Confirm you’re free to get married in Spain if you live in the UK

Contents

Check eligibility and the documents you need

Check the laws in Spain to make sure you can get married. Your marriage will be recognised in the UK if:

To get married in Spain either:

  • you or your partner must live in Spain and be registered with the town where you’re getting married (‘padrón municipal’)
  • your partner must be a Spanish national

The documents you’ll need depend on where you’re getting married in Spain. Make sure you‘ve read the getting married in Spain guidance and checked which documents you need.

The person conducting your ceremony or relevant local authority can help you understand the processes you need to follow to get married, including what documents you’ll need.

Certificate of no impediment (CNI)

If you live in the UK and are a British national, you can get a UK certificate of no impediment (CNI) from a UK register office. A CNI is a legal document that states that no barriers (called impediments) to your marriage have been shown to exist. You and your partner’s names on the UK CNI should match the names on your passports, including your middle names.

Once you have your UK CNI, use this service to exchange your UK CNI for a local CNI accepted in Spain.

You may need other documents to get married in Spain. You may also need to get some documents legalised (certified with a stamped official certificate called an apostille) or translated into the local language by a qualified translator. Check with the person conducting your ceremony or relevant local authority.

Marriage registration

Marriages that take place abroad according to another country’s law are not added to UK records. Your marriage will be registered in Spain instead. The person conducting your ceremony can tell you how to get a marriage certificate. You will not be able to register at or get a certificate from a UK register office, or British embassy or consulate. Keep your marriage certificate as evidence of your marriage. You may want to get it translated, especially if you want to use it outside Spain. Find a qualified translator.

If your partner is a British national

They should check what documentation they need with the person conducting your ceremony or relevant local authority and apply online themselves.

If your partner is not a British national or a national of Spain

Your partner should contact their national embassy to find out what documentation they need to get married in Spain.

If you want to marry your civil partner

To marry your civil partner you’ll either need to convert your civil partnership into a marriage, or end (dissolve) the civil partnership before you get married.

If you registered a same-sex civil partnership in the UK you can convert it into a marriage. Otherwise, check the laws in the country where your civil partnership was registered to find out what you need to do.

You cannot get a CNI while you‘re still in a civil partnership.