Skip to content
luid.es
Login
Visas and residency

Spanish nationality by residence: years, exams and the application

Ten years is the default, but it drops to five, two or one for some people. You also need two Instituto Cervantes exams. And the law sets no number for how long you can be abroad.

Last reviewed

On this page
  1. How many years
  2. What counts: legal, continuous, immediately before
  3. The two exams
  4. The application
  5. After you apply
  6. Sources
  7. Who can do this for you

How many years

Article 22 of the Código Civil sets the clock. The general rule is ten years of residence. It is shorter in these cases:

  • Five years for people who have obtained refugee status.
  • Two years for nationals of origin of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal, and for Sephardic Jews.
  • One year for people born in Spanish territory, people who have been married to a Spaniard for one year and are not separated (legally or in fact), widows and widowers of a Spaniard (if not separated at the death), and people born abroad to a parent or grandparent who was originally Spanish. The article lists a few more.

If you are not in one of those groups, assume ten years. Most English speakers on the digital nomad visa are in that group.

The two exams

Under Real Decreto 1004/2015, article 6, you must pass both, set and run by the Instituto Cervantes:

  • DELE, the Spanish-as-a-foreign-language diploma, at level A2 or higher.
  • CCSE, the test of constitutional and sociocultural knowledge of Spain. Per the Cervantes description it has 25 multiple-choice questions in five tasks and lasts 45 minutes. You need 15 of 25 correct (60%). The decree says 60% of the questions are about the Constitution and the administrative and territorial organisation of Spain, and 40% about Spanish culture, history and society.

Practise the CCSE with our free CCSE practice quiz (in Spanish, with an exam mode and all 300 questions). It uses the same format as above.

Who skips the DELE. The decree exempts people who already hold a DELE at A2 or higher, and nationals of: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Equatorial Guinea, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela. This exempts you from the DELE only. The CCSE is still required. The decree also says the Cervantes will provide adjustments for people with disabilities.

Dates. The CCSE is held once a month, with no sessions in August or December in the published calendar. Each session has a registration closing date a few weeks before. Check the current calendar on the Cervantes site.

The application

The procedure is electronic. You apply through the Ministry of Justice online form, which you have two months to finish once you start it. Under article 5 of the decree the file needs:

  • The application form (and the power of attorney if someone applies for you).
  • Your birth certificate from your country of origin, properly legalised and translated where needed.
  • Your passport.
  • Proof of the DELE and CCSE results, or your authorisation in the form for the Ministry to check them with the Cervantes.
  • A criminal record certificate from your country of origin, legalised and translated. Nationals of an EU state can replace it with the Spanish Registro Central de Penados certificate that shows the origin-country records were consulted.
  • A padrón certificate and your TIE (or EU registration document), or your authorisation for the Ministry to check them.
  • Proof that you paid the fee.

The fee. It is paid with modelo 790, código 026. The Ministry's page currently gives 104.05 EUR and says it may be revised under the State Budget Laws, so confirm the amount when you pay. The fee is charged per application whatever the outcome. If you pay from abroad, the form is not needed and the payment is made by a Spanish bank's branch there or by transfer.

After you apply

  • Decision time. The Ministry must decide and notify within one year of the application reaching it. If it does not, the application is treated as rejected (silence is a refusal, not an approval).
  • Denial. The Ministry can refuse on reasoned grounds of public order or national interest. A denial can be challenged by recurso de reposición and then in the administrative courts.
  • The oath. A grant lapses if you do not complete the next step within 180 days of being notified. You swear or promise loyalty to the King and obedience to the Constitution and the laws, either at the Registro Civil or before a notary, and then the nationality is registered.
  • Renouncing your old nationality. You must declare that you renounce it. That requirement does not apply to nationals of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal, or to Sephardic Jews originally from Spain. Whether your home country accepts the renunciation is a separate question under its own law.

Sources

Who can do this for you

A lawyer can judge whether your years and absences will hold up before you pay for anything, and can file for you. A language school can prepare you for the DELE and the CCSE. A gestor can help gather and submit the paperwork.

This page is general information, not legal advice. It was checked against the sources above on the date shown. The fee, the exam calendar and the Ministry's practice change, so confirm them before you act.

More on visas and residency