# Is Libro de Familia necessary for obtaining a Tarjeta de Residencia?



## director1 (Dec 28, 2013)

Hi all,

Just a quick question here. Does anyone know if a Libro de Familia is definitely needed for the Tarjeta de Residencia application? I am an American citizen and my wife is Spanish*–*we are based in Bilbao. Some sources suggest that the libro is necessary to receive the tarjeta, others say that all you need is an official marriage certificate proving that you are married. We were married in Gibraltar, so we have an official translation of this certificate into Spanish.

We have recently applied for the libro de familia but it looks like this is going to take FOREVER, so if it's not absolutely necessary, I'd be keen to get on with the tarjeta application.

Cheers!


----------



## VFR (Dec 23, 2009)

Well we used to be able to get a card a few years back & when we got ours we never had a family book.
We are Brits so maybe things are not the same for you guys ?


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

VFR said:


> Well we used to be able to get a card a few years back & when we got ours we never had a family book.
> We are Brits so maybe things are not the same for you guys ?


Indeed the situation is very different for Non EU's.
There is a lot of info in the FAQ's posted on the main Spain page, post #1 for EU members and non EU members


----------



## liliana80 (Sep 6, 2014)

Didn't you ask this question a month or two ago? I remember answering something almost exactly the same, anyway. Yes, if you are married to a Spanish citizen you MUST have a SPANISH marriage certificate and libro de familia. You can call the extranjeria and ask them what documents you need, they will tell you that. Because Spain considers Gibraltar to be Spanish territory, you MUST get your libro de familia from La Linea. 

I went through this process recently. It took about 3 months to get the libro de familia from La Linea. My residence was approved in exactly 2 days, and the letter arrived after 2 weeks. The tarjeta takes about 2 weeks to be ready. Plus extra time waiting for each appointment. Since applying for the libro de familia in June, my card should be ready to pick up this week. About 6 months start to finish.


----------



## director1 (Dec 28, 2013)

Hi Liliana –*I think I did ask a similar question a while back, but have been given different advice since then (including my lawyer who said it IS necessary) so wondered if things might have changed. I phoned the San Sebastian Extranjeria office just this morning and the told me that all I need is a translated marriage certificate, and that a libro de familia was definitely not needed*– that it's nice to have, but not necessary. Where did you apply for your tarjeta? It may just be up to the person who takes in the paperwork we hand them, which is obviously a bit frustrating.

That's great to hear about the three-month wait from La Linea*– very helpful indeed.

D


----------



## director1 (Dec 28, 2013)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Indeed the situation is very different for Non EU's.
> There is a lot of info in the FAQ's posted on the main Spain page, post #1 for EU members and non EU members


Thanks Pesky –*will have a look through that FAQ again. It seems that requirements and such change, which makes it difficult to know whether anything out there is up to date or not. I guess it's one nature of the beast?

D


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

director1 said:


> Thanks Pesky –*will have a look through that FAQ again. It seems that requirements and such change, which makes it difficult to know whether anything out there is up to date or not.
> D


Well, that's true, so if you find out anything different let the mods know so they can change the sticky!!


----------



## director1 (Dec 28, 2013)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Well, that's true, so if you find out anything different let the mods know so they can change the sticky!!



Well I was definitely told by San Sebastian extranjeria this morning that libro de familia is not needed, just a marriage certificate. I won't of course know FOR CERTAIN until i go there in person, but that at least is what i am planning to hand them for now…

Chrs
D


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

director1 said:


> Well I was definitely told by San Sebastian extranjeria this morning that libro de familia is not needed, just a marriage certificate. I won't of course know FOR CERTAIN until i go there in person, but that at least is what i am planning to hand them for now…
> 
> Chrs
> D


Could it depend on where you were married? I was married here so I don't have a marriage certificate, but I do have a Libro de ...


----------



## director1 (Dec 28, 2013)

Mmm, yes I suppose it could, but I think that is a different issue. We were married in Gibraltar but we have applied for a Libro from the Registro (by giving them our certificate).


----------



## larryzx (Jul 2, 2014)

For a non EU citizen obtaining and renewing a Residencia is not exactly straightforward. 

I know a gestor who has given up assisting such applications because they said the goal posts moved so often they were ‘always wrong’. 

When we renewed my wife’s Residencia we had to prove we were still married. To do that I had to pay the British Consul around 300 euros for a piece a paper which said I had told him we were still married. 

Proving one is divorced is simple, in UK proving one is still married is impossible. In Spain the Libro de Familiar I believe works as a divorce would be noted in it.


----------



## liliana80 (Sep 6, 2014)

I applied for residency in Barcelona. When asking about documentation, they sent us a long, detailed email with the requirements. It included this:

En caso de cónyuges, antes de solicitar la tarjeta de residencia, el matrimonio deberá figurar inscrito en el Registro Civil correspondiente, debiendo aportar:


a) Si el matrimonio se ha celebrado en España: certificado literal de matrimonio expedido por el Registro Civil español, con una antigüedad no superior a tres meses.


b) Si ninguno de los cónyuges es español y el matrimonio no se ha celebrado en España: certificado de matrimonio, expedido por el Registro Civil del estado del que sea nacional el cónyuge comunitario, o por el registro civil del estado donde se haya celebrado el matrimonio, con una antigüedad no superior a tres meses.

Then I clarified it by asking:

Buenos dias,

Yo soy canadiense y me caso con un espanyol. Nos casaremos en Gibraltar y vivimos en Barcelona. Para solicitar la tarjeta de residencia de familiar de ciudadano, hace falta conseguir el libro de familia antes, o es suficiente presentar nuestro certificado de matrimonio de Gibraltar?

And they replied:

RESPUESTA:

No puede iniciar una solicitud de tarjeta de residencia de familiar de español si el matrimonio no está inscrito en el registro civil español. Debe tener un certificado de matrimonio español.

Atentamente,

INFOEXT.


----------



## director1 (Dec 28, 2013)

I just rang San Sebastian again to clarify: American husband, Spanish wife, marriage in Gibraltar. The guy in the office repeated to me: libro de familia not necessary, just the certificate with a traducción jurada.

These decisions on what exactly is need *must* be regional. I really wish they would state that, instead of pretending that everything decided upon at the federal level is followed by everyone below to a T...


----------



## liliana80 (Sep 6, 2014)

Well, in any case you can always just go with what you've got and see if they put it through. We didn't have any problems with the extranjeria, but the registro civil was a nightmare trying to get them to send our documents to La Linea. Different people in the same office told us wildly different things, most of them had no idea, until we finally found one guy that had done it before and put everything through for us. So it all depends on who you talk to. I would recommend trying to get the name of the guy you talked to just in case you have any problems you can tell them to go ask him.


----------



## director1 (Dec 28, 2013)

Gosh, tell me about it. It took us six months after the wedding to send everything to La Linea, in part because we tried first to go through the London consulate who gave us a real runaround. In the end we just sent it ourselves straight to the Registro in La Linea, and they seemed to accept it just fine. 

I finally reached the Bilbao Extranjeria this afternoon, about :30 before they closed, and the *extremely* kind man spoke to me for about 20 minutes explaining everything I need. He confirmed that I do not in the end need a libro de familia, that a marriage certificate will do just fine (and that the latter doesn't even need to be apostilled, which I stupidly though it did, even though it's from Gibraltar). He then gave me an appointment for exactly when I asked for it, and enquired whether there was anything else I needed. The way I was treated and spoken to seemed almost too good to be true, if many people's horror stories are to be believed.

Do you know anything about showing proof of medios de vivir / salary? Looks now like this one might be a sticking point (will start another post about this)…

D


----------



## director1 (Dec 28, 2013)

larryzx said:


> For a non EU citizen obtaining and renewing a Residencia is not exactly straightforward.
> 
> I know a gestor who has given up assisting such applications because they said the goal posts moved so often they were ‘always wrong’.
> 
> ...


Larry – The gestor example is very telling. Thanks, at least I know it's not just ME!


----------



## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

director1 said:


> I finally reached the Bilbao Extranjeria this afternoon, about :30 before they closed, and the *extremely* kind man spoke to me for about 20 minutes explaining everything I need. He confirmed that I do not in the end need a libro de familia, that a marriage certificate will do just fine (and that the latter doesn't even need to be apostilled, which I stupidly though it did, even though it's from Gibraltar). He then gave me an appointment for exactly when I asked for it, and enquired whether there was anything else I needed. The way I was treated and spoken to seemed almost too good to be true, if many people's horror stories are to be believed.
> 
> D


He was probably the cleaner just waiting to start! :lol:


----------



## director1 (Dec 28, 2013)

liliana80 said:


> Didn't you ask this question a month or two ago? I remember answering something almost exactly the same, anyway. Yes, if you are married to a Spanish citizen you MUST have a SPANISH marriage certificate and libro de familia. You can call the extranjeria and ask them what documents you need, they will tell you that. Because Spain considers Gibraltar to be Spanish territory, you MUST get your libro de familia from La Linea.
> 
> I went through this process recently. It took about 3 months to get the libro de familia from La Linea. My residence was approved in exactly 2 days, and the letter arrived after 2 weeks. The tarjeta takes about 2 weeks to be ready. Plus extra time waiting for each appointment. Since applying for the libro de familia in June, my card should be ready to pick up this week. About 6 months start to finish.


Hey Liliana*–*

Merry Christmas! I've a quick question for you in case you're reading: you said your residence was approved in two days (which is just amazing! so short!) and that the official letter came in two weeks after that. Once the letter came in, what did you have to go do? Did you have to go to the extranjeria and have your fingerprints taken before the card could be issued? It's been a month since my application was submitted, but I'm just wondering what to expect once the letter comes in.

Cheers,
D


----------

