Everyone knows that becoming a Spanish citizen takes a long time – first meeting the minimum residency requirements of up to 10 years living in Spain, then waiting for the Spanish authorities to process the application.
The slow pace of Spanish bureaucracy is notorious when it comes to citizenship applications, with thousands of foreigners waiting 5 years or more for a decision, despite the average wait time being 1.5–3 years.
However, there’s good news for anyone applying for Spanish citizenship in 2024 or beyond. After the implementation of new technology, the Justice Ministry is speeding up the processing of paperwork, allowing applicants to receive an answer regarding their pending citizenship status much sooner than before.
Wait times down from several years to several months
After attempts to reduce the backlog of applications by hiring more staff, the Justice Ministry turned to robotisation – using automated software to scan the documents much faster and more precisely than human civil servants could manually.
This software can process digitally submitted files quickly to check whether the applicant meets the minimum requirements regarding their period of residence, sociocultural and language test results, and clear criminal record.
Whereas past applicants could be left waiting a minimum of 2.5–3 years, despite the legal deadline of 1 year for a response, applicants from 2023 onward are seeing wait times drastically reduced to just 6 months or less.
A quarter of immigrants in Spain have obtained citizenship
With the number of Spanish births dwindling, foreigners are boosting the population, making up 1 in 5 of the people living in Spain as of January 2024 – and roughly 27% of them have gained citizenship and a DNI card.
This identity card for Spanish nationals replaces the TIE card used by non-EU residents or the green card given to EU nationals.
According to the INE (National Statistics Institute), the number of foreigners naturalising and gaining Spanish citizenship jumped by 32.3% from 2022 to 2023 – the highest number of successful Spanish citizenship applications in a decade.
Of around 240,000 foreign-born people who became Spanish citizens last year, just over a fifth had lived in Spain all their lives, while the remainder had lived abroad before moving to Spain. It took around 5 years for them to acquire citizenship.
The majority of foreigners gaining Spanish nationality were women, at 54.8% compared to 45.2% men, and the largest age group was 30–39 years old, followed by 40–49 years old.
Applicants most frequently came from Morocco, Venezuela, or Colombia, with Madrid or Catalonia being the most popular destinations in Spain, followed by Valencia and Andalusia.
Apply for Spanish citizenship in 2024–25
There are multiple routes to claiming citizenship in Spain, which depend on factors like family ties, current nationality, and personal/political circumstances. Most applicants must live in Spain for a minimum of 10 years before they can apply.
Of the 240,000 foreigners who became Spanish citizens last year, the majority applied via residency and roughly 11% acquired Spanish nationality by option, with most of these applicants being under 20 years old.
‘By option’ means the person can choose to claim their Spanish nationality faster based on their relationship to a Spaniard. For example, someone whose parent, grandparent, or guardian is a Spanish citizen born in Spain or a foreigner who has married a Spanish national can apply after residing in Spain for just 1 year.
It’s also possible to claim Spanish nationality by descent after 2 years of residency in Spain for those from Ibero-American countries or with Sephardic Jewish ancestry, or after 5 years for refugees settling in Spain.
Contact English-speaking lawyers in Spain
It’s not necessarily easy to get a Spanish passport, but now the application process should run much more smoothly with the help of the new automated system.
Of course, the best way to ensure that your application is approved quickly is to complete all the forms to the highest standard and provide all of the required documentation alongside them.
Then, once you’re officially a Spanish citizen, you’ll need to make sure you’re familiar with all your obligations as not just a Spanish resident, but a Spanish national – including any changes to your taxes in Spain.
Fortunately, Manzanares Abogados can help with both immigration and tax processes in Spain, from visas and residency permits to tax returns and citizenship applications.
Simply call us at one of our offices in Andalusia or Ibiza to get started, or email clientservices@manzanareslawyers.com and we’ll respond to your query as soon as we can.
