Originally Posted by caroline c

Hi Carol, firstly I would say give yourself plenty of time to get the paperwork sorted out. My daughter got married in Sept. this year to a Spanish man. They got married in Madrid and she has lived there for six years. I think it took her around 6-8 months to get the paperwork done. It was very complicated and very expensive. I think she had to take an oath or something at the british consultate in Madrid which cost a lot of money. She also found the consulate to be not very helpful, didnt seem to know much about anything. Her personal documents had to be authorised. They seemed to get sent from one office to another, a lot of waiting around etc. They had a civil ceremony in the town hall which was also expensive. Once you finally get the papers sorted you then have a time limit before they expire. After the ceremony you then have so many days to register the wedding and if you dont do it in time you are not married. All in all my daughter and her husband found it a very stressful process, he is Spanish and she is fluent in Spanish. They dont make it easy. We have spoken to people who said how easy it was and didnt take much time but to be quite honest I wonder if some of these people are actually properly married. Good luck.

Originally Posted by missbusybusy

thank you for the information, seems very stressful and complicated, a rethink required I think !!

thank you to all who have replied

Originally Posted by IamStu

And yes, I had to put my hand on a bible and swear an oath!

Originally Posted by cricketman

That's strange, I didnt. If they would have made me do such a thing then I would have told them to F*** off

Originally Posted by me me

Surely the hardest part is finding a man worthy of the honour.

Originally Posted by lyric050203

Here is some guidance I wrote a little time ago. This is our experience. I would recommend going via one of the agencies as they must know some short cuts, particularly the residency one.

This is valid for a civil wedding and still is as far as I know.

1. You must have been resident for two years. This normally means having Empadronamiento for two years, however as you have to have a NIE number to purchase a property it is possible to persuade the authorities that you have been resident for longer than the date on your Empadonamiento (We did).

2. You need your original Birth Certificates

3. You need a Certificate of No Impediment. (this comes from your local Registry Office, You are interviewed just as if you were having a Registry Office wedding, they post the “Bans” in the office, and three weeks later issue you both with an individual certificate).

4. If either or both of you have been previously married then you will need Divorce papers. (I presume there is something like a Divorce Certificate, never having been in that situation don’t know)

Note that the Certificate of No Impediment has a time limit of three months and they must be valid when presented to the Authorities.

All English Language Papers need a Legal Spanish Translation. That is that they need to be translated and notarised. The notary has to be acceptable to the Spanish Authorities. The costs for this vary wildly, but I know someone who will do it quite cheaply based on a ‘Word’ word count. Mine was £80, PM for details.

The Birth Certificates, Certificates of No Impediment, and divorce Certificates need to be validated by the attachment of the “Hague Apostile” this is done at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. Their web site gives the approximate time for postal validations, I found it, at best, optimistic, and details of price (extortionate).They are virtually uncontactable by phone.

With this all in order you can take it to the JP, when the JP (or his Clerk) is satisfied that all is in order, he sends it all to the local Judge (in our case in Torrox). When he is satisfied that all is in order you are summoned to a meeting with him, just like the meeting with the Registrar in step three. Presuming that he is satisfied that all is in order all documents now go to the provincial administration centre(in our case Malaga) for permission to be granted. This is sent to your Spanish address, with a copy to your local Town Hall, and away you go Arrange venue and time with the JP.

It is involved and time consuming but more satisfying than paying someone €400+ costs to do it for you.

It has taken me just over a year so far, and while we have had our copy of the permission for four weeks the Frigiliana Town Hall don’t seem to have theirs, so we still don’t know if Jan 4th is possible.
It wasn't and we had to wait until 10th March.

Originally Posted by rspltd

I think you'll find the wording from the Common Prayer Book is 'before God and this Company' "and no one is any the wiser that it´s just a show" - So you will also be deceiving all your guests. Hmmmmmm!!. Yes, it does sound strange.