Can I Use an Old US Marriage Certificate for Spain’s Non-Lucrative Visa in Los Angeles?

• A new certified copy can prove a marriage celebrated years ago.
• Check the copy’s issue date against your filing date; a new apostille does not reset it.
• The state that issued the record determines where to request the apostille.

Check the date on the certificate you will submit

Article 61.3(a) of Spain’s Immigration Regulation includes a spouse among the family members eligible to apply on the Non-Lucrative Residence route. The Los Angeles BLS checklist gives the local document instructions: the marriage certificate must have been issued in the previous six months and be apostilled and translated into Spanish by a certified translator.

Look for the date the records office issued or certified the copy. The date of the wedding establishes when the marriage took place; it does not tell you whether the copy is recent enough. Adding an apostille to an old copy authenticates a signature but does not give the marriage record a new issue date.

Request a certified copy of the recorded marriage

Contact the office that holds the recorded marriage and ask for a newly issued certified copy suitable for official use abroad. A photocopy, a decorative certificate from the ceremony or a document showing only that a marriage licence was issued does not give you the same evidence as an official copy of the recorded marriage.

Check what the issuing office means by “certified.” For example, Los Angeles County’s marriage records office distinguishes an authorized certified copy from an informational copy marked as unsuitable for establishing identity. If you are entitled to the authorized version, request that version rather than assuming that any copy labelled “certified” is equally suitable for a visa file.

Use the issuing state for the apostille

The US State Department’s apostille guidance distinguishes state documents from federal ones. For a state or county marriage record, follow the apostille instructions of the state that issued the record. Where you live now, and where you submit your Spanish visa file, do not determine which US state authenticates that certificate.

Hypothetical example: A couple who now live in Arizona married in Los Angeles County in 2004. They obtain a fresh certified copy from the county and send it to the California Secretary of State for the apostille. They do not send the California record to Arizona or add it to the federal apostille request for their FBI checks.

Leave time for translation and recheck before filing

Once you have the certified copy and apostille, send the complete document to a Spanish translator whose certification is accepted for the Los Angeles application. Ask which pages need translating, and keep the apostille attached to the certificate. Compare the names and dates on the documents before the appointment; if you use a different surname on your passport, ask what evidence connects the two names.

If your appointment moves, check the certificate’s age again. Working backwards from the expected submission date gives you time to order the record, get it apostilled and arrange translation without using up the six months too early.

Through its Non-Lucrative Visa service, ANEMOSS ASESORÍA JURÍDICA S.L. can help couples organise their civil records and other application evidence. Our guide for couples using one spouse’s bank account covers the separate question of financial proof.

• Ordering an apostille for a certificate whose issue date is already outside the six-month window.
• Asking your current state to apostille a marriage record issued by another state.
• Ordering an informational copy without checking whether an authorized certified copy is available.