Hi, so I’m American and popped the question to my Spanish girlfriend last month, and now we’re trying to set up marriage for July when both of our families are on vacation.  I figured 7 months would be plenty of time to work things out with the Civil Registry where she lives so that we could get married there and I could move there and become a permanent resident. Turns out that’s not very likely according to what the Civil Registry has told me.  Plus to do the process would require me making repeated visits out to Spain before marriage to do the “Expediente” and sign paperwork and stuff, which will be very expensive.

So my question is this: it appears from what I’ve read that it’s possible for her to come here through the Visa Waiver Program and marry me here in the United States.  I’ve talked with the Registry Office in the Spanish Consulate here and they say they can register our marriage.  Then I should be able to go to Spain carrying with me the original documents I would need to apply for residency?

I’ve also read that it is risky for her to come here and get married without a K-1 visa, but that’s an expensive and somewhat time consuming route to take as well especially since we plan on living in Spain.  Anyone had an experience like this or could offer some advise?  Thanks in advance!

I cannot tell you much about what you would have to do on the spanish end of things but I do know a bit about marrying in the US. I married an Italian last spring and we were also contemplating doing a civil marriage in the US while we were there on vacation. The process was much easier. When I called the our local courthouse, all they needed was his passport. They knew that he would only be there on the 90 day visa waiver and it was not a problem. The risky part is if you want to live in the US (which you dont). He would of have to go back to Italy and then apply for his visa there for the US and wait but if you dont want to live in the US then you dont have to worry.

After you would have to get your marriage licensed registered in Spain which I believe you do thru the Spanish embassy in your region. I am sorry I cannot help much on this. I am currently waiting for my residence here in Spain, we moved last November but because I already had Italian residency, it was a different process.

Congratulations and good luck with the process!

Hi I just went through this process, I am american married to a Dutchman we were married in the states. If you can get the Spanish Embassy to register your marriage there for spain you have a huge part of the process covered. We live in barcelona, here is the process we went through (finalized everything tuesday so it is recent).

Another tip, get new copies of your birt certificate and the US marriage certificate, take them to the secretary of state in the state they were issued in and get them verified iwth an Apostile stamp (form of international notarization). You may or may not need this but it will really come in handy to do it in advance in case you need it!!

At the top of the list is registering you and your spouse with City Hall (Empadronamiento). Where you need to go depends on the district you live in. For this you have to have:
Your lease (in Spanish)
If you have children you need an Apostilled copy of their birth certificate (and pray that they don?t ask that it is translated, they just need something saying you are the child?s parents).
Your passports
Spouse?s NIE
They should be able to print the document for you right then and there. Once you have the registrations, make several copies of this you need at least 3, 2 for the government and 1 for yourself.
Around the same time go onto http://www.mpr.es and make an appointment with ?Servicio de Cita Previa? you will need to select ?RESIDENCE PERMIT FOR RELATIVES OF EU NATIONALS? (tarjeta de residencia de familiar de ciudadano de la Uni?n)
You will go to the Oficina de Extranjeros located at: MURCIA 42 BARCELONA 08027
The appointment is usually made 3-4 weeks out, you probably won?t have your marriage certificate but you can take all of your other documents with you and get the application process rolling. Be prepared to wait for an hour and for the place to be swamped.
The documents you should have are:
Both passports (obviously)
Your spouse?s NIE document (no longer a card), plus copy
Work contract if you have it (just in case)
A completed EX16 form, Download form EX 16
2 copies of both you and your spouse?s passports
The marriage certificate from your EU spouse?s country (apparently this cannot be older than 3 months)
A copy of both of your registrations with city hall (Empadronamientos)
Three passport-sized photographs in color.

You will leave with a paper listing the missing documents needed for your application (hopefully none). If you are missing some of the documents you can return to the Oficina de Extranjeros any time once you have them in order. You don?t need an appointment but be prepared to wait at least a half hour. The office is open 9-5.
After this visit, they will issue you a letter saying your application is complete and you will have to go to the next step (no it isn?t picking up your residency card, that would make too much sense), which is going to the Police Station 2 weeks after all your documents are in. It is called the Comisaria de Barcelona-Balmes, located on the corner of Calle Guadalajara and Calle Bosch.  You will know you are there because there will be a bunch of other immigrants wandering around looking confused. It is located on a really small insignificant side street, but don?t fear you are in the right place!
You will need:
The letter from the Oficina de Extranjeros
3 recent passport sized pictures
Your registration with City Hall
As always be prepared to wait, the police at the guard post will direct you where to go. Don?t let them send you around the corner, you have to be there. Once you get a live person, it goes quickly. They give you a slip to take to a different office where you will pick up your actual card. I was confused, and went there right away, but you can?t pick up the actual card until one month after the Comisaria grants it. They also give you a form to take to your bank where you need to transfer 10 Euro to the Police. This is called a Modelo 790, and I have seen it mentioned elsewhere saying you should complete it before going. Unfortunately there is no way for you to get this form in advance because it is a carbon copy. Oh and another joyous tidbit about this form, all of the banks within blocks of the Comisaria only process these forms between 9 and 10:30. Which is next to impossible to get done due to the long wait at the station. The good news is that you have a month to make the transfer before you have to go pick up your card. The office where your card is located is:
Calle Mallorca 213. The wait is short once you get there?
Finally, hop on one foot, pat your tummy clockwise, while holding your nose, and counting backwards from 100?..

Regarding the visa question…. The Schengen agreement allows you (or her) to go to the US (Or Spain) for 90 days within a 6 month time period. So you can stay 3 consecutive months, or go a month and a half return to the native county, and go another month and a half around the wedding (the total amount in 180 days cannot exceed 90 days). Lots of people stay in Spain illegally, not sure about how hard it is to go to the US and stay illegally, but a lot of times when you fly out of the States they check to see if you a. have a return ticket, and b. have the proper paperwork. After you are married, as long as you are travelling together it should be fine. However, I had a one way ticket to Europe and was denied check in at British Airways because I did not have a visa and my husband was not travelling with me (didn’t matter that I was travelling with our child). It also didn’t matter that I had our marriage certificate with an Apostile stamp and everything. They said if he had been there they could have let me through. They forced me to buy a refundable one way ticket back (gasp $1800!!). Also, if you get a one way ticket, try to fly directly into Spain from the US, the UK and the Netherlands are sticklers are about visa stuff, and it is better to just avoid layovers there.

Hi,

I’m a little late but here’s my experience. I’m from Spain and my husband is American. It was such a pain to get his stuff together to get married in Spain (we were living in Madrid) that I called the Civic Center in Marin, SF Bay Area, and they told me that I just needed to go there with my passport and that was it. I didn’t need any Fiance visa or anything like that, this was told by the American Consulate in Madrid, because I wasn’t planning on staying there. They told me that if I was asked why I was there to say that I was on vacation, which was true. So we got our “fake” ceremony and big party in Madrid, went on our honeymoon, and on the way back got married. Back in Spain I submitted all the paperwork to get our marriage registered but a year later, we were living in NYC by then, nothing had happened, so I got it registered at the Spanish Consulate in SF, because it is where we got married. My sister called the Registro Civil in Madrid and they told her that with the new elections things were kind of slow and that it would be better for me to send my paperwork to the consulate. Pretty lame.

If I were to do it again, I would do it this way. At the Civic Center they didn’t even ask me for my passport! If you can, as a previous poster mentioned, get married in the U.S. and try to register the marriage in the Consulate, but I doubt they’ll do it if you aren’t living there.

Good luck,
Eva