Spanish citizenship by residence: 10 years, or 1 with Spanish roots

Spain normally asks for ten years of legal residence before you can become Spanish. But if a parent or grandparent of yours was originally Spanish, one year is enough. For people abroad with Spanish roots who missed the grandchildren’s law, that one-year rule is now the main way in. You have to actually live in Spain, pass two exams and, at the oath, declare that you renounce your previous nationality.

If you think you might already be Spanish through a parent, start with our Spanish citizenship by descent guide. If your link is a grandparent, read our guide to citizenship through grandparents too: it explains what changed when the Democratic Memory Law closed in October 2025.

The rules at a glance

• General rule: 10 years of legal residence in Spain.
• Refugees: 5 years.
• Nationals of origin of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal, and Sephardim: 2 years.
• Descendants of Spaniards, spouses and a few others: 1 year.
• In every case: the residence must be legal, continuous and immediately before you apply.
• Exams: DELE A2 (Spanish) and CCSE (constitution and society).
• Fee: EUR 104.05.
• Decision time in law: 1 year; no answer by then counts as a refusal.
• Oath: within 180 days of the decision, with a declaration renouncing your previous nationality.

Who gets the one-year rule

Article 22.2 of the Civil Code says one year of residence is enough for:

• a person born in Spain;
• a person who had the right to opt for Spanish nationality but didn’t use it in time;
• a person who was legally under the guardianship, care or foster care of a Spanish citizen or institution for two years in a row;
• a person who has been married to a Spaniard for one year and isn’t separated, legally or in fact (see our Spanish citizenship by marriage guide);
• the widow or widower of a Spaniard, if they weren’t separated when the spouse died; and
• a person born outside Spain whose father, mother, grandfather or grandmother was originally Spanish.

Other nationalities, such as US citizenship, don’t shorten anything on their own. The two-year rule is for nationals of origin of the listed countries, so it only helps you if you also held one of those nationalities from birth.

The grandchild route: one year through a Spanish grandparent

This is the part most of our readers care about. Under article 22.2(f), you qualify for the one-year rule if:

• you were born outside Spain; and
• at least one parent or grandparent was originally Spanish, meaning Spanish by origin, for example born to a Spanish parent. A grandparent who only became Spanish later, by naturalising, doesn’t count.

The text asks whether your ancestor was originally Spanish. It doesn’t require that they stayed Spanish, so a grandparent who emigrated and later took another nationality can still be your link. Your parent’s nationality doesn’t matter either: the Justice Ministry asks for your parent’s birth certificate “independently of their nationality”.

Why this matters now. Until 22 October 2025, many grandchildren could claim Spanish nationality from abroad under the Democratic Memory Law. That window is closed to new applications. The one-year rule is different: it’s a permanent part of the Civil Code with no deadline, but you have to move to Spain and live there legally for a year first. It also leads to nationality by residence, not nationality by origin, so the renunciation declaration applies (see below).

Check the faster options first. If your parent was Spanish when you were born, you may already be Spanish by origin and only need to register. If your parent was originally Spanish and born in Spain, you may be able to opt for nationality without living in Spain at all. Our grandparents guide walks through each case.

What “legal, continuous residence” means

Article 22.3 says the residence must be legal, continued and immediately before the application. In practice:

• Legal: you need permission to live in Spain. The regulation refers to the foreigner’s identity card (TIE) or the residence card for family members of EU citizens.
• Immediately before: the qualifying period has to end when you apply. A year you spent in Spain a decade ago doesn’t count.
• Continued: the residence can’t be broken. The Civil Code doesn’t say how long a trip abroad can last before that happens, and we found no official figure from the Justice Ministry. Keep trips short, keep your residence card valid with no gaps between renewals, and keep evidence of where you were.

The only exception to living in Spain is in the marriage rule: the spouse of a Spanish diplomat or consular official posted abroad is treated as legally resident in Spain.

You must also show good civic conduct and enough integration into Spanish society (article 22.4). The Justice Minister can refuse for reasoned grounds of public order or national interest (article 21.2).

The two exams

Royal Decree 1004/2015 requires two exams run by the Instituto Cervantes:

• DELE A2 or higher, a basic-level Spanish exam. Nationals of Spanish-speaking countries are exempt, and so is anyone who already holds a DELE at A2 or above. Everyone else has to take it.
• CCSE, a multiple-choice test: 60% on the Constitution and how Spain is organised, 40% on culture, history and society. No nationality is exempt.

Minors provide certificates from their school or care centre instead. You can sit both exams at Cervantes centres outside Spain, so you can pass them before you move. See our language requirements guide for how Spain’s level compares.

Documents

The Justice Ministry’s order on residence applications (Order JUS/1625/2016) asks adults for:

• the application form (the online form, if you apply electronically);
• your birth certificate, apostilled and translated into Spanish;
• your full, valid passport;
• a criminal record certificate from your country of origin, apostilled and translated. For the US, it must cover the whole country, not just one state, so Americans normally use the FBI background check. Without an expiry date on it, it counts as valid for 6 months from issue;
• your DELE and CCSE results, or permission for the Ministry to check them with the Cervantes;
• if you’re married, your marriage certificate, apostilled and translated;
• your residence card, padrón (address registration) and Spanish criminal record, or permission for the Ministry to check them;
• the fee receipt; and
• for the descendant route: the literal birth certificate of your Spanish parent, or of your Spanish grandparent, from the Spanish Civil Registry. If you rely on a grandparent, add the birth certificate of the parent who links you to them.

Every document must be valid on the day you apply. Our apostille guide and certified translation guide cover the paperwork.

Applying, step by step

1. Get your grandparent’s Spanish birth certificate and confirm that they were Spanish by origin, if you’re using the descendant rule.
2. Move to Spain on a residence permit and live there legally and continuously for the required period.
3. Pass the DELE A2 and the CCSE.
4. Pay the EUR 104.05 fee and apply, preferably online through the Justice Ministry’s electronic office. Lawyers and other professionals can file for you.
5. Answer any request for missing documents within 3 months, or the file is closed as abandoned.
6. Wait for the decision. The law allows one year. Silence after that counts as a refusal. You can ask the Ministry to reconsider, or go to the Audiencia Nacional within 2 months of a written refusal, or 6 months after a refusal by silence.
7. Take the oath within 180 days of notification, at the Civil Registry or before a notary. You swear loyalty to the King and obedience to the Constitution and the laws, and declare that you renounce your previous nationality. Miss the 180 days and the grant lapses. Your nationality is then entered in the Civil Registry.

The renunciation declaration and your current citizenship

Article 23 of the Civil Code asks everyone who acquires Spanish nationality by residence to declare that they renounce their previous nationality. Nationals of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal are exempt, as are Sephardim originally from Spain. Everyone else must make the declaration, and having a Spanish grandparent doesn’t change that.

Whether you actually lose your other citizenship depends on your other country’s law; some countries end citizenship when you voluntarily take another, so check yours.

The US, for example: losing US citizenship requires a voluntary act done with the intention of giving it up. Federal rules (22 CFR 50.40) say the State Department presumes that a person who naturalises in another country intends to keep US citizenship. Those rules don’t deal with Spain’s declaration specifically, so if keeping US citizenship matters to you, ask a US consular officer or an immigration lawyer before you sign.

Spain adds one more rule. Under article 25, a Spaniard who isn’t Spanish by origin loses Spanish nationality by using only the renounced nationality for three years. Once you’re Spanish, use your Spanish documents too. Our Spanish dual citizenship guide covers this in detail.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• BOE: Spanish Civil Code, consolidated text (Articles 21 to 25: residence periods, the one-year cases, oath, renunciation, loss), Spanish
• BOE: Royal Decree 1004/2015 on nationality by residence (exams, documents, time limits), Spanish
• BOE: Order JUS/1625/2016 on the residence procedure (document list, proof of Spanish descent, criminal records, appeals), Spanish
• Ministerio de Justicia: nationality by residence (fee, oath before the Civil Registry or a notary), Spanish
• 22 CFR 50.40: US presumption of intent to keep citizenship

Checked against these sources on 11 November 2026. The fee can change with Spain’s state budget.