What is a single status / capacity-to-marry certificate?
It is the official document proving that a person is not married and is legally free to marry. It goes by many names depending on the issuing country, and they don't all take the same form:
- United Kingdom — Certificate of No Impediment (CNI), issued by the local register office after a public notice period.
- United States — there is no federal certificate. The usual document is a single status affidavit (also called a certificate of no impediment or affidavit of single status), a sworn statement by the person before a notary, whose format and validity vary from state to state.
- Philippines — the CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage Record), issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), certifying that no prior marriage is recorded in the Philippine civil register.
- Other countries — certificate of celibacy, civil status certificate, Ehefähigkeitszeugnis (Germany), certificat de célibat / de capacité à mariage (French-speaking countries) and equivalents. The name changes, the function is the same.
In English these are grouped as a certificate of no impediment or single status certificate. For the Spanish Civil Registry, what matters is not the name but that the document officially attests the absence of any impediment to marriage.
When you need it to get married in Spain
When a foreign national wants to marry in Spain, the marriage is processed through a marriage file (expediente matrimonial) before the Civil Registry (or, in some cases, before a notary or Justice of the Peace, depending on the format). Within that file, the administration requires proof that neither party has a prior marriage bond or legal impediment.
That is where your home-country single status or capacity-to-marry certificate comes in. If the document is in a language other than Spanish, the Civil Registry requires its sworn translation into Spanish. Documents that usually accompany it are the birth certificate, the passport and, where relevant, the previous marriage certificate with its divorce ruling if there was an earlier marriage.
The exact requirements (which documents, how recent, whether local registration is needed, how many appearances) vary from one Civil Registry to another. Always confirm them with the Civil Registry that will process your file before ordering any translation.
How to obtain it by country
United Kingdom — Certificate of No Impediment
Requested at the register office of the district where the person resides. After a public notice period declaring the intention to marry abroad, the register office issues the CNI. To use it in Spain it must carry the Hague Apostille from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.
United States — single status affidavit
As there is no federal document, the usual route is to sign a single status affidavit before a notary public. The format depends on the state, and in many cases it must be apostilled by the Secretary of State of the state where it was notarised (not the federal Department of State, which handles federal documents). Check what your Civil Registry requires, as some accept only certain wordings.
Philippines — CENOMAR (PSA)
Requested from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), in person or through its official channels. To use it in Spain it is apostilled by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and then sworn-translated into Spanish. It is the standard document for Filipino nationals marrying in Spain.
Other countries
Each country has its own issuing authority (civil registry, town hall, notary or ministry) and legalisation route. If the country is party to the Hague Convention, legalisation is by apostille; if not, by consular legalisation. Confirm the correct route before starting.
Apostille and sworn translation: apostille first
The practical rule is apostille before you translate. The apostille is part of the document and must be translated too; if you translate first and apostille later, the translation is incomplete and has to be redone. The correct order is:
- Obtain the single status certificate in your country.
- Apostille it (or use consular legalisation if the country is not in the Hague Convention).
- Order the sworn translation into Spanish of both the certificate and the apostille.
We translate both elements in a single sworn document, so the Civil Registry can read the certificate and verify the apostille in Spanish.
What our sworn translation includes
Once your certificate is apostilled, we translate it in full into Spanish. Our sworn translation:
- Reproduces all the content of the original: personal details, the single-status or no-impediment statement, issuing authority, stamps and dates.
- Translates the apostille following the Hague Convention model: country, signatory, capacity, date and apostille number.
- Adds the sworn translator's certification: signed statement, MAEC accreditation number and qualified electronic signature, fully valid before the Spanish administration.
- Includes translator's notes where needed — for example, to link a transliteration of your name with the one in your passport and avoid rejections for an apparent discrepancy.
Format and turnaround
We deliver the translation as a PDF with the sworn translator's qualified electronic signature, a format fully valid before the Civil Registry and the rest of the Spanish administration. If your procedure requires a paper copy with a handwritten signature and stamp, we send it by post after the digital delivery.
The standard turnaround for a single status certificate (usually one or two pages plus the apostille) is shown in the quote tool before you pay, along with rush options. Turnaround is calculated on the Spanish working calendar.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Certificate expired at submission. Many Civil Registries only accept recent certificates; a six-month limit is often seen, though it is not a uniform rule. Check the deadline with your Civil Registry before apostilling and translating, so you don't repeat everything midway.
- Translating before apostilling. If you apostille after translating, the apostille is left untranslated and the work has to be redone. Apostille first, translate second.
- Name or transliteration discrepancies. When the name on the certificate differs from the passport (a dropped middle name, a missing accent, a transliteration from Cyrillic, Arabic or another script), we add a translator's note linking both spellings to avoid administrative rejection.
- Wrong document. A birth certificate or a residence registration does not prove single status. Make sure the document expressly declares the absence of any marriage or impediment.
- Assuming a uniform requirement. Marriage files are not processed the same way in every Civil Registry. Always confirm the specific documents and deadlines with the one handling your file.
Spanish bodies that accept our translation
- Civil Registry (Registro Civil) — processing of the marriage file
- Notaries that process marriage files
- Town halls and Justices of the Peace — celebration of the civil marriage
- Spanish consulates abroad, when the file is started outside Spain
Related pages
- Birth certificate — almost always accompanies the single status certificate in the marriage file.
- Marriage certificate — needed, with its divorce ruling, where there was a previous marriage.
- Philippine NBI clearance — Philippine criminal record, often filed alongside the CENOMAR for Filipino nationals.
- Getting married in Spain as a Filipino citizen — a practical guide to the marriage file for nationals of the Philippines.
- PSA certificates: birth, marriage and CENOMAR — how to obtain and apostille PSA documents for Spain.