I will be getting married (civil union) in august in barcelona. My first big question is this:

I have to leave Spain right after I get married because I have work in Canada for a month. Will I be able to get back into Spain with whatever document I have been given by the Civil Registry?

Also, because of red tape, and also just government slowness, I have been in Spain now for 6 months, without the legal papers for extending the 90 day limit, waiting for the marriage thing to get moving.  How much in trouble will I be in when entering the U.S. again?

Needless to say, HELP!

thanks

M.

Hi M,

I am actually in a similar situation and was wondering if you or anyone else could answer a few questions about civil unions and immigration.

First, if a non-EU citizen wishing to be married (civil union) to an EU citizen of a country other than Spain (UK), do the same residency laws apply as with marriage, i.e. the EU citizen must have been a resident in Spain for at least two years?

Second, if it is the case that the EU Citizen has not been a resident for two years, are there any other European countries that perform civil unions on non-residents? And would these then be legal in Spain and get the non-EU citizen residency?

Sorry that I don’t have any answers to your questions however I am hoping to get in touch with a lawyer soon to try to get some of these questions answered and if I get any information which would be of interest to you, of course I will send it your way!!

Thanks again and best of luck!

TheWeddingGuideEspana - 11 June 2007 03:52 PM

I run a directory of English speaking wedding services in Spain.  Some of the wedding planners on my site, may be able to answer your questions, although we primarily deal with EU brides at the moment.

Hey there,
I was wondering when someone would come along and start helping expats get married. These services seem surprisingly difficult to find.

Be sure to read the rules about commercial posting on SpainExpat, but feel free to come back and help out with any wedding questions - I know there are quite a few on here.

hi, im getting married in spain this year to a non european. Once we are married she can apply for residency, but she has to apply, it wont just be given to her. This will obviously take time but we have been told she can leave the country and return afterwards…(dont forget to take all the wedding documents with you) to prove you are married. We are getting married by our local judge which in our case is in the police local office, and they have been very helpful.