How to get Spanish Citizenship

If you wish to obtain Spanish Citizenship and get their Spanish passport, read on . This article will show you all the four legal routes you can take, plus the requirements you must meet to obtain your nationality. And if you want to get it fast, there will be some valuable tips you can follow to make it possible. So, stay put to discover more about getting Spanish nationality.

How To Obtain Spanish Citizenship?

The term Spanish Citizenship is the right to live independently in Spain and obtain several benefits such as voting rights and the freedom to work and freely move within the EU. The easiest way of becoming a Spanish citizen is by birth. Being born in Spain makes you Spanish only in limited cases, for example if one of your foreign parents was also born in Spain. Otherwise it cuts the residence requirement to one year. However, the civil code accepts some other ways we’ll see in this article later that foreigners could use to obtain spanish nationality.

When you become a Spanish national, these are the benefits of spanish citizenship

• All paperwork becomes easy and fast. Acquiring Citizenship in Spain saves you time whenever you have a legal process, as it is easy navigating through the Spanish bureaucracy.
• You get to exercise your right to vote.
• Your Spanish passport gives visa-free entry to most countries in the world
• Your EU passport allows you to move and work in the European Union.
• You have peace of mind that the benefits above will not be cut short either through expiry or forced exit.

About Permanent Residency and Spanish Nationality

Foreigners who have lived in Spain for over a decade always look for a better option, whether to apply for permanent residence or Spanish nationality. The truth is, you can still live here indefinitely regardless of what option you choose.

It is then very possible to be a permanent resident if you can prove that you’ve lived in Spain for five uninterrupted years. However, you’re required to renew your card after every five years continually. A long-term residence permit lets you live and work in Spain indefinitely, but it does not give you a vote in national elections or an EU passport, and long absences can cost you the permit. What then differentiates the two options?

To acquire Spanish nationality, however, requires you to reject your original nationality. But if you want to have both, then applying for a permanent residency is the most logical thing to do.

Note: nationals of Portugal, Equatorial Guinea, the Philippines, Ibero-American countries and Andorra, and people of Sephardic origin, do not have to renounce their nationality. French nationals keep theirs under the 2021 Spain-France agreement. You can have dual citizenship in Spain.

Getting Spanish Citizenship

As earlier mentioned, there are four different ways you could use to obtain your Spanish nationality.

• After living in the country for the required period, you can get Citizenship by residency
• If you marry a Spanish national, you can acquire your nationality by marriage
• If you’re a descendant of a Spanish national, you apply by descent
• Application for Citizenship by option.

So now, let’s have a closer look at each of these available options since they have different requirements that you must understand and meet.

Applying For Spanish Citizenship By Residency

Through a process called naturalization, you can acquire Spanish Citizenship. This process is only possible if you have legally lived in Spain for a specified amount of years uninterrupted. Basically, this option is for foreigners who entered the country through their residence permit and have been renewing them religiously until they reach the required minimum time frame.

The minimum time frame needed for you to live in Spain before you could acquire Citizenship depends on three things; your situation, country of origin, or family ties. Here is a simple breakdown.

• The general rule is 10 years
• For recognised refugees, you must live in Spain for 5 years before you could think about applying for Citizenship
• Foreigners from Portugal, Equatorial Guinea, the Philippines, Latin America, and Andorra only need to live here for a minimum period of 2years. Another advantage is that they can have dual Citizenship
• If you marry a Spanish national, all you need is one 1year to apply for residency citizenship.

Spanish citizenship requirements by Residency

For a successful application, there are specific requirements you must meet. These are;

• Counting the years starts from the day your first residence permit takes effect, not the day you get the card. That means that any time before that permit is null and void. If you file each renewal on time, your old permit stays valid until the decision, so those months still count
• The time you visited with either a tourism or student visa is also not counted. those are stay periods
• The minimum period must be uninterrupted for your application to be successful. Short trips abroad do not normally break it. The law sets no fixed number of days, so long or frequent absences are judged case by case.
• You must have no criminal records for the said period. Your behavior must also be in check before they grant your citizenship application. Ensure you always follow the Spanish laws and renew your residency card early.

Applying For Spanish Citizenship By Marriage

If you want an easier and quicker method of obtaining Spanish Citizenship, then marry a Spanish national. If you’re a foreigner and have lived in Spain as a legal resident for one year, you can acquire Spanish nationality by marriage.

Requirements for Spanish citizenship by Marriage

• The first step to this option is to marry a Spanish citizen if you’re a foreigner
• After marriage, a non-EU spouse applies for residence as the family member of a Spanish citizen (form EX-24), which lets you live and work in Spain
• When you apply you must have been married for at least one year, without being separated, and have lived legally in Spain for at least one year.

One more thing to note is that you should register your marriage in Spain as the law requires you to submit your marriage certificate when applying for spanish citizenship through marriage. This doesn’t mean you should strictly marry in the country; the wedding can occur anywhere but make sure you register it in Spain for it to count.

Citizenship By Origin Or Option

This option is for foreigners whose parents already obtained Spanish Citizenship. Suppose you applied for Spanish Citizenship by residency and included details of your child or children like the birth certificate. They become legal Spanish citizens by option within the Spanish territory later on. In this case, your child or children must be under 18 years for it to be valid. They can claim Citizenship for additional two years and enjoy this option until they get to 20 years.

Here is a list of people benefiting from this option

• Foreigners above 18 years adopted by Spanish nationals.
• Children born of foreigners legally living in Spain with residency citizenship
• Those who have been subject to Spaniard custody.

Applying For Spanish Citizenship By Descent

If your father or mother was born Spanish in Spain, you can opt for Spanish nationality at any age (article 20 of the Civil Code). The Democratic Memory Law (Law 20/2022), known as the grandchildren’s law, opened a wider route for descendants, but its window closed on 22 October 2025 and it no longer accepts new applications. Grandchildren of a Spaniard of origin can still apply after one year of legal residence in Spain. The groups the grandchildren’s law covered were:

• If your father or mother got their Citizenship through historical memory, but the law couldn’t allow your children to apply for Spanish Citizenship by option since they were over 18years.
• Grandchildren of Spanish national women who married foreigners.
• The grandchildren of Spanish citizens went to other countries and obtained their Citizenship before giving birth to their children.
• And if you’re a Spanish national’s grandchild, and you lost your chance of becoming a citizen by option since you were already above 18years.

The Application Process For Spanish Citizenship

The process is not all that complicated if you follow the below stages to the latter.

1. Document preparation and sitting for exams
2. Submitting your application
3. After the response, take the pledge of allegiance
4. Get your passport card from the local police with the document you get after taking the oath.

Now let’s take a look at each of these stages closely.

Document Preparation for spanish nationality Exams

The documents required may differ depending on the type of Citizenship you intend to apply for. But the commonly required documents include;

• Identification documents including NIE and passport
• Marriage certificate for those applying for Citizenship by marriage
• The birth certificate

Both historical and current census

• Your criminal records. This is very important as any bad record in your name means a clear disqualification. But, there is an exception for a minor case.
• Your children birth certificates if you want them to become citizens by option
• A correspondence fee receipt
• Optional: other documents that support your file, such as an employment contract. Proof of income is not on the official list.
• After passing the required exams, CCSE and DELE A2, attach the document issued with your application documents

What You Must Know About These Tests?

There are two different citizenship tests by the Cervantes institute that you must take and pass before getting the Spanish passport and applying for the Spanish nationality.

DELE A2

This is simply a basic language test that should show how much you understand the Spanish language. There’s no need to sit this exam if you come from a country where Spanish is an official language

CCSE

These are special tests specifically for your cultural knowledge. You are exempt if you completed compulsory secondary education (ESO) in Spain. Basically, this test asks you about the Spanish government, television, culture, geography, and art. The exam has 25 questions, taken from a public bank of about 300, and you have 45 minutes. You pass with 15 correct answers. You can always practice online beforehand on how to answer them.

If you fail the first time, your fee covers one free retake. If you fail again, you pay the €85 fee again to sit it once more.

How To Submit Your Application

You can only send your application documents to the authority once you’re sure you meet all the paperwork and requirements. If something is missing, the Ministry will ask you to complete the file, which adds months. You can file online with a digital certificate or at any public registry office, addressed to the Ministry of Justice.

Just About How Long Does It Take To Process Your Spanish Citizenship Application?

The Ministry has one year by law to decide, although in practice many files take longer. You can check the status of your file online.

If the year passes without an answer, the silence counts as a refusal, but you do not have to start again. You can appeal the silence, and the Ministry is still obliged to issue a decision.

Once the grant is notified, you have 180 days to swear the oath of nationality.

Can I obtain Spanish citizenship by investment?

No, you cannot obtain Spanish nationality by investment. Residency by investment has gone too: Spain closed the golden visa on 3 April 2025.

Can You Get Legal Assistance With Your application for spanish citizenship?

The answer is yes, you can. Some could feel that this whole process is complicated, and all they want is a simple, stress-free life. There shouldn’t be any worry at all. An immigration lawyer can prepare and file the application for you and follow it up with the Ministry.

They are supposed to take you through all the legal processes successfully. The immigration lawyer’s roles include;

• Determines the right path for you to take. The right path here means the best citizenship option based on your situation.
• Telling you the required information and documents needed for your citizenship application approval.
• They will do all the paperwork; you only need to sign and wait for the government’s response.

The best point about getting legal assistance is that your file goes in complete, which avoids requests and refusals that add months.

Acquiring Spanish nationality is straightforward, and now that you already know all the requirements from this article, the process is much easier. You don’t have any other excuse not to apply for your Spanish nationality. Go for it.

Once the oath is done you stop being a foreigner in paperwork terms, and you apply for your Spanish DNI like anybody else.