Romantic relationship in El Salvador

Dating is primarily informal in El Salvador. The state does not maintain a general dating register, require a general licence for a romantic relationship or provide a directly documented public dating-matching or counselling service. MINSAL, the Ministry of Health, provides guidance on love, relationships, respectful and equal communication, personal boundaries, sexuality and contraception. Health services also address pregnancy and family planning, sexually transmitted infections including HIV, and sexual violence. Access depends on the facility and region, so the nearest Unidad de Salud or testing centre should be checked. Consent should be voluntary, informed and ongoing, including in an established relationship. Both partners must be at least 18 to marry in El Salvador. Since 2017, the law provides no exception to this minimum age. An early union or relationship does not become a legal marriage, and child-protection and sexual-offence rules may apply separately. Civil marriage requires free and mutual consent and is recorded in the Registro del Estado Familiar, the civil-status registry. It may be formalised by the Procuraduría General de la República (PGR), a notary, a mayor, a departmental political governor or an auxiliary prosecutor. Marriage proceedings and instruments are described as free of a statutory charge, but a notary may charge an agreed professional fee and local certificates or other ancillary charges can vary. Marriage creates equal rights and duties for both spouses. These include living together, fidelity, mutual help, respect, tolerance and consideration, as well as arranging the shared residence and household. Family costs are contributed according to each spouse's resources. Housework and childcare count as equal contributions, and one spouse may not prohibit the other's legitimate work or study. A unión no matrimonial is a legally recognised status for a man and a woman who have lived together freely, continuously, stably and publicly for at least one year without a marriage impediment. The terms convivientes and compañeros de vida are also used. The status does not arise automatically: rights generally begin only after a prior judicial declaration and registration in the Registro del Estado Familiar. The declaration can affect participation in gains, family expenses, protection of the family home, inheritance rights equivalent to those of a spouse and compensation for damages. It is usually requested after separation or death by a conviviente or an heir. The application must generally be filed within three years of the separation or death; otherwise the claim expires. The process requires evidence and court work, and no uniform processing time is established. The reviewed national primary sources expressly frame the statutory marriage and unión no matrimonial routes as between a man and a woman. They do not establish a direct equivalent formal status for same-sex couples. A romantic relationship itself can still exist without registration, but formal consequences connected to marriage or unión no matrimonial should not be assumed without a specific legal basis. The Law Against Intrafamily Violence protects a current or former partner, spouse or conviviente even when the couple has never shared a home. It covers physical, sexual, psychological and property-related violence. Possible measures include a contact or approach ban, removal from the family home, restrictions on visits, support for relocation, housing or maintenance arrangements and therapy orders. The LEIV, the Special Comprehensive Law for a Life Free from Violence for Women, adds protection, prevention, assistance, reparation and sanctions for women. ISDEMU, the Salvadoran Institute for the Development of Women, operates the free and confidential 126 service 24 hours a day, with crisis intervention, psychological and social support, legal advice and help activating protection. Its network includes 14 departmental care centres, six Ciudad Mujer units, mobile detection and referral services, and shelters for high-risk cases. The PGR's Family Unit and auxiliary offices provide nationwide legal advice and administrative or judicial services, while its psychosocial service offers individual, couple, conviviente and family therapy and crisis or violence programmes. In immediate danger, protective institutions should be contacted; couple mediation is not a substitute for protection from violence. An informal noviazgo or pareja can end without a state procedure or registration. A civil marriage ends through judicial divorce by mutual consent or through a court process based on more than one year of uninterrupted separation or facts, including violence, that make continued cohabitation impossible. PGR guidance lists documents such as both parties' DUI national identity cards, birth and marriage certificates, documents concerning joint children, an address for service and the DUI cards of two witnesses. The duration depends on the case, and the final judgment receives an annotation in the civil-status registry. The Salvadoran Social Security Institute (ISSS) may register a spouse or compañero/a de vida as a beneficiary. Registration can require both DUIs, a sworn declaration where applicable, a joint birth certificate or other proof, and additional conditions when the couple has no common child. A service response is indicated as taking about 10 to 20 minutes in the stated service information. Foreign beneficiaries may need additional documents and may face a card waiting period of about nine months. For a survivor's pension based on a unión no matrimonial, ISSS refers to registration and indicates one year from the death for the declaratory procedure.