Hello,

I have just got married and I want to share what I have been through during this process. Firstly I think the papers or the time period can be vary according to countries and province.

1- We gave all necessary papers to Registro Civil in Valencia. (You have to call and ask for a appointment)
Papers required are different depending on the Comunidad Aut?noma where you are located. Because of that call the Registro Civil of the province where you will get married and ask for some information. For instance Madrid requires ‘Certificado de Edictos’ y ‘Fe de Vida’ but Valencia not. In any case, you should obtain a multilingual certificate (certificado pluriling?e). Your consulate will supply you all the documents you need. The only thing that I had to get from my country was my certificate of residence. I don’t know how it works for other countries.

2- Right after 1 month we had the interview. Do not be scared its not such horrible. They just ask you some questions about your relationship. After the interview they told us that they would send all the documents they recorded, to the prosecuter (fiscal) and call us whether its approved or not.

3- 2 weeks later we have got a phone call and they told us to come by a police station in Valencia for our application to take the next step. Simply we went there and they took a copy of my passport and my ‘husband’s identity card. They were about to give us another appointment but the lady was so nice to us that she only asked if we had any criminal record or not (they started doing this from January 2009).

3- 2 weeks later we had another phone call saying that WE PASSED THE EXAMINATION and we were told that we could go to Registro Civil in any moment to get a date for the wedding.

4- We started in January to handle papers and in the middle of March we had the wedding date. We got married in May because in Registro civil there was no other date before May.

5- We got married (they gave us the family book because we got married in Registro Civil) and 1 week later we called to, I think it is called ‘Subdelegacion del Gobierno’, which is the place where they deal with immigration issues. In Madrid they gave me 24 of August. It was late and we decided to call to Subdelegacion del Gobierno in Valencia. In Valencia they gave us 24 of JUNE and it was also impossible for me. I sent an e-mail saying that if it was possible to give me another date before the 24th of June. It is compulsory to call in order to take an appointment. They won?t take applications without an appointment (In Valencia you can only take an appointment date through e-mail).

6- And finally yesterday I went to Subdelegacion del Gobierno in Valencia with our family book (I recommend you to do it immediately because the more time you lose the more papers they will ask for) If you do not apply within 3 months from your marriage, they will ask you for Certificado del Matrimonio, if you apply before, your family book will be enough.

5- You have to submit all the documents (original and copies).
The form EX-16 original and 1 copy.
1 photo.
Certificate of residence. (If you dont have a certificate of residence, then you have to get one).
DNI of your partner.
Your passport

6- They took all the documents we gave and I think within 15 minutes more or less I had the NIE number. The official told me that now I can work and I am a legal resident. They will send my residency card within 90 days. And I think I will have to go to the police station (As they told me so).

7- After Subdelegacion del Gobierno I went to the office of Tesorer?a de la seguridad social to get my numero de seguridad social. Depending on where you are registered, you will be assigned to an office or another. I filled a form and gave a copy of my passport; within 5 minutes I had the number.

8- Then I went to the health center (ambulatorio) which is assigned to the district where I live to take my ‘Tarjeta Sanitaria’. They gave me a temporary one which is covered by my husband?s health card. When I start working they will change it. They got the copy of my passport, the document which they gave me from Subdelegacion del Gobierno and the document which has my numero de seguridad social.

I am telling again. Process can vary according to countries and province. I recommend you to call the province and ask for necessary documents.

Regards.