www.expatica.com Open in urlscan Pro
2606:4700:10::ac43:909  Public Scan

Form analysis
2 forms found in the DOM

GET https://www.expatica.com/es/

<form role="search" method="get" class="search-form" action="https://www.expatica.com/es/">
  <label>
    <span class="screen-reader-text">Search for:</span>
    <input type="search" class="search-field" placeholder="Search …" value="" name="s" title="Search for:">
  </label>
  <button type="submit"><i class="far fa-search"></i></button>
</form>

GET https://www.expatica.com/es/

<form role="search" method="get" class="search-form" action="https://www.expatica.com/es/">
  <label>
    <span class="screen-reader-text">Search for:</span>
    <input type="search" class="search-field" placeholder="Search …" value="" name="s" title="Search for:">
  </label>
  <button type="submit"><i class="far fa-search"></i></button>
</form>

Text Content

HELP THE REFUGEES

If you move around the world by choice, consider helping those forced from their
homes by conflict. Donate to the UN Refugee Agency today.

Search for:
 * Home
 * News
 * Moving to Spain
   * About Spain
   * Relocation
   * Society & History
   * Visas & Immigration
   * Where to Live
 * Living in Spain
   * Expatica Dating
   * Cultural Integration
   * Family & Pets
   * Government & Law
   * House & Home
   * Love, Marriage & Partnership
   * Transport
 * Education
   * Children’s Education
   * Higher Education
   * Language Learning
 * Finance
   * Banking
   * Insurance
   * Investment
   * Money Management
   * Retirement
   * Taxes
 * Healthcare
   * Best expat health insurance quotes
   * Children’s Healthcare
   * Healthcare Basics
   * Healthcare Services
   * Women’s Healthcare
 * Housing
   * Housing Listings
   * Buying & Selling
   * Housing Basics
   * Renting
 * Working
   * Job Board
   * Employment Basics
   * Finding a Job
   * Labor Law
   * Self-Employment
 * Lifestyle
   * Culture & Entertainment
   * Food & Drink
   * Holidays & Celebrations
   * Sports & Fitness
   * Things to Do

 * Directory


 * Spain
   * Global
   * Austria
   * Belgium
   * France
   * Germany
   * Luxembourg
   * Netherlands
   * Portugal
   * Qatar
   * Russia
   * Saudi Arabia
   * South Africa
   * Switzerland
   * UAE
   * United Kingdom

Search for:
 * Home
 * News
 * Moving to Spain
   * About Spain
   * Relocation
   * Society & History
   * Visas & Immigration
   * Where to Live
 * Living in Spain
   * Expatica Dating
   * Cultural Integration
   * Family & Pets
   * Government & Law
   * House & Home
   * Love, Marriage & Partnership
   * Transport
 * Education
   * Children’s Education
   * Higher Education
   * Language Learning
 * Finance
   * Banking
   * Insurance
   * Investment
   * Money Management
   * Retirement
   * Taxes
 * Healthcare
   * Best expat health insurance quotes
   * Children’s Healthcare
   * Healthcare Basics
   * Healthcare Services
   * Women’s Healthcare
 * Housing
   * Housing Listings
   * Buying & Selling
   * Housing Basics
   * Renting
 * Working
   * Job Board
   * Employment Basics
   * Finding a Job
   * Labor Law
   * Self-Employment
 * Lifestyle
   * Culture & Entertainment
   * Food & Drink
   * Holidays & Celebrations
   * Sports & Fitness
   * Things to Do

 * Directory




GETTING SPANISH CITIZENSHIP

Home Moving to Spain Visas & Immigration Getting Spanish citizenship
Last update on 30/06/2022
Written by Stephen Maunder
Share

Find out when you can apply for Spanish citizenship or permanent residency, and
what conditions and paperwork you need to qualify.

If you want to live in Spain long term or even permanently, you will need to
apply for permanent residence or Spanish citizenship.

This helpful guide, provided by expert immigration attorneys Balcells
International Lawyers Group, explains how the residency rules in Spain work,
including eligibility and how to apply for citizenship.

The guide covers the following topics:

 * Spanish citizenship: the basics
 * Should you choose permanent residency or citizenship?
 * Brexit: British expats in Spain
 * How to apply for permanent residence in Spain
 * How to get Spanish citizenship
 * Origin or birth Spanish citizenship
 * Spanish citizenship by marriage
 * Application fees for Spanish citizenship
 * Dual nationality
 * Useful resources

BALCELLS INTERNATIONAL LAWYERS GROUP

Balcells Group provides legal advice to individuals, companies, investors,
immigration agencies and other intermediary agents. They have over 40 years of
professional experience, and have built their firm based on the integration of
several generations of lawyers that offer a balanced vision based on experience
and modernity.

Get help with obtaining your residency permit


SPANISH CITIZENSHIP: THE BASICS

After you have lived in Spain for five years, you can apply for permanent
residence. After 10 years, you can apply for Spanish nationality. Some
exemptions exist that allow certain people to apply sooner. For example, you can
apply if you are married to a Spaniard or the child of a Spanish parent. Both
Spanish citizenship and permanent residency allow you to stay living in Spain,
but some differences exist between the two.

Advertisement


SHOULD YOU CHOOSE PERMANENT RESIDENCY OR CITIZENSHIP?

Holding an EU long-term permanent residence permit allows you to stay on as a
resident in Spain while retaining your own nationality and passport. As a
Spanish permanent resident, you can enjoy most of the same benefits as Spanish
citizens. You must, however, be able to fulfil certain conditions. This includes
being able to support yourself financially. You can move around the EU for
limited periods, and longer with permission.

If you become a Spanish citizen, however, you will need to give up your original
nationality and passport, unless you qualify for an exemption (see below). You
will enjoy all the same rights as other Spanish citizens. In addition, you will
become a citizen of the EU, meaning you are free to move around within it. You
can also vote in European elections.

Advertisement


BREXIT: BRITISH EXPATS IN SPAIN

Uncertainty remains around the UK’s departure from the EU, but there are signs
that British expats living in Spain will be protected. In March 2019, the
Spanish foreign minister announced that the 400,000 UK citizens living in Spain
would be granted residency rights in the event of a ‘no deal’ Brexit.

It is not totally clear how this would work just yet. British nationals might
need to apply for a foreigner identity card by the end of 2020. This process
would be nearly automatic.

Whatever happens, expats who already live in Spain could consider applying for
Spanish citizenship if they meet the necessary criteria to main EU access. This
would, however, mean surrendering their British citizenship.

It is possible that British expats may need to apply for a Blue Card in the
future. This is an EU-wide work permit that allows high-skilled, non-EU citizens
to work in Spain and other EU countries.


HOW TO APPLY FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCE IN SPAIN

If non-EU nationals have legally lived in Spain for five uninterrupted years,
they can apply for an ‘EU long-term residence permit’. This allows them to stay
in Spain indefinitely working or otherwise, under the same conditions as Spanish
citizens.

In order to apply for a permit, you must be able to prove that you have adequate
financial resources to provide for yourself and your family (if applicable),
such as a Spanish pension, scholarship, or salary. You must also have proof of
public or private health insurance in Spain.

You might also have to submit:

 * A valid passport;
 * Proof of legal residence in Spain (e.g., a long-term rental contract in Spain
   or receipts for rent);
 * Criminal record certificate issued by the authorities in your home country;
 * Medical certificate (certificado medico), if not already supplied;
 * Proof that health assistance is guaranteed during your residence in Spain;
 * Marriage or divorce certificate or other papers relating to your marital
   status (translated into Spanish if required).


BENEFITS OF PERMANENT RESIDENCE IN SPAIN

When you have the permit, you can work freely and enjoy social services and
benefits in Spain. You can generally move between other EU member states for up
to three months. This may be longer if it is for certain purposes and you have a
permit.

If you hold a Blue Card from another EU member state, and have lived elsewhere
in the EU for the same period, this also grants you long-term residence in
Spain. However, you must have lived in the country for two years beforehand.

If you hold an EU long-term residence permit granted by another EU member state
and want to stay on in Spain, you will have to relinquish your long-term
residence status in the other country. You will also need to apply for an EU
long-term residence permit from the Foreigner’s Office (Oficina de Extranjeros)
in Spain.

Advertisement


HOW TO GET SPANISH CITIZENSHIP

You can apply for Spanish nationality after 10 years of residence in Spain. You
can also acquire Spanish nationality by getting married in Spain or birth, even
if you or your Spanish parents were born outside Spain.

Photo: Ricardo Rubio / Europa Press via Getty Images

All applicants must prove that they are a good citizen. This means that you must
be financially stable and have no criminal record. In addition, you must show a
sufficient degree of integration into Spanish society. For example, you
can speak Spanish and you take part in social activities that are part of the
Spanish way of life.

You have to apply at the Civil Registry where you live in Spain. You will need
to take along the required supporting documents for your Spanish citizenship
application, plus a completed Spanish citizenship application form.

If you are 18 years or above, 14 or older with legal assistance, or the legal
guardian of a person under 14, you can apply for Spanish citizenship. The
process of applying for citizenship in Spain may be much easier with the help of
expert immigration attorneys such as Balcells International Lawyers Group,
Carbray, or Martínez-Echevarría, who can assist you with every phase of the
process of obtaining your residency permit.


EXEMPTIONS TO THE 10-YEAR RULES

As a rule, refugees only have to wait five years before they can apply for
Spanish nationality. Nationals from Spanish-American countries, Andorra, the
Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Portugal, and those of Sephardic origin only
have to wait two years.

The required period of residence for citizenship is just one year if you are
born in Spain to legal foreign residents. The same period applies if you are
married to a Spaniard, widowed from a Spaniard, or the child or grandchild. This
applies even if you were born outside of Spain to a Spanish national (by birth
or residence).

Descendents of expelled Sephardic Jews from Spain can also apply for Spanish
citizenship without residing in Spain. This is if they can prove special
connections to Spain and pass tests on Spanish language and history. The
application deadline is 1 October 2019.

Advertisement


ORIGIN OR BIRTH SPANISH CITIZENSHIP

You are Spanish by origin and can apply for Spanish citizenship by ‘Option’
(where you do not require a residency period) if you were:

 * Born to a Spanish mother or father;
 * Born in Spain to foreign parents, if at least one parent was also born in
   Spain. The exception is children of diplomats and consuls accredited in
   Spain;
 * Were adopted by a Spaniard and are under 18, or are over 18 and were adopted
   within the last two years;
 * Were born in Spain to foreign parents whose identity is unknown or their
   country of origin is undetermined (stateless or refugee status). This also
   applies if neither parents’ nationality could be legally passed on to you.

There are also other situations to qualify for Spanish citizenship, where
residency is required for one year. This applies to those born outside Spain to
parents (also born outside Spain) and grandparents, whom were originally
Spanish. It also applies to those with a Spanish guardian or foster parent.
Those who did not duly exercise their right to acquire Spanish nationality by
option are also required to have a year.


SPANISH CITIZENSHIP BY MARRIAGE

You can fast-track citizenship if you are married to a Spaniard and can become a
Spanish citizen after living in Spain for one year. The application and
conditions follow the standard citizenship procedure. The exception is that you
don’t need to wait 10 years to apply. You will have to surrender your existing
citizenship to become Spanish. You can also claim Spanish citizenship as the
widower or widow of a Spaniard. However, you cannot have been separated at the
time of their death.


APPLICATION FEES FOR SPANISH CITIZENSHIP

Spain charges a non-refundable fee to process your citizenship application. The
price varies and can range from €60-€100, even if they reject your
application. Fees may also apply to issue certificates and documents required
for your application.


DUAL NATIONALITY

If you are successful, you will have to swear your loyalty to the King. You must
also promise to obey the Spanish constitution and laws.

Unless you are from a Spanish-American country, Andorra, the Philippines,
Equatorial Guinea, or Portugal, you will also have to renounce your previous
nationality. Sephardic Jews and descendents can also maintain their original
citizenship to have dual nationality.

You will lose your Spanish citizenship if you reside abroad and take up another
nationality for more than three years. This also applies of you use your old
nationality in that period. The only exception is, if within that period, you
declare to the Civil Registry your will to keep Spanish nationality.


USEFUL RESOURCES

 * Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs – the English version of the website for
   the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, supplying information on visas and
   migration to Spain;
 * Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Security – the Spanish-language
   website for information on employment and social security policy in Spain.

Share
Advertisement


RELATED ARTICLES

August 4, 2021


GETTING PERMANENT RESIDENCE IN SPAIN

November 1, 2017


THE SPANISH PASSPORT

June 1, 2014


FAMILY VISAS FOR SPAIN: HOW TO JOIN A RELATIVE OR PARTNER

June 1, 2014


GETTING A WORK VISA IN SPAIN

Advertisement


LATEST ARTICLES

July 8, 2022


PETS IN SPAIN

May 4, 2022


HOUSING IN SPAIN

April 7, 2022


INVESTING IN SPAIN: KEY QUESTIONS ANSWERED

March 15, 2022


COVID-19 IN SPAIN: CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES AND INFORMATION


DIRECTORY

Expat Groups and Clubs Immigration Lawyers and Services Moving Companies Pet
Relocation Relocation Services Translations Travel Agents Business Lawyers
Family Lawyers More
Expatica helps make your expat journey the experience you've always wanted.
 * About Expatica
 * Contact Us
 * FAQ
 * Advertise with Expatica
 * Terms of Service
 * Expatica Impressum
 * Cookie Policy
 * Privacy Statement
 * Disclaimer

© 2000 - 2022
Expatica

Next Previous

We use cookies to optimize our website and our service. Cookie Policy

Functional

Marketing
Accept allDismissPreferences
Manage consent