Official certificates (birth, marriage and death)

Overview

Once a birth, marriage or death has been registered with the Spanish Registro Civil, you can request official certified copies whenever you need them for later procedures — you don't need to repeat the original registration each time.

Requirements

• The event (birth, marriage or death) must already be registered with a Spanish Registro Civil
• You'll generally need to identify the specific Registro Civil office where the original registration took place, or use the central digital system where available

Step-by-step process

• Identify which Registro Civil holds the original registration — usually the office covering where the event took place
• Request the certificate online (many offices now support this with a digital certificate or Cl@ve), by post, or in person
• Specify which type of certificate you need: an extract (extracto, a summary) or a literal copy (literal, a full copy of the original entry) — some procedures specifically require the literal version
• Receive your certificate, either digitally, by post, or in person depending on how you requested it

Required documents

• Your ID
• Basic details of the registered event (approximate date, names involved, and registering office if known)

Common mistakes

• Requesting an extracto when the receiving institution specifically needs a literal copy, or vice versa
• Not knowing which specific Registro Civil office holds the record, which can slow down a postal or in-person request

Practical tips

• If the certificate is for use abroad, check whether it also needs an apostille before it will be accepted there
• Digital requests through the Ministry of Justice's online certificate service are usually the fastest option when available for your specific record

How Tuchati can help

If you're not sure which certificate type or office you need, Tuchati can help you track down the right record and request it correctly the first time.