Civil Registry certificates: birth, marriage and death

A certificate (or certification) from the Registro Civil is the official document that attests to a fact relating to a person's civil status. Depending on the fact it proves, there are 3 main types: birth certificate, marriage certificate and death certificate.

The birth certificate proves the date, time and place of birth, as well as sex, identity and parentage. It is used to process the DNI, the passport, Spanish nationality, school enrolments, pensions or inheritances. You should know that the Libro de Familia stopped being issued on 30 April 2021 (Ley 6/2021, Law 6/2021) and was replaced by the individual civil registry with a personal code: the books already delivered are still valid, but no new ones are issued.

The marriage certificate proves the fact of the marriage and its date. It is common for changes of civil status, widowhood pension, nationality, property purchase or procedures abroad.

The death certificate proves the passing. It is essential to start an inheritance, request a widowhood or orphanhood pension, close bank accounts, claim life insurance or cancel utilities and pensions.

Managora identifies which certificate and which format you really need for your procedure and obtains it for you, without you having to struggle with the electronic headquarters or travel.

Firstly, because it causes the most trouble: if you do not expressly request otherwise, the Registry issues the certificate as an extract. This is stated in article 82.1 of Ley 20/2011 (the Spanish Civil Registry Act): certifications can be literal or in extract, and unless expressly requested otherwise it is issued in extract. The literal one must be requested, and it must be requested in writing.

Literal certificate: it is a complete copy of the Registry entry, with all the registered data and subsequent marginal notes. It is the most complete format and the one usually required for inheritances, nationality files, weddings and to present abroad.

Extract certificate (ordinary): it is a summary with the essential data of the registered fact and omits marginal notes and secondary details. And there is a limitation that you should know before choosing it: article 29 of the Reglamento del Registro Civil (the Civil Registry Regulations) says that the ordinary birth extract certification does not attest to parentage. It only attests to the fact, the date and the place of birth and the sex of the registered person, and of the parents it only mentions the first name. For everything else it is valid and accepted in many common procedures (enrolments, grants, banking procedures and administrative tasks), provided the receiving body does not require the full copy. For inheritances, nationality files, weddings, to prove who the parents are and to present abroad, the literal one is the one that works.

Multilingual certificate (international): it follows the model of the Convenio de Viena of 1976 (the Vienna Convention) (CIEC no. 16), drafted simultaneously in several languages. Its advantage is that, in the signatory countries of the Convention, it avoids having to provide a sworn translation. You should check that the destination country is a signatory, as a large part of Latin America is not included.

Negative certificate: it proves that a person is not registered in that specific Registro Civil. It is requested when the administration needs proof that the entry does not exist.

Choosing the wrong format is one of the most frequent mistakes: an extract can be rejected where a literal is required. Managora selects the correct format according to the destination of the document.

The certificate is requested at the electronic headquarters of the Ministry of Justice in 3 ways: online with identification (digital certificate, DNIe or Cl@ve, the Spanish electronic identification system), online without identification, or in person or by post at the Registro Civil Office.

With a digital certificate or DNIe, and if the entry is digitised, the download is usually immediate with a secure verification code (CSV). Without digital identification, the Registry sends it by post to the indicated address, so it takes a few days. You can check the updated amount and timeframe in the procedure file.

The certificate itself is free at the Registro Civil: the Ministry of Justice warns that it has no relationship with websites that charge for the document as if it were official. What Managora provides is the processing service: preparing the application, choosing the format, managing the competent Registry and delivering the certificate ready to use.

A practical detail: the headquarters does not allow you to request the same certificate again until 15 days have passed since the previous request when it is not issued on the spot. Managora gets it right the first time so you do not waste that time.

The birth registration is the entry that creates the record in the Registro Civil, and the certificates are subsequently issued from it. It is regulated in Ley 20/2011, of 21 July, del Registro Civil (the Civil Registry Act).

The hospital or clinic management, the medical staff who attended the birth outside a health centre, the parents and, failing that, the closest relative or any adult present at the birth are obliged to promote the registration (art. 45).

In practice, the health centre itself notifies the Registro Civil of the birth within a period of 72 hours (art. 46). When the birth occurs outside a health centre or this notification has not been sent, the obliged parties have 10 days to declare it before the Registro Civil Office (art. 47).

If the period elapses without registering, the registration is late and requires processing a registry file, which is slower. Managora prepares and submits the birth registration for you and, once done, gets you the certificate in the format you need.

A death is an urgent procedure. The declaration and registration are carried out based on the medical death certificate and, generally, before the burial; until the death is registered, the burial licence is not issued. Due to its urgency, the Registry attends to it with priority, through the on-call or permanent service provided for these cases.

Once registered, the death certificate opens all subsequent procedures: inheritance, widowhood or orphanhood pension, life insurance, cancellation of accounts and administrative deregistrations. Managora obtains the certificate and, if you wish, chains the management of the inheritance.

The marriage certificate is requested by indicating the details of the spouses, the date and the municipality where it was registered. It has the same formats (literal, extract and multilingual): the multilingual one is the usual one when the marriage must take effect in another signatory country of the Convenio de Viena (the Vienna Convention).

Anyone with a legitimate interest can request the certificate, which is presumed in the person requesting it, except for cases with restricted access. Managora proves the legitimation and also processes the certificates of relatives when you authorise it.

If the certificate is going to be presented abroad, the document is often not enough: it must be given international validity. There are 3 scenarios here. Firstly, if it goes to another European Union State, Reglamento (UE) 2016/1191 (Regulation EU 2016/1191), applicable since 16 February 2019, abolishes the apostille for civil registry documents (birth, marriage, death) and allows them to be accompanied by a multilingual standard form that avoids translation. Secondly, for countries of the Convenio de La Haya (the Hague Convention) that do not belong to the European Union, validity is achieved with the Apostille. Thirdly, for the rest of the countries, through consular channels.

The multilingual certificate can save you the sworn translation in signatory countries of the Convenio de Viena (the Vienna Convention), but it does not always replace the apostille, which responds to a different convention. You should check exactly what the destination body requires.

Managora checks the destination of the document, decides whether the European Union regime applies (without apostille and with a multilingual standard form), the Hague Apostille or the consular route, and prepares the certificate (apostilled literal or multilingual) so that it arrives admissible on the first attempt.