How authorities test whether a marriage or partnership is real

Key rules

• Interview: Officials may question each of you separately about your life together.
• Evidence: A shared address, shared finances and a record of your life together are the strongest proof.
• Challenge: A negative decision can be challenged, and the deadline is in the notice you receive.

Interview practice and appeal routes vary by office and procedure, so confirm them with the registry or immigration office handling your case, or with a lawyer.

The short answer

Authorities do not take a marriage or partnership on trust. The registry that records it, and the immigration office that relies on it, can both check that the relationship is real. They do this through an interview and by looking at evidence of a shared life. If a decision goes against you, you can challenge it.

What the interview is for

At the registry, an official may speak to each of you separately. The aim is to see whether you are really a couple, or whether the relationship exists only to get a legal benefit such as residence.

Expect everyday questions about your life together. You may be asked how you met, where you live, your routines, your families and your plans. Answer each question separately and honestly. Small differences on minor details are normal. Large contradictions on basic facts are what cause problems.

Whether immigration offices hold their own relationship interviews, and in which procedures, depends on the procedure. Ask the immigration office handling your case whether you will be called to one.

What counts as evidence of a real relationship

Officials look for signs that your lives are joined. Useful evidence includes:

• A shared address, for example on the padrón registration or a joint lease.
• Shared bills, bank accounts or other financial ties.
• Photos, messages and travel records over time.
• Contact with each other's families and friends.
• A common language, or another way you can really communicate.
• Plans for a shared future.

What raises suspicion

Officials tend to look more closely when there are signs that the relationship is arranged. Typical warning signs are:

• You barely know basic facts about each other.
• You have no common language and no explanation for it.
• You met very recently, or never met in person.
• You do not live together and have no reason for it.
• Money was paid to arrange the marriage.
• Your stories in separate interviews clearly conflict.

None of these alone proves anything. Officials weigh them together.

If you get a negative decision

A negative decision on your marriage, your partnership or your immigration application can be challenged. The deadline and the route depend on who decided and on what. The notice you receive should say where and by when you can appeal. Keep it, note the date you received it, and act quickly.

How a negative registry decision on a marriage or partnership is challenged is not settled here. Ask the registry that issued it, or a lawyer who handles immigration or family law, before the deadline in your notice runs out.

How to prepare

• Gather your evidence before you go, and keep copies.
• Talk through your shared history so you both remember the same facts.
• Bring documents that prove where and how you live.
• Be honest. Do not rehearse answers that are not true.