# Marriage and birth certificates - Translation and Legalization



## kimuyen (Aug 8, 2013)

So my husband got his Irish passport yesterday, one hurdle jumped in the process of obtaining residency in Spain. Yay!

Since my son and I are Americans, we need to apply as non-EU members. If the source of my research was correct, out marriage certificate and our son's birth certificate need to be translated and legalized.

Questions:
1. Do the certificates need to be translated into Catalan since it is the official language of the Barcelona region? Does the Spanish government accept the translated documents in Spanish?
2. To legalize the documents after they are translated, we need to get an apostille stamp on them, correct?
3. Anything I need to know in this process?

Many thanks!


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## Guest (Aug 10, 2013)

kimuyen said:


> So my husband got his Irish passport yesterday, one hurdle jumped in the process of obtaining residency in Spain. Yay!
> 
> Since my son and I are Americans, we need to apply as non-EU members. If the source of my research was correct, out marriage certificate and our son's birth certificate need to be translated and legalized.
> 
> ...


Congratulations!!!

I can't answer question #1.

As to #2 & #3 - the order is: first get *certified* copies of the marriage and birth certificates from the counties where they took place. Then get the apostle from the relevant state's Secretary of State. Then get the translation.


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## elisa31bcn (Jan 23, 2013)

Your documents need to be translated into Spanish. If you're in Barcelona, you can get a list of official translators from the American Consulate. It should cost about 30 euros a document, and take a few days to week.


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## kimuyen (Aug 8, 2013)

Thank you, mysticsmick and elisa31bcn, for responding to my post and for pointing out the correct order.

So if I read both of your posts correctly, I need to get the marriage and birth certificates certified by the county/state and US State Department first (as part of the process from my state's website) and THEN translate them into Spanish.

I understand that I need to get the certification done here in the US. For the translation, can I get that done in the US or only the translation in Spain is accepted? If it is acceptable to get the translation done here in the USA, are there requirements for the translation firm to make sure the translated documents are legit?

Many thanks!


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## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

MAKE SURE to check the dates of issue required by the embassy. I know some places have, in the past, required that the copies of the documents be recently issued. 

Yes, you need to get the documents apostilled by the State they were issued in (in NH, the Secretary of State takes care of this, just look up "Apostille" + "your state") and then you need to get it translated. Two years ago, I had to then get it translated by a traductor jurado or an official translator with a special seal. If you need a name of a translator, I can send you the link to the lady I've worked with who has been great and I think her prices are reasonable.


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## kimuyen (Aug 8, 2013)

elenetxu said:


> MAKE SURE to check the dates of issue required by the embassy. I know some places have, in the past, required that the copies of the documents be recently issued.
> 
> Yes, you need to get the documents apostilled by the State they were issued in (in NH, the Secretary of State takes care of this, just look up "Apostille" + "your state") and then you need to get it translated. Two years ago, I had to then get it translated by a traductor jurado or an official translator with a special seal. If you need a name of a translator, I can send you the link to the lady I've worked with who has been great and I think her prices are reasonable.


Could you elaborate on the "dates of issue" in your response? Did you mean the dates of certification? Or the issue dates of the marriage and birth certificates (if this is the case, why does it matter?)

Sorry I am not clear if you had the translation done here in the States or in Spain? Yes, I would love to have the information of the person you used for your translation.

Thanks so much!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

kimuyen said:


> Could you elaborate on the "dates of issue" in your response? Did you mean the dates of certification? Or the issue dates of the marriage and birth certificates (if this is the case, why does it matter?)
> 
> Sorry I am not clear if you had the translation done here in the States or in Spain? Yes, I would love to have the information of the person you used for your translation.
> 
> Thanks so much!


in Spain, whenever they want a copy of an official document, they generally want it to be less than 3 months old - so the translations/ apostilles would probably need to be less than 3 months old when you submit them


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## Guest (Aug 11, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> in Spain, whenever they want a copy of an official document, they generally want it to be less than 3 months old - so the translations/ apostilles would probably need to be less than 3 months old when you submit them


Yes, this was the consul I received in San Francisco's Spanish consulate. The clock starts ticking upon issuance of the certified copy.


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## kimuyen (Aug 8, 2013)

Thank you for pointing out the time frame of the certification. This saves us a bundle of troubles!!! I was planning on getting this done next month so one less thing to worry about. There is nothing worse than thinking we have everything in order to then learn that it is useless, and then wait to get things certified.

My husband called and even visited the consulate in Washington DC. No offense here, but he got nothing of value except this: "Oficina de Extranjenia" written on a sticky note as where we need to go to (we already knew this).

Thanks god for this forum!


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## Guest (Aug 11, 2013)

kimuyen said:


> Since my son and I are Americans, we need to apply as non-EU members. If the source of my research was correct, out marriage certificate and our son's birth certificate need to be translated and legalized.


You did not mention the usually required criminal background checks. If this is also part of your process then be aware that this can take some time to get. The FBI in the states is very slow.


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## elisa31bcn (Jan 23, 2013)

I don't think criminal backround checks are required of spouses of EU citizens. Just birth certificates, marriage info, and income requirements.


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## Guest (Aug 11, 2013)

elisa31bcn said:


> I don't think criminal backround checks are required of spouses of EU citizens. Just birth certificates, marriage info, and income requirements.


You could well be right. It was not required for me, but I entered Spain on the reuniting family route... my spouse is a Spanish citizen. All we needed to provide was proof of nationalities, proof of the marriage, and income by either of us.


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## ericban (Oct 18, 2012)

I was asked if I had translations of the uk certificates, birth, marriage etc. I said no, and I was then issued residentia cards.

It seems like it was up to the discretion of the person dealing with our applications in Torre Pacheco.

Regards


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## madinmex (Aug 7, 2011)

My wife is Mexican and we got married in Mexico (I am UK) so fortunately no translator required  however yes to the 3 months, notarized. I received my NIE/residencia from the GC but my wife had to receive hers from the extranjeris in Alicante. 

Just one thing appears to be missing from this post. We had to also go to the British consulate to verify our marriage to a EU citizen ..(all the forms of our marriage and apostalized) . Ironically it was the most expensive service they provide. It is required.


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## kimuyen (Aug 8, 2013)

madinmex said:


> My wife is Mexican and we got married in Mexico (I am UK) so fortunately no translator required  however yes to the 3 months, notarized. I received my NIE/residencia from the GC but my wife had to receive hers from the extranjeris in Alicante.
> 
> Just one thing appears to be missing from this post. We had to also go to the British consulate to *verify our marriage to a EU citizen *..(all the forms of our marriage and apostalized) . Ironically it was the most expensive service they provide. It is required.


Though my husband holds Irish citizenship, he is American. We got married as two Americans in the US so luckily, we don't have to follow the EU procedure to verify our marriage. We will get our marriage certification certified and appostiled by the our home state and the State Department. I hope I am on the right track.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

kimuyen said:


> Though my husband holds Irish citizenship, he is American. We got married as two Americans in the US so luckily, we don't have to follow the EU procedure to verify our marriage. We will get our marriage certification certified and appostiled by the our home state and the State Department. I hope I am on the right track.


I'm pretty certain they'll want translations too

good luck with this - the usual funcionario reaction to anything slightly out of the norm is a shoulder shrug & a resounding 'NO - can't be done!'

a US marriage cert between 2 US citizens - & yet one of them has an Irish passport now ...............

:fingerscrossed:


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## kimuyen (Aug 8, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> I'm pretty certain they'll want translations too
> 
> good luck with this - the usual funcionario reaction to anything slightly out of the norm is a shoulder shrug & a resounding 'NO - can't be done!'
> 
> ...


Oh, you don't want me to throw in the fact that my husband is actually Canadian. If you ask him, he will say he is Canadian. Thanks god, we were not married in Canada and don't have to drag another country's legality into this (that is why we don't ven mention that fact that he is Canadian for this process). We sure need a lot of luck to weed through all of this.

I got some good referral on here for a certified translator in Spain. So yes, translation (in Spain) after certification (in the US, and no older than 3 months).


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## madinmex (Aug 7, 2011)

I'm a bit confused now 

Obviously proof of marriage between 2 EU nationals is no problem. As I said all I had to do was apply with the Guardia civil. However in my wifes case it was different as she had to apply to the extranjeris in Alicante. 

To prove she was married to a EU national (after following the notary, apostile and so on in Mexico) the marriage had to be registered in the UK. To do this we had to go to the UK consulate in Alicante with the above forms. We then had to make an "oath" that the particulars were correct. This was required by the Spanish authorities. 

Now I do remember that some countries were exempt (from outside the EU) for this requirement. It may well be that the US was one. I cannot find the particular details now :noidea: you may well be correct (hope so) but may be another detail to check up on. 

Best of luck


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## kimuyen (Aug 8, 2013)

madinmex said:


> I'm a bit confused now
> 
> Obviously proof of marriage between 2 EU nationals is no problem. As I said all I had to do was apply with the Guardia civil. However in my wifes case it was different as she had to apply to the extranjeris in Alicante.
> 
> ...


Now you throw a monkey wrench into this already confusing and terrifying process for us  I haven't come across other posts that mention this but this is definitely something to check out. Maybe your spouse was of Mexican nationality and it follows a different process?


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## madinmex (Aug 7, 2011)

I quite agree about the process. Yes my wife is Mexican and as an aside is great having my own interpreter  As I said it is worth following up, just for peace of mind if nothing else. 

I am sure there was a list of exemptions, maybe someone else here may know of it's existence as I cannot find it. IF you do have to follow the same procedure then in my case all I had to do was register through the UK consulate (in person), so I would assume you would have to follow the same procedure. It is painless but not cheap. Again hope all goes well :thumb:


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

kimuyen said:


> Now you throw a monkey wrench into this already confusing and terrifying process for us  I haven't come across other posts that mention this but this is definitely something to check out. Maybe your spouse was of Mexican nationality and it follows a different process?


I would for sure check all this out

you are wanting to move to Spain as the spouse of an EU citizen - & yet your marriage is to a US citizen

Spain doesn't exactly recognise 'dual' citizenship - so this could be a spanner in the works for sure

I'm sure it _can _be sorted out - it's just a case of how long will it take & how many extra bits of paper will they require...........


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