Getting married in the UK as a Spaniard: registration and capacity certificate
A wedding held in the UK is valid there from the day it happens, but for Spain to know about it the marriage has to be registered in the Spanish Civil Registry. Either spouse can apply, whatever their nationality. If both live in Spain, they can do it at their town's Civil Registry instead.
How the consulates take it
London takes the application exclusively by post, addressed to the consular Civil Registry at 20 Draycott Place, and its page says the registration is free. Manchester also takes it by post, with original documents except passports and DNIs, which go as photocopies.
Manchester and Edinburgh state that they are not competent for marriages held outside their district: for those they only forward the papers to the competent registry.
What to send
The marriage declaration form, completed and signed, with an email address for notifications; the UK marriage certificate; and the spouses' identity documents and birth certificates as each consulate lists them.
London's page adds who can ask and what spares paperwork: either spouse can request the registration, whatever their nationality, and the UK marriage certificate has to be under six months old.
A birth certificate, or the record of an earlier marriage, is not needed if it is already registered at that consulate or in DICIREG.
If both spouses live in Spain, they can register the marriage at the Civil Registry of their home there instead.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Who applies | either spouse |
| London | by post only, free |
| Manchester | by post, with originals |
| Apostille on UK papers | Manchester: no; Edinburgh: yes |
- Marriage declaration form
- UK marriage certificate
- Spouses’ identity documents
- Birth certificates, as your consulate lists them
The apostille question
Manchester's page says documents issued by the United Kingdom do not need an apostille for this procedure. Edinburgh's says foreign documents have to be legalised or apostilled. Before ordering an apostille from the UK, ask your own consulate.
Getting married in the UK as a Spaniard
If the UK authorities ask you to prove you are free to marry, the consulates' catalogue includes a certificate of capacity to marry, issued after a file at the consular Civil Registry.
Each consulate, one by one
Open the consulate that covers your area to see what its page says about this procedure.
Official sources, checked on 10 November 2026: the page for this procedure at the consulates in London, Manchester and Edinburgh (exteriores.gob.es).
Related guides
Checked against the official pages on 10 November 2026.
This site is an independent directory. spanishconsulates.co.uk is not the Spanish Embassy or any of its consulates, and it processes no documents.
We gather what exteriores.gob.es publishes and flag it when its own pages disagree. Confirm with the office before you go.