Getting Married in Spain: CNI and Documents You Need

Only if one of you lives there or your partner is Spanish. The FCDO says that to marry in Spain either you or your partner must live in Spain and be registered with the town where you are marrying (the padrón municipal), or your partner must be a Spanish national.

If neither applies, you cannot hold the legal marriage in Spain. You could marry legally in the UK and hold a commitment ceremony in Spain: GOV.UK suggests that combination to couples who want a UK marriage certificate. We checked Spain’s FCDO guidance on 24 September 2026.

It depends on the civil registry, so ask the civil registry office where you plan to marry before you apply for anything. The FCDO’s Spain guidance describes three options:

• Certificate of no impediment (CNI): states that no impediment to your marriage has been shown. Spanish authorities only accept a CNI issued in Spain, so a UK CNI has to be exchanged.
• Marital status certificate (MSC): needed if you marry in Barcelona city and apply to the Central Civil Registry, and sometimes for registering a pareja de hecho.
• Both together: one application, and you do not need a UK CNI first.

1. Give notice at your UK register office and say you need a CNI to marry abroad.
2. Within three months of receiving the UK CNI, apply online to exchange it and pay £50 (non-refundable) plus £15 postage.
3. Post your UK CNI to the British Consulate General Madrid.
4. Madrid posts the local CNI to your chosen address in Spain, usually within 30 working days of receiving correct documents. It cannot process applications faster or give status updates.

Apply three months before your civil registry appointment, or before the wedding if you hold a religious ceremony first and register the marriage afterwards. The local CNI carries your UK CNI’s issue date, and Spanish authorities accept it for three or six months.

Apply for a CNI by post through the FCDO, using its forms and a Spanish notary. If the civil registry wants a marital status certificate, apply for an MSC by post (£50), or for a CNI and an MSC together (£150) in one application. For a CNI, the steps are:

1. Download the FCDO affirmation and notice forms for the certificate you need. Fill them in by hand, exactly as your passport shows your details, but do not sign.
2. Book a notary in Spain. If you do not live in Spain, you must be there for 3 whole days before the appointment, and you will need evidence such as a hotel booking, passport stamp or boarding pass.
3. Sign in front of the notary, who notarises each form separately.
4. Apply online, pay, and post the documents you are told to send to Madrid. You also need proof of your permanent address dated within the last 3 months; if you live in Spain, that is your original padrón certificate.
5. Your notice is displayed for 7 days, and the documents are issued if nobody raises a legal objection.

If you travelled to Spain meaning to exchange a UK CNI but did not bring one, the FCDO says to ask the person conducting your ceremony what to do.

Nowhere in the FCDO route. The sworn statements Spain’s process uses are the FCDO’s own affirmation and notice forms, signed before a notary in Spain. Buy a UK statutory declaration only if the civil registry asks you for one in writing. If it does, our single status declaration is £14.99 and covers never-married, divorced and widowed wording; a UK solicitor or notary witnesses it, and it is then apostilled.

Not for the CNI, if you follow the FCDO route: you post your UK CNI to the British Consulate General Madrid, which issues the local one. The FCDO adds that you may need other documents legalised (apostilled) or translated into Spanish by a qualified translator, depending on the civil registry, so ask it for its list.

An e-Apostille is only for a PDF that a UK notary or solicitor has signed electronically. Birth, death, marriage and other General Register Office certificates cannot have one, so they need the paper service. Ask the authority abroad whether it accepts an e-Apostille before you choose it.

From the register office or registrar where you live: the process and fee depend on whether you live in England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. Tell them when you book that the certificate is for a marriage abroad.

• The names on your UK CNI should match your passports, including middle names, the FCDO says. If you have changed your name, update your passport before you give notice.
• Bring proof that any earlier marriage ended. England and Wales issue a final order or decree absolute; Scotland a divorce certificate or “extract”; Northern Ireland a decree absolute or final conditional order.
• You cannot get a CNI while you are still in a civil partnership. Convert a UK same-sex civil partnership into a marriage, or end it, first.

Yes, if it was lawful in Spain and would be allowed under UK law, GOV.UK says. The marriage is registered in Spain, not in the UK: no UK register office or British embassy will register it or issue a UK certificate, so keep the local certificate safe. GOV.UK suggests a translation if you will use it outside Spain. If you want a UK marriage certificate, you can have the legal ceremony in the UK and a commitment ceremony abroad.

Taking your spouse’s surname afterwards? Ask each UK organisation what evidence it accepts for a marriage abroad; our guide to changing your name after an overseas marriage explains what to check.

Planning elsewhere? See our guides for Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, or the freedom to marry declaration overview.