Spanish birth certificate online and libro de familia: child born in Spain

In short: The Spanish birth certificate online for a child born in Spain is requested on the Ministry of Justice portal, with or without Cl@ve. With Cl@ve, if the record is digitised, it is issued at once and can be downloaded; without Cl@ve it always arrives by ordinary post. First the birth has to be registered in the Registro Civil (civil register): the hospital notifies it electronically within 72 hours, except cases that require appearing before the Registro Civil officer (art. 46), or those obliged declare it within 10 days if the birth was outside a health centre or was not notified in time. Since Law 20/2011 came into force (30 April 2021), no libros de familia (family books) are issued.

In person or by representative? Mixed. In a hospital, the birth declaration is sent by the health centre within 72 hours, except cases that require appearing before the Registro Civil officer (art. 46). If the birth has to be declared at an Oficina del Registro Civil, you do that there; the portal offers a Registro Civil appointment, although the online appointment only covers the Registros Civiles already incorporated. The certificate can be requested online; the in-person or postal request is listed in the general information on the procedure on the Ministry's website. Parents of a minor can request the certificate as legal representatives; a voluntary representative, such as a lawyer, has to attach their authorisation (portal FAQ).

Requirements

• The birth takes place in Spain. The Spanish Registro Civil also registers events concerning foreigners that happen on Spanish territory (art. 9 of Law 20/2011), so children of foreign parents are registered in the same way.
• Those who must promote the registration include the hospital or clinic management, the health staff who attended a birth outside a centre, and the parents (art. 45).
• For the certificate, the birth must already be registered. It can be requested by the registered person, their legal representative or a third party who explains why they need it; in the last case, according to the portal, an authorisation from the registered person or their representative may be required.
• To download it at once you need to identify yourself with Cl@ve or a digital certificate. How to get them: Cl@ve and electronic certificate.

Documents

For the birth declaration sent by the hospital (list from the portal):

• Parte acreditativo del nacimiento (the birth notice, the «yellow paper»).
• The parents' identity documents. The portal names the DNI or NIE only for the case where the parents do not agree to the centre checking their identity with the Police; it does not mention passports. If the parents only have a passport, ask the hospital which document it accepts.
• Proof of marriage, if applicable: libro de familia or marriage certificate.
• The firstborn's birth certificate or its page in the libro de familia, if applicable.
• The declaration generated by the system, signed by the declarant or by both parents.

To request the certificate:

• Cl@ve or a digital certificate, or the form without identification.
• If a third party asks for it: the authorisation template on the portal, when the office already uses the new model.

Steps

1. In the hospital, sign the birth declaration and ask whether the centre sends it to the Registro Civil electronically (within 72 hours). The law excludes cases that require appearing before the Registro Civil officer (art. 46), and the portal only accepts submissions from hospitals to registers that already use the new system.
2. If the birth was outside a health centre or the hospital did not notify it, declare the birth at an Oficina del Registro Civil within the following 10 days.
3. After registration, the Registro Civil issues an electronic literal certificate of the birth and makes it available to whoever declared it (art. 44.8). Ask at the hospital or the office how you receive it.
4. For more copies, go to «Certificado de nacimiento» on the portal and choose the request with Cl@ve (immediate if the record is digitised) or without Cl@ve (by ordinary post).
5. For the child's passport, book an appointment at the consulate of your country (see below).
6. For the child's residence, see the card linked at the end.

Where

• Birth certificate: Ministry of Justice portal (sede). Options on the portal: «Mi Certificado de Nacimiento en un solo clic» (for your own certificate, with Cl@ve), request with Cl@ve and request without Cl@ve. The in-person or postal request is listed in the general information on the procedure on the Ministry's website.
• Birth registration: portal procedure. It is meant for health centres, only for hospital births and only in civil registers that already use the new system. Parents do not have a form of their own there.
• Registro Civil appointment: portal. The registration can be requested at any General Office of the Registro Civil, regardless of where the birth took place (art. 10).
• Frequently asked questions: Registro Civil FAQ.

Deadlines

• Hospital: the centre notifies the birth within 72 hours, except cases that require appearing before the Registro Civil officer (art. 46).
• Birth outside a health centre, or birth not notified in time: 10 days to declare it at the Oficina del Registro Civil. After that, a decision in a registry proceeding is needed (art. 47). Art. 47 does not say whether these are working or calendar days; we have not found it in the official pages reviewed.
• Certificate: you cannot repeat the same request until 15 days have passed, unless it was issued at once. By ordinary post, the portal does not publish a delivery time. The portal warns (undated) of delays in sending because of the volume of requests accumulated after the strike of civil servants of the Administration of Justice. If you are the registered person or their legal representative and the entry is after 1950, it recommends Cl@ve.

Cost

• The portal pages we reviewed state no fee for the certificate. On its page about the new Registro Civil model, the Ministry of Justice says the service remains free of charge.

The libro de familia since 2021

The third transitional provision of Law 20/2011 says that, from its entry into force, no libros de familia are issued. Those issued before keep the effects the 1957 law gave them. The law came into force on 30 April 2021 (for consular offices, on 1 October 2020).

What it means for you:

• If your child is born now, you will not be given a libro de familia. Birth and parentage are proved with the Registro Civil certificate, which under the law is full proof of what is registered (arts. 17 and 81). The law does not name a document that «replaces» the book, so if a body asks you for the libro de familia, ask which certificate it accepts instead.
• If you already have a libro de familia, it remains valid with the effects it had. The portal's birth-registration procedure still accepts it as proof of marriage and for the previous child.
• We found no «digital libro de familia» and no procedure to request duplicates in official sources. If you are looking for a duplicate, ask your Oficina del Registro Civil.
• Other cards of ours list the birth certificate or the libro de familia among the possible documents: public healthcare for foreign minors and enrolling foreign children in school.

The child's passport at the consulate

The passport of a child of foreign parents is issued by the parents' country, through its consulate in Spain. Each consulate sets its own requirements and appointments. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs publishes the Consular List of foreign consulates in Spain. One example of requirements: the Ecuadorian consulate in Valencia asks for the minor's Ecuadorian birth registration (card). Other consulate cards: Brazil and Ukraine. Check your consulate's website for the documents it asks for.

Afterwards: the child's residence

The residence permit of a child born in Spain has its own procedure and deadline: residence of a child born in Spain. That card lists the Spanish birth certificate among the documents. To register the child on the padrón, see empadronamiento.

Official source: Ministry of Justice portal, birth certificate and Law 20/2011 on the Registro Civil, consolidated text.

Informational only; check the official source and a professional for your specific case.