Spanish Nationality By Naturalisation and Residence
Spanish nationality can be acquired by naturalisation, which is given only at the discretion of the government through a Royal Decree, and under exceptional circumstances. Any individual can request the Spanish nationality by naturalisation, as long as he or she is 18 years or older, or through a legal representative if he or she is younger.
Under Article 22, Spanish nationality can also be acquired by residence in Spain. To apply for naturalisation by residence it is necessary for the individual to have lived in Spain for:
- ten years, or
- five years if the individual is a refugee, or
- two years if the individual is a national of a country of Iberoamerica, Andorra, Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Portugal, or
- one year for those individuals:
- born in Spanish territory, or
- those who did not exercise their right to their nationality by option within the established period of time, or
- those who had been under legal tutelage or protection of a Spanish citizen or institution for two consecutive years,
- those who had been married for one year to a Spanish national and are not separated legally or de facto, or
- those widowers of a Spanish national if at the time of death they had not been legally or de facto separated, or
- those born outside of Spain, if one of their parents or grandparents had been originally Spanish (i.e. Spanish by origin).
Nationals of Iberoamerica, Andorra, Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal must be natural born citizens of their respective countries. That is, individuals who acquire the nationality of the said countries by naturalisation would still have to live ten years in Spain before applying for nationality by residence.
Read more about this topic: Spanish Nationality Law
Famous quotes containing the words spanish, nationality and/or residence:
“The Bermudas are said to have been discovered by a Spanish ship of that name which was wrecked on them.... Yet at the very first planting of them with some sixty persons, in 1612, the first governor, the same year, “built and laid the foundation of eight or nine forts.” To be ready, one would say, to entertain the first ship’s company that should be next shipwrecked on to them.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Rarely do American parents deliberately teach their children to hate members of another racial, religious, or nationality group. Many parents, however, communicate the prevailing racial attitudes to their children in subtle and sometimes unconscious ways.”
—Kenneth MacKenzie Clark (20th century)
“The death of William Tecumseh Sherman, which took place to-day at his residence in the city of New York at 1 o’clock and 50 minutes p.m., is an event that will bring sorrow to the heart of every patriotic citizen. No living American was so loved and venerated as he.”
—Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)