# Spanish citizenship by residency > Page: https://www.usebooka.com/en/tramites/espana/nacionalidad-por-residencia > Last reviewed: 2026-09-14 Spanish citizenship by residency (arts. 21-22 of the Civil Code) requires legal, continuous residence immediately before applying: 10 years as a general rule, 2 years for nationals of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal, and 1 year for spouses of Spanish citizens. It is processed electronically before the Ministry of Justice. Beyond the time requirement, you must pass the CCSE exam (Spanish constitution and culture) and, unless you come from a Spanish-speaking country, the DELE A2 language exam. The legal decision period is 1 year, and in practice the full process — decision, oath and registration — usually takes longer. - **Booka fee:** €440 - **Official fees:** 104,05 €. Ministry of Justice fee 790-026: €104.05, the amount in force as of September 2026. The Instituto Cervantes CCSE and DELE exams are paid separately. - **Where to apply:** Applied for from within Spain. Applied for as a legal resident in Spain, electronically before the Ministry of Justice. ## At a glance | | | | --- | --- | | What it is | Acquisition of Spanish nationality by residency (arts. 21-22 of the Civil Code). | | Who can apply | Anyone who can evidence legal, continuous residence immediately before applying. (10 years as a general rule; 2 for nationals of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal; 1 for spouses of Spanish citizens.) | | Where you apply | From Spain, electronically before the Ministry of Justice. | | Exams | The CCSE run by the Instituto Cervantes, plus DELE A2 unless you come from a Spanish-speaking country. (Limited exemptions exist, for instance holding a Spanish secondary-school qualification.) | | Does it change your work rights? | No: you apply as an existing legal resident and keep working under the permit you already hold. | | Legal decision period | 1 year from filing, with negative silence (RD 1004/2015). | | After approval | The oath and the civil registry entry still remain: nationality is not effective until then. | | Government fee | Ministry of Justice fee 790-026, separate from professional fees. (The Instituto Cervantes exams are priced and paid separately too.) | ## Who it is for **This is your procedure if:** - You have held legal, continuous residence in Spain for the period your case requires. - Your residence card has always been valid, with no blank periods between renewals. - You have passed the CCSE, or you can sit it before applying. - You have no criminal record in Spain or in your country of origin. **This is not your procedure if:** - Part of your time in Spain has been without a residence permit: that period does not count. - You do not hold legal residence yet: that comes first, and arraigo is usually the route. - Your card has expired and the renewal window has closed: that gets sorted before citizenship. - Your time here is as an international protection applicant, which does not count until finally decided. Start by securing residence: https://www.usebooka.com/en/tramites/espana/arraigo-sociolaboral ## Requirements - **Legal, continuous residence immediately before applying.** All three words matter. Legal means holding a valid residence permit: time without status does not add up. Continuous means no long interruptions. Immediately before means the period ends right before you apply, not somewhere earlier in your history in Spain. - **The period that applies to your nationality or family tie.** The general rule is 10 years, dropping to 5 for refugees, to 2 for nationals of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Portugal and for Sephardic applicants, and to 1 for spouses of a Spanish citizen after a year of marriage. Establishing the exact period is the first check, because it decides whether applying makes sense now or in two years. - **The Instituto Cervantes exams.** The CCSE tests knowledge of the Spanish constitution and of Spanish social and cultural life. DELE A2 evidences the language and is not required from applicants from Spanish-speaking countries. Sittings run on fixed dates and certificates take time to issue, so you register while the rest of the file is being gathered, not afterwards. - **Criminal record certificates from Spain and your country of origin.** Both are required. The one from your country usually needs legalisation or an apostille plus a sworn translation, and it has short validity, so order matters: it is requested once the rest is on track so it does not expire before filing. - **A legalised and translated birth certificate.** This is the document that delays the most files, because it depends on another country's civil registry and its pace. It must be issued in full (literal) form, legalised or apostilled and translated by a sworn translator. Requesting it on day one is the decision that saves the most months. - **Good civic conduct and integration.** There is no single document for this: it is assessed from the file as a whole — record, work and family ties, padrón — and the Ministry may request further information. It is the discretionary part of the procedure, and the reason nobody can guarantee the outcome. ## Documents **Solicitante** - Pasaporte completo - Pasaportes anteriores - Tarjeta de identidad de extranjero (TIE) - Certificado de nacimiento - Certificado de antecedentes penales - Certificado de empadronamiento histórico - Certificado CCSE o título de la ESO (optional) - Certificado DELE o título de la ESO (optional) **Casado con ciudadano español (si procede)** - Certificado literal de nacimiento del cónyuge español (optional) - Certificado literal de matrimonio (optional) - DNI del cónyuge español (optional) - Certificado de empadronamiento familiar (optional) ## Stages of the file 1. **Document collection.** You upload your documents to the portal. We tell you what is missing and what will not be accepted before any clock starts. 2. **Internal review.** The team reviews the complete file before filing. This is the step that prevents it from being returned. 3. **Official fees.** Government fees are paid directly to the administration, with the receipt stored in your case file. 4. **Filing.** The application is registered with the competent authority. You see the date and the receipt in your file. 5. **Decision.** The authority decides and notifies, with the next steps explained inside your case file. ## Timelines | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | CCSE and DELE exams | Per Instituto Cervantes sitting dates | Dates are fixed and certificates take time to issue: this is planned first. | | Gathering the documents | 4 to 10 weeks | Driven by the birth certificate from your country, with its legalisation and sworn translation. | | Review and case preparation | A few days | The file is not submitted until it is complete. | | Electronic filing | Same day | Registered electronically with the Ministry of Justice, with the receipt in your case file. | | Decision by the Ministry of Justice | Legal period of 1 year | That is the legal period, with negative silence. In practice it is commonly exceeded. | | Oath and civil registry entry | After approval | Until that entry, nationality is not effective and there is no Spanish ID card or passport. | Nobody controls the Ministry of Justice's pace or the Instituto Cervantes exam calendar, and promising a date would be a lie. What is in our hands is filing complete: one correction request over a badly prepared document adds months to a procedure that is already long. ## Common mistakes - **Counting years lived in Spain without a residence permit** — Only legal residence counts. Filing on that basis leads to refusal for failing the period requirement, with the fee and the exams already paid. It is the most expensive misunderstanding in this procedure. - **A gap between card renewals** — It breaks the continuity of legal residence and can mean waiting to complete the period again. It is caught by checking your permit history before filing, not after. - **A birth certificate without legalisation or sworn translation** — It counts as not submitted and a correction request follows. Since the document comes from another country, fixing it takes weeks or months, not days. - **Criminal record certificates expired by filing time** — They have short validity. Requesting them at the start and filing months later means going through the process in your country again, legalisation included. - **Assuming you are exempt from the DELE** — The exemption covers applicants from Spanish-speaking countries. Anyone outside that who files without DELE A2 gets a correction request and loses however long the next sitting takes. - **Missing the deadline on a correction request** — The file can be closed and you start again, with a new fee. Notifications are electronic, so it pays to know exactly where they land from day one. ## Next After approval two steps remain, and neither is automatic: the oath before the civil registry and the registration itself, which is the moment nationality takes effect and you can request a Spanish ID card and passport. Until then your residence is still the one you hold: if it expires in the meantime, it still has to be renewed.: https://www.usebooka.com/en/tramites/espana/renovacion-residencia-trabajo ## FAQ **How many years of residence do I need for Spanish citizenship?** 10 years of legal, continuous residence as a general rule; 2 years for nationals of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal; 1 year for spouses of Spanish citizens. Time without legal residence status does not count. **Do Latin Americans qualify after 2 years?** Yes — but those are 2 years of LEGAL residence, continuous and immediately before the application. Time living in Spain without a residence permit does not count towards it. This is the most expensive misunderstanding in this procedure. **Which exams do I have to pass?** The CCSE (constitution and culture), with limited exemptions. The DELE Spanish exam is not required for applicants from Spanish-speaking countries. Both are run by the Instituto Cervantes. **Will I lose my original citizenship?** It depends on your country: nationals of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal may keep theirs. Others are asked to renounce, subject to their home country's own rules. **So I get a Spanish passport in 2 years?** No. The 2 years for Ibero-American nationals are 2 years of prior LEGAL residence — the point at which you may apply. Then comes the file itself, whose legal decision period is 1 year and which commonly takes longer, and after that the oath and the civil registry entry. Only then do you request the ID card and passport. **How long does it really take?** The legal decision period is 1 year, with negative silence, and in practice the full process — decision, oath and registration — usually exceeds it. What you do control is filing complete: one correction request over a badly prepared document adds months. **Does time on a student card count?** A student stay is not residence for this count, which surprises many applicants. What gets checked case by case is which permits you have held and since when, by going through your card history before counting a single year. **What if my residence card expires while I wait for a decision?** A citizenship application does not extend your residence: they are separate procedures before separate authorities. If your card expires while you wait, it still has to be renewed — losing legal residence mid-file complicates the grant. **Can I apply if I am married to a Spanish citizen?** The period drops to 1 year of legal residence for someone married to a Spanish citizen for a year and not separated in law or in fact. The file then adds the full marriage certificate, the spouse's birth certificate and ID, and the family padrón certificate. **Can I apply on behalf of my children?** Minors have their own route and their own file, with requirements different from an adult's: they are not included inside a parent's application. Tell us each child's age and residence situation and we will say what applies before anything is opened. **Can I pay in two instalments?** Yes, with no interest or surcharge: the total is identical either way. The first half opens your case and starts the document review; the second is paid when we file your application — if we have not filed, you do not pay it. You request it from your case file and someone from the team confirms it within 24 working hours. **Are official government fees included?** No: Booka's fee covers review, preparation, filing and follow-up. Government fees are paid directly to the administration, and we tell you which ones apply and when inside your case file. **How do I know this is not a scam?** Three things you can check: the price is published before you pay, payment is online with an invoice, and the second half is only charged once your application has been filed, with the official registry receipt visible in your case file. No informal intermediary gives you those three proofs. ## Official source Official source: Spanish Ministry of Justice, "Spanish nationality by residence".: https://www.mjusticia.gob.es/es/ciudadania/tramites/nacionalidad-residencia ## What the fee includes Document review, case preparation, filing and follow-up until the decision. ## Notice Booka's fees cover the professional handling of your application only and do not include official government fees, which are paid separately to the relevant authority. Approval of any permit rests solely with the competent administration and depends on the applicant meeting all legal requirements. The information on this page is for guidance only, may change as regulations evolve, and does not constitute individual legal advice.