SPANISH NATIONALITY

The complete guide

Getting Spanish citizenship is a big dream for many people from other countries, and the good news is it's pretty easy to do thanks to all the different ways you can do it. But, what's the process like? Who can actually become a Spanish citizen?

What is Spanish Citizenship?

Spanish Citizenship is a privilege that lets you live in Spain forever. It also comes with perks like voting rights and the freedom to work and travel around the EU. The easiest way to become a Spanish citizen is by being born there to Spanish parents. That's it, you're a citizen right away. But, the Spanish law also says there are other ways for foreigners to become Spanish citizens. For instance, if you've lived in Spain for 10 years, you can usually get citizenship just by living there. There are also some other, less common ways to become a Spanish citizen, like through your family background or by choosing to become one. We'll go into these in more detail in the next few parts. So, you might be able to become a Spanish citizen without living in Spain for 10 years. Keep reading to learn more!

Why it's cool to be a Spanish citizen

There are three big perks to becoming a Spanish citizen: 1. It's way easier to deal with paperwork If you decide to become a Spanish citizen, you'll find it a lot simpler to deal with the Spanish government's paperwork. Getting things started and done legally will be a breeze, and you'll have fewer legal tasks each year. 2. You can vote in Spain Getting Spanish citizenship means you get the right to vote in Spain. As a citizen, you'll get to choose who and what you want to support. 3. You get a Spanish passport With a Spanish passport, you can live and work anywhere in the European Union. Plus, thanks to all the deals Spain has on tourist visas, you can easily visit 190 countries.

Cancelling your original nationality?

This visa permit to study in Spain will allow you to stay for more than 90 days, where you will improve your knowledge and skills while living in a welcoming and affordable country.

If your course takes less than 90 days you will not need a student visa and you will only need a tourist visa.

How to become spanish?

There are different ways to become spanish. The most common and the one that we will explain is by residencia (living in Spain a certain amount of years) but there are others.

Nacionalidad por opcion. This one is commonly done when a father/mother obtaines the spanish nationality then their children can opt to also become spanish.
Nacionalidad por nacimiento. If a child is born from spanish parents (one or both) the child will be authomatically spanish.

Spanish citizenship by residency

Citizenship by residency is becoming eligible for Spanish citizenship by continuously being a legal resident in Spain for a certain number of years. This type of process encompasses different situations, and each situation has a different required amount of time. This brings us to the next question:

How long do I need to live in Spain to get citizenship?

The exact amount of time will depend on your situation, family ties, and country of origin:

The general rule is 10 years
5 years if you are a refugee
2 years if you are from any Latin American country, from Andorra, Equatorial Guinea, Philippines, or Portugal. In these cases, as we have already mentioned, you won’t need to give up your former and original nationality, as you can get dual citizenship
1 year for those married to a Spanish national or children/grandchildren of Spanish citizens born in Spain. We will explore these two options in the next section.

How to apply for Spanish citizenship

The application process for Spanish citizenship is really straightforward. It can be divided into the following stages:

You need to prepare all the required documents, including taking the required exams (A2 and CCSE)
You must submit your application
Wait for a response, and get an appointment for the pledge of allegiance
With the document you will be given during step number 4, you can attend your local police station and finally get your passport and DNI
Finally, you will have to request a concordance certificate so that all public and private institutions you registered with your NIE can validate your new ID info

The Spanish nationality exams: DELE A2 and CCSE

In order to get Spanish passport and become a national in the country, you must pass two different citizenship exams:

The DELE A2, which is the basic language test that demonstrates you have a high-enough Spanish level. If you come from any Latin American country, there’s no need to take this exam
The CCSE, which is a cultural test. If you studied school or high school in Spain, this test is not required. It is a 45-minute multiple-choice test in which they basically ask about the Spanish government, art, television, culture, and geography

Both exams are organized by the Cervantes Institute.

It is this second test that scares applicants the most. But there’s nothing to fear

How long does it take to obtain Spanish nationality?

Answering exactly how long it takes to get Spanish citizenship is quite complicated. However, the process usually takes around 1 year in total. Nevertheless, recently waiting times have been drastically reduced to 5-6 months in the vast majority of cases.

There’s a really useful tip you can use to speed the process up radically.

Once you submit your application, the Spanish government has a period of 12 months to legally submit their response (which you can check here through the “cómo va lo mío” platform).

During that time, your file will go through several phases or statuses. If you click here, you can read about these phases and the meaning of each.

Keep in mind that from the moment you send your application until you receive your resolution, it is totally possible to travel outside Spain, but only if you comply with the 2 requirements we see in this post (not to lose your residence and to make an appointment for the oath on time).

It will be after that period when you can start speeding things up. This is because if after 12 months you did not get a response, it simply means that your application got rejected due to administrative silence.

If there is no clear reason for that denial, you can initiate an appeal to claim a review of your application. After that, you will get a response in 3-4 months.

If you start getting an appointment for the flag’s jury at the same time you submit your appeal, it is possible to get Spanish citizenship in just a year and a half.

But remember that you can make an appointment for the oath at the Civil Registry but also before a notary. This is something that could speed up the process immensely. Especially if you are in a big city where the Civil Registry is very saturated and it would take months to give you an appointment

Steps

If applying from abroad

Contact the school you wish to study and enroll in the course
Book a health insurance covering the time of your stay
Prepare your economical evidences (bank certificate, affidavit from parents etc.)
Prepare your medical and criminal records certificates. (if staying over 6 months)
Present your application. Most countries use https://blsspainvisa.com/index_spanish.html (if not directy in the spanish embassy/consulatefor the appointments and wait for the approval.
Book your return flight ticket.
Once in Spain go to police station to obtain your residence card (if staying over 6 months)

If applying from Spain

Come to Spain as a tourist. That means that either you have already a schengen visa or that you will need to apply for it to come as a tourist first and then do the application in Spain.
Enroll in the school. It's a good option to enrol directly if you are in Spain because you can talk to the school personal, can see the facilities, talkt o other students etc..
Book your health insurance (some of the most commonly used are Sanitas, Adelas etc..). Many times when you open a bank account in Spain they also offer you an insurance.
Have ready your criminal records and medical certificate (if staying over 6 months)
Have ready your economical evidences (easiest is to book an account in Spain (for example BBVA Bank offers a passport account and to transfer the money but from abroad banks also might be considered)
Once approved go to police station to obtain your residence card (if staying over 6 months).

Timing

It usually takes 1-2 months to get the result of the application.

Working during your studies

If you are studying a university studies (masters, postgraduate, degree etc..) you will obtain automatically a permit to study up to 30 hours per week with which you can go to any job and start working. If you are studying other courses (languages for example) you will not get a work permit automatically.

You will need first to find a job and then you can apply to obtain a work permit and then you can work also up to 30 hours per week.

Bringing your family members

Good news! Your family members can join you in Spain while you are studying here.The difference is that they will need to apply from the country of origin and not from Spain directly.

The family members who can process this type of visa are: The spouse and children under eighteen years of age or who have a disability and are not objectively capable of providing for their own needs due to their state of health.

The application for a visa as a student family member can be submitted by the family member themselves.

You can do it together with the visa application of the holder of the Study Stay or at a later time.

The only requirement is that you can prove that you have enough funds to cover the expenses of your family members in Spain during your stay.

The authorization of the family members will be linked to that of the student, and they may remain in Spanish territory for the same period and in the same situation as the student. If the family members' stay is longer than six months, they must obtain a foreigner's identity card.

The family members will not be able to working during the time they are in Spain acompanying the student.

After your studies

Once you finish your studies you will have different options.

Return to your residence country
Extend your studies or apply for another studies
Convert your student permit into a work permit or self employed permit (click here for more information)
Apply for job seeker visa (click here for more nformation)