

If your birth was registered in Wales or England, you can order a certified copy from the General Register Office or from the local register office where it was registered.

You also need a valid passport, valid for at least 12 months after you apply (for some registries).

3. Decree absolute or death certificate

If you were married before, you need proof the marriage ended, such as a decree absolute or your late spouse’s death certificate, which your registry uses to confirm you’re free to marry again.

In England and Wales, a final order replaces the decree absolute for divorce applications made from 6 April 2022.

You can ask the court that granted your divorce for a certified copy of either document.

4. Padrón and proof of residence

If one of you already lives in Spain, the resident partner provides a padrón certificate, an official record from the local town hall showing the partner’s registered home address.

The historical version also shows how long the partner has lived there, which helps the registry check the residency period.

Some registries want a recently issued copy, which you can confirm in your step 1 document list. If the registry asks, the partner must also provide a TIE.

Note: The good news is that Spanish documents don’t need a UK apostille.

How to get married in Spain from the UK in 5 steps

Here are the 5 steps for the documents and legal processes involved in marrying in Spain from the UK.

Quick note: Steps 3 and 4 happen in the UK, while steps 1 and 5 involve your Spanish registry. Your venue and travel plans are outside the steps and add to your overall timeline.

1. Check whether you or your partner meets Spain's residency rule

Contact the Registro Civil in the Spanish town where you plan to marry or live, and ask what type of marriage you qualify for based on your situation.

You can also ask which version of each document the Registro Civil accepts, whether it wants originals or certified copies, and whether it accepts translations made outside Spain.

It’s advisable to request the full document list in writing or send your questions by email so you have a written record of every answer.

If neither of you lives in Spain or has Spanish nationality, you can use the Catholic or UK-first route below.

2. Pick a civil or Catholic ceremony, or marry in the UK first

Choose a civil marriage if you meet the registry’s residency rule, or a Catholic ceremony if you live in the UK.

Marrying in the UK first helps you avoid the residency question.

Your choice determines the rest of the steps in the following ways:

If you choose a civil marriage, you follow steps 3 to 5 as explained below.
If you choose a Catholic ceremony, the parish will determine your document list, which means you’ll need to ask the church what it wants before you order anything.
If you choose the UK-first route, you skip the Spanish filing in step 5.

3. Collect your certificate of no impediment (CNI) and your birth certificates

Apply for the CNI first, which has the longest wait. To do so, book an in-person appointment at your local UK register office to give notice of your marriage and apply for the certificate.

If you live in different areas, each of you should apply at your own local register office. Use the 28-day notice period to gather and prepare the remaining documents.

Spanish authorities accept only a CNI issued in Spain, so you’ll want to exchange your UK certificate for one through GOV.UK’s online service.UK’s online service. Some registries still ask for the UK version with an apostille, which you can check in your step 1 document list.

If you already have some of the certificates on your list, check their issue dates against your registry’s cutoff before you reuse them.

You can request full birth certificates for both of you and any decree absolute or death certificate you might still need.

4. Apostille every UK document, then add sworn Spanish translations

Send your original UK documents to the FCDO or to a legalisation company that’s registered with the FCDO for apostilling, which authenticates the signature of the official who issued each document.

Send everything in one batch with tracked delivery to save on postage and bring all your apostilles back together.

The FCDO refuses laminated or damaged originals, so confirm the condition of your documents before you post anything.

If you plan to apostille a copy of a document, you must confirm first that the FCDO apostilles a copy of that specific document. Then you can have an FCDO-registered solicitor or notary certify it before sending it to the FCDO.

Going direct to the FCDO can take over 3 weeks, while a legalisation company offers a standard service that takes 3 to 4 working days and a next-day service that takes 1 working day after it receives your documents.

For a shorter wait, legalise your UK documents for Spain through an FCDO-registered company.

Once your apostilles arrive, hire a sworn translator (traductor jurado) appointed by Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to translate each document into Spanish.

Give your translator the original documents or clear scans, depending on what they ask you. You should also provide them with your names spelt exactly as they appear on your identification documents to ensure every translation is consistent.

For Spain, your document can be translated before or after the apostille. The apostille itself does not need translating, so the order makes no difference. Your registry can confirm whether it accepts translations made outside Spain.

You can ask your translator to include the apostille text if the registry requires it.

5. File with the Registro Civil, then book your date

Take all your apostilled original documents and sworn translations to the Spanish registry. You should also bring with you your passports and any proof of residence the registry requests.

Hand the documents over in the order the registry will specify, and ask the officials if they can confirm in writing that your file is complete.

The registry will open your expediente matrimonial, the formal marriage file.

After you file, the registry invites each of you to a short interview at the Registro Civil about your relationship and plans. Each of you may be seen separately for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Registries take 4 to 8 weeks to process a file, then add about 15 days of waiting time.

Once the registry approves your file, you can agree on your ceremony date.

Your civil ceremony then takes place at the Registro Civil or another approved venue, where a judge or civil official marries you before 2 adult witnesses.

Each witnessing adult must have a valid ID. To complete the ceremony, you must exchange vows and sign the marriage register.

Apostille and sworn translation requirements for Spain

Spain is part of the Hague Apostille Convention, so your UK documents only need an apostille. You don’t need embassy legalisation.

Here’s what to keep in mind:

Which UK documents need an apostille?

Spanish registries usually want you to have the following UK documents apostilled:

Certificate of no impediment, which needs a paper apostille
Birth certificates
Decree absolute or death certificate
Statutory declaration of single status (if your registry accepts it in place of a CNI)

When do you need a sworn Spanish translation?

Every English-language document in your file needs a sworn Spanish translation.

You can have the translation done in Spain once your apostilled documents arrive.

You can also arrange it from the UK through a sworn translation service, but you must first confirm whether your registry accepts a translation done in the UK.

How London Apostille Services Ltd prepares your documents for Spain

Once your documents are ready, you’ll want a specialist to legalise them, which we do at London Apostille Services as an FCDO-registered business.

We help you get your UK documents apostilled for use abroad. If your documents need to be certified by a solicitor or notarised first, we can arrange that for you.

Here are 3 ways we support your Spanish marriage file:

Next-day apostilles from £92: Because we’re registered with the FCDO, we offer next-day apostilles. If you send your documents by 9:30 am, we legalise them on the next working day. Our standard service starts at £82 and takes 3-4 working days.
Sworn Spanish translations from £50: We arrange sworn Spanish translations if you prefer to finish everything in the UK, depending on your registry’s translation requirements.
Support by phone, email, and live chat: You can reach us by phone from 8 am to 5 pm, by live web chat until 7 pm, or by email Monday to Friday. Our support ensures you can reach our team if an issue arises, so we can fix it in time.

Book a free consultation and request your custom quote today.

Common paperwork mistakes that can delay your Spanish marriage

You’ll want to avoid the 3 mistakes below because small details can stall even a well-prepared file:

1. Documents the registry treats as out of date

An apostille never expires. The issue is the date of the document underneath it. Many registries only accept a certificate of no impediment or birth certificate issued within the last 3 to 6 months. If yours is older, the registry may reject it, even with a valid apostille.

Check the time limit for each document with your registry before you book the marriage. If a document is too old, you’ll need a newly issued copy, and that new copy will need its own apostille.

2. Missing or uncertified sworn translation

You might fail to submit a translation, or submit one that isn’t sworn.

Spanish registries treat sworn and certified translations as different documents and accept only sworn translations. If you need a document translated in Spain, the registries expect it to be from a traductor jurado, a translator appointed by Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

3. Name mismatches across documents

The registry might reject or return your file if your name reads differently on your passport, birth certificate, or other critical documents.

For example, your middle name may be missing, or you may have changed your surname. Perhaps a part of your name is spelt incorrectly in some of the documents. The correction will depend on the type of mismatch.

If you’ve changed your name, you can prove the change with a marriage certificate or deed poll.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Here are answers to the questions UK couples ask most about marrying in Spain:

Can I get my UK documents apostilled without travelling back to the UK?

Yes, you can have your UK documents apostilled in the UK from Spain.

You can post your originals to us at London Apostille Services Ltd by tracked courier. After the FCDO apostilles them, we return them to your door in Spain via DHL Express, along with the apostilles.

Do you have to register the marriage in the UK afterwards?

No, you don’t have to register your Spanish marriage in the UK afterwards.

UK authorities generally recognise a valid Spanish marriage, although you may still need your Spanish marriage certificate with an English translation to change your name on your passport or other UK records, such as your driving licence.

How long does it take to apostille marriage documents for Spain?

Apostilling marriage documents for Spain takes 3 to 4 working days with the standard service, or 1 working day with the next-day service. Going directly to the FCDO can take over 3 weeks.

Do apostilles expire when used for marriage in Spain?

Apostilles don’t expire when you use them for marriage in Spain. This means you can reuse the same apostilled document for another purpose afterwards, such as a residency application in Spain, if the new authority accepts it.

Spanish authorities still check the age of the underlying document. Most want certificates issued within the last 3 to 6 months. You can confirm with the authority before you reuse yours.

How long does it take to arrange a wedding in Spain?

The time it takes to arrange the documents and legal processes for a wedding in Spain varies from one couple to another.

Typically, you can expect it to take 4 to 6 months from the day you first contact the registry. Gathering and legalising your documents can take 2 to 3 months, and the registry then needs 4 to 8 weeks to process your file.

Beyond document preparation and legalisation, other factors such as venue availability and travel plans can also affect your overall timeline.

Get your marriage documents ready for Spain

Your wedding in Spain begins with where you live. If one of you lives in Spain or has Spanish nationality, you can file for a civil marriage; if neither of you does, a Catholic ceremony or a UK wedding first works well.

The bottom line is that you must have the right documents, and they must be legalised according to the Spanish registry’s requirements. You’ll need your CNI, birth certificates, and an apostille and translation for each document. You also have to file with the Registro Civil.

Getting all your documents in order takes time and effort, which is where a document legalisation service comes in handy.

At London Apostille Services Ltd, we have legalised UK documents for use abroad for over 15 years as a business that’s registered with the FCDO.

Through our network of FCDO-registered solicitors and notaries, we can arrange certified copies and witnessed statutory declarations before your apostille, which keeps your whole file in one place. We review your documents before submitting them to the FCDO for apostilling.

We also email you a free scan of each apostille and return your originals via tracked, insured DHL Express, so you don’t have to worry about their safety.

Reach out to our team today to discuss your document legalisation needs for your marriage in Spain.