Spanish nationality by residence

How long you need to have been resident

Your residence must be legal, continuous and immediately prior to the application.

• 10 years, as a general rule.
• 5 years, if you have been granted refugee status.
• 2 years, if you are a national of an Ibero-American country, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal, or if you are of Sephardic origin.
• 1 year in some cases: for example, if you were born in Spain, if you have been married to a Spanish national for a year and are not separated, or if you are the widow or widower of a Spanish national.

Requirements

• Good civic conduct: having no criminal record in Spain or in your home country.
• Integration into Spanish society: passing the Instituto Cervantes exams (the CCSE, on constitutional and sociocultural knowledge, and the DELE A2 Spanish exam if Spanish is not your language).

Documents usually required

The exact documents depend on your case; these are the ones that are almost always requested:

• Valid passport and residence card.
• Birth certificate, legalised or apostilled and, if necessary, translated.
• Criminal record certificate from your home country, legalised or apostilled and, if necessary, translated.
• Certificate of registration with your local council (certificado de empadronamiento).
• The certificates for the Instituto Cervantes exams that apply to you.

What the procedure involves

The application is submitted online to the Ministry of Justice. Once nationality is granted, you must swear or promise allegiance to the Constitution and register with the Civil Registry. The legal time limit for a decision is one year, although in practice it can take longer.

How we help you

• We check that you meet the residence period and the requirements before submitting anything.
• We tell you which documents you need and review them: legalisations, translations and validity dates.
• We submit the application and follow your case through to the oath ceremony.
• If you've already applied, we check where your application stands and what's still missing.