# Marriage as a resident to a non-eu immigrant



## Ronald84 (Nov 6, 2020)

Good evening,

I myself have a question I cannot find the answer on easily online.
I will contact a specialized lawyers office soon but am hoping to gain some information already. 

My situation is as follows:

Next year I will be moving to spain and apply for a resident permit (Don't see any problems there since I already live in the EU)
Now I have met a girl (yeah!) but the problem is she is from colombia and has no legal visa at this moment to be honest.

Is there a legal way for us to mary so she as well get their residency? Or is that only possible to someone with spanish citizenship?

Thanks in advance for your answers and thoughts.


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## Ronald84 (Nov 6, 2020)

Has nobody been in a similar situation to marry a non-eu person?


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## MataMata (Nov 30, 2008)

"Next year I will be moving to spain and apply for a resident permit (Don't see any problems there since I already live in the EU) "

Wherever it is you currently live if you are British then from next year you too will be a non EU immigrant so your main problem will likely revolve around formalising your girlfriends status.


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## Ronald84 (Nov 6, 2020)

Well I am from the Netherlands so no problem for myself.. but I want my girlfriend who is from outside of the eu to be able to legally marry me in Spain and also of course get a residency permit by that.
But I am still a Dutch citizen but living in Spain. So that is my concern on how that goes.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

I don't know the specifics as a Dutch citizen in Spain, but generally speaking, unless you have been a resident in Spain for two years, it's very difficult to get married legally in civil marriage. The only avenue is in the Catholic Church, if you are both Roman Catholic and marrying for the first time. Even then, there are quite a lot of procedures to go through, involving parishes and dioceses in the Netherlands, Colombia and Spain, plus your consulates in Spain. People often use the service of a marriage planner in Spain to navigate the red tape. You can get married in Gibraltar, as they don't have resident qualification and the marriage will be recognised in Spain. Is it easier to get married in the Netherlands?

Once you are married, with marriage certificate translated into Spanish, you can apply for certificate of residence as an EU citizen and for your wife as family member.


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## Ronald84 (Nov 6, 2020)

Thank you for your extensive response.
She is already from a Spanish speaking country so for her to get married in the netherlands would require to learn Dutch which is quite hard.
And since I want to live in Spain it is not relevant for her future to learn it.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Are you Catholic (assume your girl friend is) and do you want to marry in the Catholic Church? Then that's a possibility, but quite a lot of red tape is involved. Or marry in Gibraltar with a civil ceremony, though it may not be straightforward during the pandemic.


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## Ronald84 (Nov 6, 2020)

Joppa said:


> Are you Catholic (assume your girl friend is) and do you want to marry in the Catholic Church? Then that's a possibility, but quite a lot of red tape is involved. Or marry in Gibraltar with a civil ceremony, though it may not be straightforward during the pandemic.


Well officially I am catholic but nor practicing so for me it would feel hypocrite. But I will look into the Gibraltar option thank you!


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## Ifn (Jan 29, 2017)

Ronald84 said:


> Good evening,
> 
> I myself have a question I cannot find the answer on easily online.
> I will contact a specialized lawyers office soon but am hoping to gain some information already.
> ...


Isn’t your novia, as a citizen of Columbia, entitled to Spanish citizenship?


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## incatalunya (Nov 16, 2020)

Yes. Definitely look at the Gibraltar option....It is much easier than Spain.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Ifn said:


> Isn’t your novia, as a citizen of Columbia, entitled to Spanish citizenship?


Columbian, as an Iberoamerican, can apply for Spanish citizenship after two years living in Spain.


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## Lealee (Dec 8, 2020)

I’m British. I married my American husband in Copenhagen 4 years ago. Didn’t have any problems getting his residencia once I had mine. The reason we got married in Copenhagen was because the process to get married was relatively straight forward and didn’t cost an arm and a leg.


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## Lealee (Dec 8, 2020)

Lealee said:


> I’m British. I married my American husband in Copenhagen 4 years ago. Didn’t have any problems getting his residencia once I had mine. The reason we got married in Copenhagen was because the process to get married was relatively straight forward and didn’t cost an arm and a leg.


I should say that to get married in Copenhagen the service is performed in English and the marriage certificate is in danish, English, German and Spanish so you only need to get it apostalized no need for translation when applying for her residency


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