realejos
04-10-2011, 11:15
Hello,
Can somebody tell me what is the procedure to get married in Spain?
We are a gay couple with European Union passports and live in the Canary Islands more than 3 years. Now we want to get married for tax and other similar reasons.
I speak some Spanish and I got NIE/residence certificate, empadronamiento etc without any assistance but my Spanish is not so good to understand all the details in such a difficult procedure like marriage, especially if the only way hot to get answers is telephone.
Some time ago I sent a letter with my questions to the Registro Civil in Puerto de la Cruz but they just sent me a telephone number of Juzgado de Paz in Los Realejos. I sent one more letter to the Registro Civil in Santa Cruz and they sent me a list of necessary documents but didn't answer any of my questions. It looks strange to me because all state institutions in my country (it's not UK) are obligated to provide written answers if required.
So, below are my questions.
1. The most important thing that I can not understand is if we will be able to marry at all. As I wrote we live in the Canary Islands more than 3 years. We got NIE numbers/residence certificates the next day after arriving, but... till yesterday we were living without any empadronamiento. Could it be a problem to get married? The paper from Registro Civil says that we need "Certificado de Residencia de los 2 últimos años". I don't understand if it's a police certificate or "empadronamiento".
2. How do we start the procedure? We just have to visit a Juzgado de Paz? What's next? When can we get married if we start everything tomorrow?
3. A question about witnesses. What happends if we don't have witnesses/they don't arrive for some reason? Witnesses must have Spanish citizenship?
Any help would be appreciated.
Can somebody tell me what is the procedure to get married in Spain?
We are a gay couple with European Union passports and live in the Canary Islands more than 3 years. Now we want to get married for tax and other similar reasons.
I speak some Spanish and I got NIE/residence certificate, empadronamiento etc without any assistance but my Spanish is not so good to understand all the details in such a difficult procedure like marriage, especially if the only way hot to get answers is telephone.
Some time ago I sent a letter with my questions to the Registro Civil in Puerto de la Cruz but they just sent me a telephone number of Juzgado de Paz in Los Realejos. I sent one more letter to the Registro Civil in Santa Cruz and they sent me a list of necessary documents but didn't answer any of my questions. It looks strange to me because all state institutions in my country (it's not UK) are obligated to provide written answers if required.
So, below are my questions.
1. The most important thing that I can not understand is if we will be able to marry at all. As I wrote we live in the Canary Islands more than 3 years. We got NIE numbers/residence certificates the next day after arriving, but... till yesterday we were living without any empadronamiento. Could it be a problem to get married? The paper from Registro Civil says that we need "Certificado de Residencia de los 2 últimos años". I don't understand if it's a police certificate or "empadronamiento".
2. How do we start the procedure? We just have to visit a Juzgado de Paz? What's next? When can we get married if we start everything tomorrow?
3. A question about witnesses. What happends if we don't have witnesses/they don't arrive for some reason? Witnesses must have Spanish citizenship?
Any help would be appreciated.