Belgium has an advantage few countries offer for the marriage file: the birth certificate can be requested in a format that needs no translation into any language. But the country also has three language regions, and that directly affects what we can and can't translate ourselves. Let's take it step by step.
The birth certificate: request it as a multilingual extract
Belgium is one of the states party to the CIEC's 1976 Vienna Convention, which we already covered in detail in our guide on the multilingual civil-status extract. This means you can request your birth certificate from the relevant Belgian commune in the convention's Form A: an extract with its fields already labelled in several languages, including Spanish. In this format, the document needs no apostille and no sworn translation to be presented before the Spanish civil registry — just make sure to request it specifically as a "multilingual extract" or "formulaire A / meertalig uittreksel", not as an ordinary certificate.
If there was a previous marriage that needs to be documented, Form B of the same convention covers the marriage-certificate extract with the same advantage.
The marriage capacity certificate: this one needs confirming
The birth certificate has an elegant solution; the document proving you're free to marry, not so much. Belgium issues a certificat de coutume or certificat de capacité matrimoniale (depending on the commune, one, the other, or both) through the municipality where you're registered, or through the Belgian consulate if you live outside Belgium. This document isn't covered by the 1976 Vienna Convention, which only regulates birth, marriage and death. It falls instead within the "capacity to marry" category of EU Regulation 2016/1191 — with the same nuance we already covered for the Irish Certificate of Freedom to Marry: in theory it can come with the multilingual standard form attached to avoid translation, but in practice not every commune issues it as a matter of course, and some Spanish civil registries still ask for it translated. Confirm with your specific registry before assuming it isn't needed.
The nuance that really matters: your commune's language
Belgium has three language regions, and the language your commune issues documents in depends on where you're registered:
- Communes in the Walloon Region: documents are issued in French.
- Communes in the Flemish Region: documents are issued in Dutch.
- Brussels-Capital Region: bilingual French-Dutch; you can request whichever version you prefer.
It's worth being as honest here as we are in our guide for Dutch residents on the Costa Blanca: at Textualia we don't translate directly from Dutch, only from English, French and German into Spanish. If your commune is in the Flemish Region and you need a document that does require translation (such as the marriage capacity certificate when the Spanish registry doesn't accept the multilingual form), request the French version if your commune allows it, or check whether the document itself can be requested as a Vienna Convention multilingual extract, which needs no translation into any language. If it only exists in Dutch and translation is required, you'll need a sworn Dutch translator accredited by the MAEC — a language pair we don't offer, and we'd rather tell you this here than after you've uploaded the document to our quote tool.
The exact requirements are set by each civil registry
As with any marriage file involving a foreign spouse, there's no single list valid across Spain. Each civil registry sets its own criteria on validity periods and whether it accepts the multilingual form for the capacity certificate. Check with the specific registry handling your file before requesting anything from Belgium.
What we're not
We're not a gestoría and we don't handle your file with the Belgian or Spanish civil registry. Our job is translating from English, French or German into Spanish, with official validity in Spain, whatever documentation that process asks you for.
In summary
- The Belgian birth certificate, requested as a Vienna Convention multilingual extract, needs no apostille and no translation.
- The marriage capacity certificate isn't covered by that convention: check with your civil registry whether it accepts the multilingual form or requires translation.
- If your commune is in the Flemish Region, documents arrive in Dutch, a language we don't translate directly — request the French version if possible, or the multilingual extract.
Related pages
- The multilingual civil-status extract (Vienna Convention, 1976)
- Getting married in Spain as an Irish citizen
- Dutch residents on the Costa Blanca: which documents need a sworn translation
→ Request my sworn translation
At Textualia we translate Belgian marriage documentation into Spanish from French or English, signed by a translator accredited by the MAEC. If your documentation is in Dutch, we'll tell you before you order anything.