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Spanish Nationality by ResidenceUpdated for 2026 Regulations

Spanish Nationality by Residence 2026 | 2-Year, 1-Year & 10-Year Routes

Official guidance and statutory benchmarks for Spanish residency and immigration based on current Ministerio de Inclusión, RD 1155/2024 and BOE standards.

Overview & Statutory Background

Spanish nationality by residence (Nacionalidad por Residencia) can be acquired by eligible foreigners who have lived legally and continuously in Spain for the statutory period immediately before applying and who satisfy the requirements of good civic conduct and sufficient integration. The general residence period is 10 years, but Spanish Civil Code Article 22 reduces it to 5 years for persons who have obtained refugee status, 2 years for nationals by origin of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal and for qualifying Sephardic applicants, and 1 year in specified circumstances including being married to a Spanish citizen for at least one year without legal or de facto separation. The qualifying period is a minimum residence requirement for applying; nationality is not acquired automatically when the period ends.

Spanish Nationality by Residence Key Facts (2026)

General Residence Period10 years of legal, continuous and immediately prior residence

Refugee Route5 years

2-Year RouteNationals by origin of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, Philippines, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal, plus qualifying Sephardic applicants

1-Year RouteSpecified Article 22 cases, including certain persons married to Spanish citizens

CCSEGenerally required unless an applicable exemption or approved dispensation applies

DELEGenerally A2 or higher unless exempt or dispensed under the Instituto Cervantes rules

Current Application Fee€104.05 according to the Ministry of Justice, subject to statutory revision

Application Dossier (Form EX-11)

Core EX-11 Application Checklist:

ApplicationComplete the nationality-by-residence application through the Ministry of Justice procedure.

PassportProvide the current complete passport documentation requested by the nationality procedure.

Birth certificateProvide the applicant's duly legalized or apostilled birth certificate and official Spanish translation where required.

Criminal record certificateProvide the foreign criminal-record certificate required by the nationality procedure, subject to applicable legalization/apostille and translation rules.

Spanish residence evidenceThe administration can verify Spanish identity, residence and other information electronically where the applicant authorizes the relevant checks. Supporting evidence may still be requested.

CCSE / DELE evidenceProvide examination certificates when required or allow the administration to verify them through the applicable systems.

Family-status evidenceApplicants relying on a reduced one-year period, such as marriage to a Spanish citizen, must provide the documents establishing that specific entitlement.

Qualifying Residence Periods (Civil Code Article 22)

Standard Route: 10 yearsGeneral rule for applicants who do not qualify for one of the reduced periods in Article 22.

Refugees: 5 yearsPersons who have obtained refugee status.

Accelerated Route: 2 yearsNationals by origin of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal, and persons covered by the Sephardic provision in Article 22.

Special Reduced Route: 1 year

Persons born in Spanish territory.
Persons who did not timely exercise the right to acquire Spanish nationality by option.
Persons who have been legally subject to guardianship, custody or foster care by a Spanish citizen or institution for two consecutive years.
Persons who, at the time of application, have been married to a Spanish citizen for one year and are not legally or de facto separated.
Widows or widowers of Spanish citizens where there was no legal or de facto separation at the time of death.
Persons born outside Spain of a father or mother, or grandparent, who was originally Spanish.

Essential Rule: The residence must be legal, continuous and immediately prior to the nationality application. Reaching two, five or ten years does not itself confer Spanish nationality.

Statutory Residence, Conduct & Integration

Legal Residence vs. Student Estancia:The qualifying period must consist of legal residence in Spain. Temporary study or training stay (estancia por estudios) should not be treated as equivalent to legal residence for the Article 22 nationality-by-residence period.

Continuity Standard: The law requires residence to be continuous and immediately prior to the application. There is no simple universal rule in Article 22 stating that every absence below a particular number of days is automatically harmless; prolonged or repeated absences can affect the continuity assessment.

Immediately Prior Status: The qualifying residence must continue up to the point of application. An applicant should therefore avoid allowing an immigration authorization to lapse before filing the nationality application.

Good Civic Conduct: Applicants must demonstrate good civic conduct. Spanish and foreign criminal-record information can be examined as part of the nationality procedure.

Social Integration: Applicants must demonstrate a sufficient degree of integration into Spanish society. The Ministry's nationality procedure uses the CCSE and, where applicable, DELE language examination evidence as part of this assessment.

Instituto Cervantes Tests: CCSE & DELE A2

CCSE - Conocimientos Constitucionales y Socioculturales de España

Applicants for nationality by residence generally need to demonstrate the required knowledge of Spain's Constitution, laws, culture and society through the CCSE unless an exemption or approved dispensation applies.

Format: The current Instituto Cervantes CCSE consists of 25 questions in five tasks and has a maximum duration of 45 minutes.

Validity: The Instituto Cervantes states that a passed CCSE certificate is valid for four years from the date of the grading record.

Exemptions:

Minors.
Persons with legally modified capacity in the categories specified by the applicable rules.

Dispensation: Other applicants can potentially receive a dispensation where the legal conditions are met and the Ministry of Justice approves it.

DELE A2 or higher

Applicants who are not exempt generally need to demonstrate Spanish-language knowledge through the DELE A2 or higher examination.

Spanish-Speaking Exemption: Nationals by origin of Spanish-speaking countries or territories are exempt from the DELE A2 requirement.

Other Exemptions:

Minors under 18.
Persons with legally modified capacity in the applicable category.
Persons who already hold a DELE A2 or higher diploma.
Persons holding specified A2, B1 or B2 certificates from the Spanish official language-school system.

Dispensation: Persons unable to read or write can seek the applicable partial dispensation/adjustment procedure, while certain persons educated through Spanish compulsory secondary education can obtain a full dispensation subject to the Ministry's rules.

Post-Approval: Oath (Jura), Renunciation & DNI

180-Day Statutory Deadline: Under the nationality procedure regulation, the effectiveness of a grant is subject to completing the Article 23 declarations within 180 days from the day after notification of the grant.

Oath / Promise: The applicant must swear or promise fidelity to the King and obedience to the Constitution and laws.

Renunciation Declaration: A declaration of renunciation of the previous nationality is required only where Spanish law requires it. The Civil Code provides exceptions for nationals of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal, and the Spain-France nationality convention provides corresponding treatment for qualifying French nationals.

Civil Registry & Notary Option: The acquisition must be registered in the Spanish Civil Registry. The Ministry confirms that the nationality oath or promise can be completed before the competent Civil Registry official or, under the applicable rules, before a notary, after which the nationality registration process is completed.

Spanish DNI & Passport: Once Spanish nationality has been registered, the person can proceed with the Spanish DNI and passport procedures. The nationality grant itself is not the same thing as issuance of the physical DNI or passport.

Dual Citizenship & Nationality Retention

Spanish Law Framework (Article 23):Spanish law does not impose a universal requirement that every new Spanish citizen permanently abandon the previous nationality. Article 23 exempts nationals of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal from the declaration of renunciation. A Spain-France nationality convention also gives qualifying French applicants an exemption from the renunciation declaration.

Origin Country Sovereignty: Whether the person actually retains the original nationality is also determined by the law of that original country. Spain's waiver of its own renunciation declaration should therefore not be described as a universal guarantee that every country permits dual nationality.

Indian Citizenship Caution: Indian law has its own nationality rules. An applicant holding Indian citizenship should separately verify the consequences under Indian nationality law before assuming that Spanish naturalization will result in recognized dual citizenship.

Legal Distinction: The phrase 'dual citizenship' should therefore be used carefully: Spanish law permits the relevant nationality-retention framework for specified categories, but the legal position of the original nationality must be checked separately.

Current Application Fee & Timeline

Statutory Processing Fee: €104.05 according to the current Ministry of Justice nationality-by-residence information page, subject to statutory revision.

Resolution Timeline: Nationality applications can take substantially longer in practice than the statutory administrative framework suggests. Do not publish an unofficial fixed approval time as though it were guaranteed.

Electronic File Tracking: The Ministry of Justice provides an online system for checking the stage of a nationality-by-residence file.

Post-Grant Period: After approval is notified, the 180-day period for the required declarations and registration formalities becomes important.

Step-by-Step Procedure Roadmap

Confirm Your Residence Period

Identify whether your case requires 10, 5, 2 or 1 year of qualifying legal, continuous and immediately prior residence.

Prepare Civil and Criminal Documents

Obtain the required birth, criminal-record, passport, residence and family-status documents and complete the applicable apostille/legalization and translation steps.

Complete CCSE and DELE Requirements

Take the examinations required for your case or establish an exemption/dispensation before filing where appropriate.

Submit the Application

The Ministry of Justice provides a full electronic nationality-by-residence application process. Submit the digitized documents and pay the applicable fee.

Track and Supplement the File

Use the Ministry's electronic nationality-file consultation system to monitor the status and respond to requests for additional documentation when required.

Complete the Post-Approval Formalities

After a favorable decision, complete the required oath or promise, declaration concerning previous nationality where legally applicable, and registration formalities within the statutory period.

Frequently Asked Questions

The two-year reduced period applies to nationals by origin of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal. Article 22 also provides a two-year period for qualifying Sephardic applicants. The two years must be legal, continuous and immediately prior to the application.

Study authorization is an estancia rather than the legal residence required for nationality by residence. Therefore, ordinary student-stay time should not be counted as qualifying residence under Article 22.

A person who has been married to a Spanish citizen for one year and is not legally or de facto separated can qualify for the one-year residence period under Article 22. The applicant must also have completed at least one year of legal, continuous and immediately prior residence in Spain and satisfy the other nationality requirements.

No. The exact examination requirements depend on the applicant. CCSE has specific exemptions and possible dispensations. DELE A2 or higher is generally required for applicants who are not exempt, while nationals by origin of Spanish-speaking countries and certain other categories are exempt from the DELE requirement.

It depends on the applicable Spanish and foreign nationality rules. Spanish law exempts nationals of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal from the declaration of renunciation, and qualifying French nationals benefit from the Spain-France nationality convention. However, whether the original nationality is actually retained is determined separately by the law of that country.

After notification of a favorable decision, the applicant must complete the required oath or promise, make the declaration concerning previous nationality where applicable, and complete Civil Registry registration within the statutory 180-day period. After registration, the person can proceed with the Spanish DNI and passport procedures.