Sworn translation to marry in Spain with a foreign spouse
We translate into Spanish the foreign documents the Civil Registry needs for your marriage file: birth certificate, certificate of marital status, single-status or marital-capacity certificate, once apostilled.
- Official sworn translation with full legal validity in Spain
- Valid for procedures before official bodies in Spain
- Standard, urgent and express delivery options · Exact delivery date before paying
- Confidential handling of your documents
- Formal corrections included if the receiving authority requests them
What the marriage file involves
Getting married in Spain when one or both of you is a foreign national starts before the wedding itself. First comes the marriage file (expediente matrimonial), opened at the Civil Registry. It's the step where the registrar confirms that you are who you say you are, that you're both single, and that you meet the requirements to marry. No approved file, no ceremony, whether civil or religious with civil effect.
To open it, the Registry asks each partner for a set of documents. The foreign spouse's papers usually arrive in another language, issued by the authorities of their home country, and the Spanish administration won't take them as they are. It wants them apostilled at source and translated into Spanish by a sworn translator accredited by Spain's MAEC. That translation is what we handle here.
One thing up front: this page isn't a legal guide to the procedure. Each Civil Registry has its own quirks, and the exact requirements, documents and timelines are set by the Registry itself. Always confirm them with your Civil Registry or your lawyer. Translations are our part.
Which documents need a sworn translation
It depends on the country of origin and the Registry, but the foreign spouse's documents that almost always need a sworn translation are these:
- Birth certificate, full and recent, apostilled. It's the centrepiece of the file and the document translated most often.
- Single-status or marital-status certificate (a certificate of no impediment, or its local equivalent), proving the person is free to marry. The name changes from country to country, but it does the same job.
- Certificate of marital capacity, where the home country issues one and the Registry asks for it. It confirms that, under that country's law, nothing prevents the marriage.
- Certificate of registration or residence for the foreign partner, when it's written in another language.
- In specific cases, divorce decrees or death certificates of a former spouse, if the person was married before.
Worth getting straight from the start: the apostille is part of the document and gets translated too. Apostille the birth certificate, translate only the certificate, and leave the apostille in its original language, and the file can come back incomplete. We translate the document and its apostille together, in a single sworn translation.
A sworn translation signed by a translator accredited by Spain's MAEC is officially valid in Spain, which is where the file is processed. The apostille is the part that crosses borders. You order the translation here because the Spanish Civil Registry asks for it.
How we do it at Textualia
Everything is online, with no office visits. Upload the apostilled foreign document (a scan or a sharp photo is fine), pick the language pair (English→Spanish or French→Spanish), and see the price straight away. A translator accredited by the MAEC does the work, then stamps, signs and certifies that the translation faithfully matches the original.
By default you get a digitally signed PDF, easy to add to your file. If your Civil Registry prefers paper, we also issue it on official Spanish stamped paper and post it to your door. You choose the format they ask for: one, the other, or both.
We keep the original's terminology and layout. Names, dates, places of birth, stamps and the apostille are all reproduced precisely. One mistranscribed surname or a wrong date on a birth certificate can hold up the whole file just when the wedding is already in the diary.
Why Textualia
Because this is all we do, and we do it fast. We recognise a British birth certificate, a French acte de naissance or a certificate of no impediment at a glance, and we know what the Registry expects to see in each. When the wedding date is tight, you've got 24h or 12h rush options. Pricing is by word count, VAT included, and you know it before ordering anything. No fine print.
Civil-status certificates tend to expire quickly: many are valid for only three or six months, so leaving it late with the date set gets expensive. That's why we give you a clear timeline from the first minute, and a real person on the other end when a question comes up. We don't give legal advice or decide whether the file is approved; that's down to the Registry or your lawyer. What we guarantee is that the piece that depends on us, the sworn translation, arrives flawless, on time and in the right format.
Gather the foreign spouse's documents, check they carry the apostille, and order the sworn translation. We'll send the file back ready to submit at the Civil Registry.
Frequently asked questions
Answers to your questions
Which marriage-file documents need a sworn translation?
The foreign spouse's documents that are in another language: chiefly the birth certificate, the single-status certificate (or certificate of no impediment) and, if your Registry asks for it, the certificate of marital capacity. Sometimes the registration certificate too, or, where there was a previous marriage, the divorce decree or death certificate. Tell us what you have and we'll confirm what should be translated.
Is Textualia's sworn translation accepted by the Civil Registry?
Yes. It's signed by a translator accredited by Spain's MAEC and is officially valid in Spain, where the file is processed. We deliver a digitally signed PDF and, if your Registry prefers paper, the translation on official Spanish stamped paper, posted to your address.
Do I need to apostille the documents before translating them?
Yes. First get the apostille in the country that issued the document, then send it to us already apostilled. We translate the document and the apostille together, in a single sworn translation, so the file is complete. Leave the apostille untranslated and the Registry may hand it back.
Single-status certificates expire. How long does the translation take?
Good reason not to leave it to the last minute: many civil-status certificates are valid for only three or six months. The documents in the file are usually short and we deliver within a few days. If the wedding is close, we offer 24h and 12h rush options. You'll see the timeline and price before confirming.
My partner and I are from different countries. Do you cover both language pairs?
We work English↔Spanish and French↔Spanish in both directions, which cover most files. Usually that means translating your foreign documents into Spanish to marry in Spain, but we also do the reverse pair (Spanish→English or Spanish→French) if you later need the Spanish certificate abroad. If one document is in English and another in French, we translate both. For other languages, write to us and we'll point you in the right direction.
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