Spanish Citizenship through Sephardic jew in Spain

How Sephardic Jews Can Gain Spanish Citizenship

The special Sephardic citizenship route is closed. Law 12/2015 accepted ordinary applications until 1 October 2019. Since then it only allows a request on exceptional or humanitarian grounds, which the Council of Ministers decides case by case (additional provision 3). A person of Sephardic origin can still become Spanish through two years of legal residence in Spain (article 22.1 of the Civil Code), and keeps their current nationality when doing so.

It’s well known that the state of Israel provides incentives for people with Jewish heritage to move their lives there. The reasons why seem obvious. That said, there are other countries where similar practices are being adopted. For example, while it’s true that many people at any given moment are attempting to apply for Spanish citizenship people of Sephardic origin still have a shorter path than most. For a Sephardic jew Spain is a good place to work and live.

In recent years, the Gobierno de España implemented a statute dictating that any Jewish people with determinable Spanish heritage could apply for citizenship in the nation of Spain. While it’s true that this ruling is no longer in play, other possibilities exist to achieve this outcome for Jews hoping to work or exist as a resident there.

The Jews settled in many places throughout history. Back in 1492, Spain issued an order which left its Jewish community with a small set of harsh choices. Jews who lived there were forced to choose between converting out of their religion, leaving the country permanently, or facing an untimely death. The Spanish Jewish community during that period was among the largest on Earth, despite previously suffering through mass killings and forced conversions a century beforehand. The history of Jews in this region spanned at least 1,700 years, boasting scholars, poets, diplomats, philosophers, and merchants.

To this day, historians cannot come to consensus on how many Jews were forced out of the country. Estimates range from forty to a hundred thousand. Those who fled ended up in various countries, including Italy, the Netherlands, the Ottoman Empire, and North Africa.

The language spoken by Sephardic Jews is Ladino, a modified version of Spanish from the 1400’s. It ties them to Spanish culture, which they treasure.

Several thousand Jews chose to convert and remain in the country, although they were tragically subjected to the horrors of the Inquisition. For the first twenty years of this infamous event, some two thousand Jews were thought to be murdered, and thousands more are understood to have been tortured and or slaughtered throughout its duration. Every Sephardic Jew Spain persecuted deserves to have their history preserved.

2015 was the year in which the authorities in Spain decided to make things right. No members of parliament voted against the vote to begin inviting eligible Sephardim who can prove their Spanish roots to become citizens once again.

This provision offered by Spain is as powerful as it is unique. It is a symbol of the maturity of the European country’s values, and its dedication to atoning for the wrongdoings of the past. These days, Spain is home to one of the tiniest populations of Jews in the entire continent, ranging between fifteen and forty-five thousand in a country with tens of millions of people living there.

While this momentous decision is to be lauded, the end result is not so simple. The process to apply for and receive citizenship is an ordeal. There were a lot of rules to abide by, which unfortunately excluded many hopeful applicants.

Jewish people with demonstrable Spanish bloodlines are sometimes referred to as Sephardic Jews due to the fact that Sephardim means Iberian Peninsula in Hebrew. To date, there exist a number of advantages in the case that they wish to become Spanish citizens. In this article we will help you determine your options and what documentation you will require before filing your application.

Applying for Citizenship in Spain as a Sephardic Jew

Law 12/2015 let people of Sephardic origin apply from abroad, with a certificate of Sephardic origin, the CCSE and DELE exams and an appearance before a Spanish notary. It was always temporary. These are the dates that closed it:

Source: BOE, Law 12/2015 · Ministry of Justice circular, Sep 2019 · Directorate General for Legal Certainty, 2021

What happens to applications still in process

Files filed by 1 October 2019 and completed in time are still decided by the Directorate General for Legal Certainty, in the order the documents arrived. The law gives it 12 months from the moment the complete file and the official reports reach it. If no decision comes within that time, the application counts as refused by administrative silence, which opens the door to an appeal (recurso de alzada). If your file has been stuck for years, our team can check its status and prepare that appeal.

What are the Specific Routes for a Sephardic Jewish Person to Earn Spanish Citizenship?

Since the special route closed, these are the ways a person of Sephardic origin can still become Spanish.

1. Naturalisation

This is now the main route. Most foreigners need ten years of legal residence, but people of Sephardic origin need only two (article 22.1 of the Civil Code), and they are exempt from renouncing their current nationality (article 23). You first need a residence permit to live in Spain, for example the non-lucrative visa or the digital nomad visa, and you still have to prove your Sephardic origin.

Beyond all this, you’ll need to pass a couple of exams. There’s the DELE, a language examination with an A2 ranking. After that is the CCSE, which tests your understanding of Spanish culture. In order to secure your naturalisation, you also need to not have a criminal history.

2. Marriage

If you are married to a Spanish national and not legally or de facto separated, one year of legal residence in Spain is enough (article 22.2.d). Our guide to Spanish citizenship by marriage covers the details.

Additionally, you’ll need to have a few more documents handy for presentation. These include your marriage certificate and both your and your spouse’s passports and birth certificates.

3. Family History

Recent Spanish family can open a faster door than Sephardic origin. If a parent was Spanish when you were born, you are Spanish by origin (article 17). If your father or mother was originally Spanish and born in Spain, you can opt for nationality (article 20.1.b). If a parent or grandparent was originally Spanish, one year of legal residence is enough (article 22.2.f). The Democratic Memory Law, which let many grandchildren apply from abroad, closed on 22 October 2025.

For the residence routes you’ll need your passport, birth certificates that prove the family link, criminal record certificates, proof of the fees paid, and the CCSE and A2 DELE exams unless you are exempt. The option and the citizenship by origin routes do not require the exams.

4. Portuguese Citizenship

Portugal ran its own Sephardic nationality scheme. It tightened the rules in 2022 and repealed the route in May 2026 (Organic Law 1/2026), so it is closed to new applicants, although files already pending there keep the old rules. What Spanish law does guarantee is a benefit for people who are Portuguese by origin.

If you are Portuguese by origin, two years of legal residence in Spain are enough to apply for Spanish nationality, and you keep your Portuguese passport (articles 22.1 and 23 of the Civil Code). If you became Portuguese by naturalisation, including through the Sephardic route, the Portuguese passport does not give you this benefit, but your Sephardic origin still does: the same two years, and you keep your nationality.

Also make sure you have the following documents available: your permit for residence, passport, birth certificate and a criminal record certificate from Portugal and from the countries you have lived in.

5. Carta de naturaleza

Spain can still grant nationality by royal decree when there are exceptional circumstances (article 21.1 of the Civil Code). Before 2015 it was the only route for Sephardic applicants who did not live in Spain, with each case decided on its own. Law 12/2015 turned it into a standard procedure, and its additional provision 3 still lets people of Sephardic origin ask the Council of Ministers for it on exceptional or humanitarian grounds. It is discretionary and rare, so it only makes sense as a plan B for a strong individual case.

Due to the expansive nature of the requirements for undertaking this venture through any of the methods covered so far, it is highly recommended that you do not shoulder the entire workload alone. Our immigration lawyers specialize in procuring the correct documents and analyzing them to ensure they provide the necessary value. We can also provide advice, aid and consulting to help you get through the process as quickly and painlessly as possible. The laws around concepts like dual nationality are difficult to traverse for experts, let alone average citizens.

FAQ for Sephardic jew in Spain

How can I find out whether my last name has Judeo Spanish ties?

We recommend checking out sephardim.com. If your surname pops up on a list there, it can be a lead worth researching, but a surname alone has never been enough proof of Sephardic origin.

What’s the timeframe for obtaining Portuguese citizenship as a Sephardic Jew?

It varies. It depends on what information you provide in your application and documentation. There’s also no guaranteed timeframe for how long it will take for your application to be processed.

I am not eligible for this process, what to do if I want to live in Spain?

If for any reason you are not eligible for this process you can look for other alternatives such as non-lucrative visa or the entrepreneur visa, which also start the two-years count to nationality, our team will be able to help you with any doubts you may have.

What organizations are legally eligible to verify claims of Jewish ancestry?

The FCJE is a good starting place to find a proper authority – the Fedeacion de Comunidades Judias de España

The Impact of COVID-19 on Applications Filed Before the Deadline

Up until now, the description of the application process hasn’t taken into account how things have changed in light of the coronavirus pandemic. It goes without saying that travel, and especially international travel, has been severely restricted. This means that a lot of people who dutifully filed applications for Spanish citizenship as Sephardic Jews have not been able to move through the process as they normally might have. As far as it goes for the average Sephardic Jew Spain is one of their homelands, so this pandemic is a tragic development.

To rectify this dilemma, the Ministry of Justice extended the time to complete applications by twelve months, until 1 September 2021. It never reopened the filing deadline: the extension only covered people who had filed their request by 1 October 2019. After 1 September 2021 the notaries’ platform stopped accepting new documents.

The extension existed because the CCSE exam on Spanish culture and the Constitution, and the DELE, were cancelled for months, and because flights to Spain stopped, so applicants could not appear before their notary.

In 2019, the Spanish authorities counted over 130,000 individuals who claimed Sephardic Jewish ancestry and intended to obtain citizenship due to the 2015 law. Some 20%-30% of the 13 million or so Jews worldwide are estimated to have a lineage tracing back to the Iberian Peninsula. For a Sephardic Jew Spain is offering a new life with ties to their old roots. They’ve strived to ensure the survival of their culture and their interpretation of the Spanish language.

If you have Sephardic roots and want to live in Spain, the two-year residence route is the realistic path today. Our team plans the visa that gets you here and the nationality application two years later. Tell us about your case.