Spanish immigration focus on Spanish law:
Overseas Chinese residing in Spain may register their marriage in accordance with either Chinese marriage law or Spanish civil law.
1. To marry under Chinese marriage law, you may register at the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Spain or the Consulate General in Barcelona. The legal marriage age is 22 for men and 20 for women. The required documents are as follows:
(1) Identity documents for both parties (valid passport and residence permit);
(2) A certificate of marital status (single, divorced, or widowed) issued by relevant authorities in China; (If you were under the legal marriage age when you left China and before obtaining your Spanish residence permit, a certificate of marital status from China is not required).
(3) A certificate issued by the Spanish Civil Registry confirming that no marriage has been registered anywhere in Spain.
(4) Three 3-inch photos of the couple together.
After registering the marriage at the Embassy or Consulate General, you should immediately obtain a marriage certificate in Spanish and have it authenticated by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs for future use.
2. Overseas Chinese in Spain may also marry according to the provisions of Spanish civil law, either through a religious ceremony (for believers) or by registering a civil marriage at a local court or Civil Registry.
(1) Valid identification (passport or residence permit);
(2) Certificate of census registration (empadronamiento) from the local district government;
(3) Consular registration certificate from the Embassy;
(4) Birth certificate of the parties;
(5) Declaration of marital status (single, divorced, or widowed).
If the parties applying for registration are minors, parents must be present to sign and provide consent.
The civil registration procedure is as follows:
(1) Both parties and two witnesses (witnesses must be adults with legal residence in Spain) go to the Civil Registry to register and submit the required documents;
(2) After several days, once the judge at the Civil Registry has reviewed the documents, return to the registry to sign and select a wedding date;
(3) On the designated date and time, the couple and the witnesses go to the registry hall to hold the civil wedding ceremony presided over by a judge.
According to Spanish law, for those registering a civil marriage, the judge (or local official) presiding over the ceremony must read the contents of Articles 66, 67, and 68 of the Civil Code (CODIGO CIVIL) to the parties, requiring both spouses to comply. After receiving an affirmative response from both parties, the presiding judge declares them husband and wife from that day forward. The couple and the witnesses sign the marriage register, and the court clerk issues the marriage certificate (also known as the Family Book, or Libro de Familia) to the couple. The Libro de Familia can be used to prove the marital relationship. In the future, you may also obtain a marriage certificate from the registry at any time, which consists of a copy of the page signed by the judge, clerk, parties, and witnesses, stamped with an official seal. If one or both parties do not have sufficient command of the Spanish language, they must be accompanied by a certified translator.
