I have an interesting issue to contend with here.

My Fianc? aka prometido, is a Spanish citizen living in Spain, and I am an American citizen living in the US.  As of this point we were just going back and forth as much as we could, not a very economical or practical way to live. We decided it’s best to be married so we could settle in one place to live.  Then all of the sudden he fell ill and became unable to care for himself. When this happened I did over stay my visa waver and then he worsened and I tried to re-enter to soon. I was stopped and refused entry and was told I had to wait for the reset of the visa waver. 

Now I have to work this out all on my own and my Spanish is not that strong.  His condition is slowly improving but still severe.  The time it takes to marry in our area of Spain is much to long and expensive, so we decided to get married in the US as soon as he was clear to fly.

I am trying to find out some information on the best way to go about this.  I do not qualify for any Visas and he can only be medically cleared for a 6 day period to come to the US to be wed.  I have worked out arrangements on the US side to be married, but now I’m worried about the time frame on the Spanish side. 

Can Any one inform me how long it takes for the US marriage certificate to be recognized in Spain?  We would be doing it from inside Spain, and not threw a consulate as he is legally residing in Spain.  Once I figure that in I need to know about how long it can take to be issued a residency card threw the consulate once it’s recognized?

I’m also looking for some tips on how to expedite the processes.  If any one knows of ways to make it quicker, an endorsement, a lawyer or form to help speed them threw?

Sorry for such a messy post, I am a bit scattered and I’m afraid it’s reflecting on my writing.
I would really appreciate any intake on this as I am at a loss playing phone tag with the consulate and shifting threw web sites.

djorx,
are having a civil wedding or religious wedding?
if you get married in spain, your marriage is automatically registered, less paperwork.
you can always fly in and out until outside the schengen area until you get your residence card.
you can either fly to the uk, ireland or morocco before your visa waiver expires and then fly back.

if you marry in the usa, it may take 6 to 12 months to have your marriage registered in the registro civil central thru the consulates in the usa, & more paperwork before you get a residence visa.

We are having a civil wedding.
I really can’t afford to fly back and forth any more, as you can imagine he’s not working as he is totally dependent right now and unable to walk, and I can’t hold my job if I keep going back and forth. I already ate threw a large chunk of my savings going back and forth every few months.

Marrying in Madrid is complicated, expensive, and takes a long time.  His sister is Spanish and marrying a Spanish man, and its taking them about a year.  It didn’t look any shorter for us.

As for going in and out of the UK, Ireland or Morocco for the visa waiver, wont really work.  They often don’t look at your passport but the times they do, it’s the stamp in and out of Spain that counts.  I got refused entry because I tried to reenter to soon, and I did go to Cancun for my sisters wedding between.  But the stamps showed the letting me back in would be more then 3 months in a 6 month period.  Getting deported is not a lot of fun, and not going to look good on my residen

We also can’t register threw the Consulate as he is not residing in the US, but staying in Spain and ccy application. 
an not be medically cleared to have enough time here to do it himself.  There for we have no choice then to register the marriage threw Madrid it’s self.  At least that’s the impression I get speaking to the consulate.

What I figure is I will return to Spain on one of the visa they provide for people married and awaiting residency.  I just wonder if it’s any quicker then going to the consulate and asking for residency there.  I have also heard a huge variation on the amount of time it takes to have the marriage recognized from inside Madrid.  I sifted threw many posts here but most are left unfinished, or have varying answers that don’t relate directly to my question.

Nothing is ever easy, but I’m really thankful for you help and suggestions, If you have any further I am all ears.

djorx,
you are right, it is hard to understand what you are trying to say or write, anyway

if you get married at the registro civil de madrid it is automatically registered.

1 when you are in spain, get yourself empadronada (ask your fianc? how).
2 get a certificate from usa embassy in madrid certifying that you are single or divorced or widowed. (ask or call usa embassy for requirements)
3 get certificado de Inscripci?n Consular from the usa embassy in madrid.
4 while you are in the usa, get a copy of your birth certificate and have it legalized in the usa for use in spain (ask spanish consulate in usa how and if they can translate it into spanish)
5 you may need to have certificate 2 & 3 legalized by the ministerio de asuntos exteriores at calle serrano galvache, it would take you a day of lining up or pay a lawyer to do it for you.
6 get a form from juzgado de familia or primera instancia, fill it in.
7 get an appointment at the registro civil to get married.

http://www.justizia.net/registrocivil/default.asp?accion=matrimonio&Idioma=sp

having done the above
you fill in the form to apply for residency

http://www.mir.es/SGACAVT/modelos/extranjeria/modelos_extranje/ex_16.pdf

you can stay on till it gets approved

f you marry in the usa, it may take 6 to 12 months to have your marriage registered in the registro civil central thru the consulates in the usa, & more paperwork before you get a residence visa.

djorx,

or you can simply have a civil union
and then apply for residency.

http://www.madrid.org/cs/Satellite?c=CM_Tramite_FA&cid=1109168958196&definicion=Inscripcion+Registro&idConsejeria=1109266187224&idOrganismo=1109168838702&language=es&pagename=ComunidadMadrid/Estructura&pid=1109265444835&segmento=1&tipoServicio=CM_Tramite_FA

http://gestiona.madrid.org/i012_impresos/run/j/VerImpreso.icm?CDIMPRESO=IMPRA1738

http://gestiona.madrid.org/i012_impresos/run/j/VerImpreso.icm?CDIMPRESO=IMPRF1738

http://www.madrid.org/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application/pdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadervalue1=filename=Supuestos+de+cancelaci?n+de+la+inscripci?n+en+el+RUHE.pdf&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1220385407397&ssbinary=true

I guess I can rephrase the question to make it easier.

I am American and my Husband is from Spain.
We are going to have a civil wedding in the USA.
He will not be in America long enough to register the marriage with the Spanish Consulate.
He will then have to bring the AMERICAN marriage certificate to Madrid, and file for it to be recognized by Spain from inside Madrid.
When and if the marriage is recognized by Spain:
We will file for a Visa to bring me over and work on residency from inside Spain, OR I will wait in the USA and file for residency threw the Spanish Consulate.

I can not have a Civil Union, I can not get a visa that would allow me to stay in Spain for 12 or more months at a time.  That will negate my ability to file for civil Unions, nothing is ever that easy after all.

Now I was wondering if any one knows how long it takes to recognize an American wedding certificate when being filed from inside Spain. (is that the 6 to 12 months you refer to or is 6 to 12 months from the consulate?)

Then if recognized, how long will it take to file for residency from the Spanish consulate.

Would it be faster to get the visa and file for residency from inside Spain?

Is there any way to speed up the process?  Perhaps an endorsement from some one or by obtaining a lawyer to push it threw or any forms or fees that can expedite any of the processes?

djorx,
the marriage certificate would have to be legalized (apostilla de la haya) and translated into spanish before the registro civil central in madrid accepts it.
i have never heard of such procedure (carrying the marriage certificate to spain and personally registering it at the registro civil central in madrid) but if it works then good. if that is possible, many should be skipping the registration thru the consulates.
the 6 to 12 months is thru the consulates, it depends on where the consulates are, some are faster, some are slower.
when you have it is finally registered, then you can start the application for the visa.
when you enter spain with the visa then you can apply for the residence card, but while you are waiting for the card, the visa is as good as the card.

Thank you for your help, I will put an update after we are wed so any one who gets stuck in this situation will have a resource to fall back on.