Spanish citizenship by residence as an Ibero-American

Published on: December 20, 2022

Reading time: 2 min

Spanish citizenship by residence as an Ibero-American

Do you want to migrate to Europe? obtaining Spanish nationality is much easier than you think!

As a kind of compensation for the colonial times, this Spanish-speaking country outside America offers special conditions for Latin Americans to obtain their nationality: You only have to have resided for two consecutive years in Spain, prove good civic conduct and a sufficient degree of integration into Spanish society.

Documentation

To prove the above, you must present:

Complete and valid passport.
Apostilled and translated birth certificate.
Apostilled and translated criminal record certificate from the country of origin.
Certificate of criminal record from the Spanish Central Register of Convicts.
Marriage certificate (if applicable).
Certificate of census registration.
Diploma of the Constitutional and Sociocultural Knowledge Test (CCSE) issued by the Cervantes Institute.
Receipt of payment of the fee.
Completion of an application form.

Other cases

The years of residence may be reduced to only one if the applicant:

Born in Spain.
He did not exercise his right to acquire Spanish nationality by option.
He/she was under the guardianship, custody or foster care of a Spanish citizen or institution for at least two consecutive years.
You have been married to a Spaniard for one year without being legally or de facto separated.
You are the widower of a Spaniard.
Born abroad to a Spanish parent or Spanish grandparent.

From when is the time of residence counted?

From the validity of the first residence card.

Is any form of residence valid for time counting?

No. It must be a legal residency, based on a visa other than a study or tourist visa. Thus, the work visa, the non-profit residency visa and any other visa will be valid.