Spanish citizenship by residence: requirements, timelines and application

• The general period is 10 years of legal, continuous residence immediately before the application.
• Reduced periods of 5, 2 or 1 year may apply.
• Time as a tourist or student does not count by itself as legal residence.
• Integration is proven through CCSE and, in many cases, DELE A2 or higher.
• After approval there are 180 days to take the oath or promise.

What Spanish citizenship by residence is

Spanish citizenship by residence allows a person to acquire Spanish nationality after legally residing in Spain for the required period.

Official procedure:

https://sede.mjus...anola

The applicant must prove legal, continuous residence immediately before the application, good civic conduct and sufficient integration into Spanish society.

Required residence period

The general period is 10 years of legal residence. Reduced periods apply in certain cases:

Residence must be legal. Tourist stay or student stay does not count by itself as legal residence for nationality.

Conduct and integration

Good civic conduct is assessed using criminal-record certificates and official reports. Integration is generally demonstrated through the Instituto Cervantes examinations:

• CCSE, on constitutional and sociocultural knowledge of Spain.
• DELE A2 or higher, on Spanish language.

Nationals of Spanish-speaking countries listed by the rules are exempt from DELE. Minors and persons under legal representation are exempt from CCSE and DELE.

Documents and fee

For a standard adult application, the documents generally include a complete valid passport, birth certificate, criminal-record certificate from the country of origin, proof of fee payment, residence documents or authorization for the authorities to verify them, empadronamiento if verification is not authorized, a Spanish criminal-record certificate if verification is not authorized, CCSE and DELE certificates or authorization for verification, and any documents supporting a reduced residence period.

Foreign documents must be legalized or apostilled where required and translated if not in Spanish.

The fee is Model 790, Code 026. The legal amount indicated is EUR 100 and it is paid before filing.

Online filing

The application is filed through the Ministry of Justice electronic office. Electronic identification and signature are required, and AutoFirma is used. The applicant or representative signs the filing.

The draft is deleted if it is not signed and filed within 2 months from creation.

Resolution, status and requests

The statutory decision period is one year from receipt of the application by the responsible directorate. If no express decision is issued within that period, negative administrative silence (silencio administrativo negativo) applies.

If documents are missing or defective, the administration issues a request for correction that must be answered on time.

After approval or refusal

After approval, the applicant must take the oath or promise, renounce the previous nationality where required and register the nationality in the Spanish Civil Registry.

The oath or promise must be made within 180 days from the day after notification of approval.

If nationality is refused, an optional administrative appeal or contentious-administrative appeal may be assessed depending on the case and deadlines.

• Counting time in Spain as a tourist, student or asylum seeker without recognized residence as legal residence.
• Filing foreign documents without apostille, legalization or valid translation where required.