Spanish Citizenship By Marriage

Obtaining Spanish Citizenship Through Marriage

For people who are in a relationship with a Spanish citizen, gaining citizenship for themselves can be easier and faster than it would otherwise be.

That’s the reason why applying for Spanish citizenship by marriage is known as a fast-track route to citizenship.

It is important to understand that you don’t automatically obtain Spanish citizenship simply by marrying a Spanish citizen. That used to be the case but the rules changed in 1975. Although the process may not be as easy as it once was to obtain citizenship through marriage, it remains one of the most effective and accelerated paths currently available.

Why Marrying a Spanish Citizen Makes Obtaining Citizenship Easier

Despite the rules changing in 1975, marrying a Spanish citizen remains a relatively straightforward and expedited process for obtaining Spanish citizenship. If you are not married to a Spanish citizen, it can take up to ten years before you qualify for Spanish nationality.

However, if you are legally married to a Spanish national and have lived together in Spain for a year, you can become a citizen after that year has passed.

That’s why people often refer to citizenship by marriage as a fast track. As long as you and the person you’re married to have lived in Spain together for one year, you’ll qualify for citizenship. There are, however, certain requirements that need to be met before you obtain your citizenship in Spain.

How to Get Spanish Citizenship By Marriage?

There are some steps you’ll need to go through if you want to apply for Spanish citizenship by marriage. Each of the steps below is necessary before you can call yourself a citizen of Spain if you are looking to take a fast-tracked marriage route to citizenship.

The first thing you have to do if you want to obtain Spanish nationality by marriage is actually get married. Your spouse will need to be a legal Spanish citizen, which they will be if they were born in Spain.

You can marry in Spain as a tourist even if you don’t have residency or you could wed in your country of origin if you prefer.

Applying for Spanish Citizenship By Marriage Step-by-step Process

Applying for Spanish Residency as a Family Member

Once you’re married, you’ll need to apply for Spanish residency. This is something that is straightforward to do as the partner of a Spanish national.

If you’re a family member, which includes spouses, of a Spanish citizen, you will qualify for a 5-year work and residency permit.

You should apply for as soon as possible after your marriage is registered. If you’re an entrepreneur, you might also be able to secure a residence permit on that basis.

After marriage and obtaining a residency permit, you’ll then need to spend a year living together with your spouse and to live in Spain. You need to show this in order to secure citizenship; it is one of the most important requirements for Spanish citizenship.

As previously mentioned, this one year of residence in Spain is significantly less than the ten years that might be required if you weren’t married to someone with Spanish citizenship.

If you’ve met all the requirements already mentioned and you’ve been living with your Spanish spouse in Spain for at least a year, you will be able to submit your citizenship application.

Processing Time for Spanish Citizenship By Marriage

As a general rule, Spanish citizenship by marriage route takes 6 to 18 months from the time a complete file is received. Filing through a consulate can take longer due to the workload at the local registry and the time it takes for mail to reach other countries. Always keep copies of your submissions and track them accordingly.

Wait for the Application to be Processed and Approved

The Spanish authorities will review your application and notify you if any additional documents or information are required. Once they have all the necessary information and documentation, they’ll notify you of the approval or rejection of your application.

If your application results in a refusal, you will be entitled to appeal the decision if you feel it was made in error and that you do in fact meet the requirements for citizenship.

Requirements and Documentation for Spanish Citizenship by Marriage

Passing the CCSE and DELE Exams

In order to gain citizenship in Spain, you must show that you have sufficient Spanish language skills, as well as an understanding of Spanish culture. As such, you have to pass the DELE language exam at A2 level. There’s a series of tasks that comprise this language exam.

The CCSE exam tests your knowledge of Spanish culture and the Spanish civil code. You must be able to show pass certificates for both as part of your application for citizenship. The exam will cover one section on Spanish Government, Law, and Citizenship and another on Spanish Culture, History, and Society.

For the DELE A2 language test, you must score 60 out of a possible 100 points. The test is split between Reading and Writing Skills, and Speaking skills. You must score at least 30 on each. In total, this test takes 2.5 hours. To pass the CCSE exam, you have to score 15 or more out of 25. This test lasts around 45 minutes.

You can take the DELE A2 and CCSE at approved centres in Spain and other countries. The Instituto Cervantes states that the results are valid for the specified time periods. If you don’t pass, you can retake it. Be sure to keep your proof of registration and results on file.

Exceptions to the DELE and CCSE tests

Some possible exemptions include age-related waivers in certain situations, accredited disabilities or learning conditions that render it impossible to take exams, or previous Spanish education credentials that demonstrate language competence (for example, compulsory secondary education or higher education completed in Spain). If Spanish is your native language, you may not need to take the DELE. CCSE typically remains in effect unless another exemption applies.

How to ask for an exemption:

• If you have them, obtain medical or disability certificates, or academic certificates that demonstrate your proficiency in Spanish.
• When booking, request adapted conditions or an exemption in writing and include the necessary supporting documents.
• Keep the original certificates in the nationality file, as the Civil Registry may review the reason for the waiver.

A Full and Valid Passport

You will need to show your passport as a form of ID when submitting your application. It should be a full legal passport from your country of origin or the country in which you are currently a citizen.

Of course, you’ll also need to make sure that the passport is still valid. It is best to make sure there’s still at least a year before it expires.

Providing Marriage Certificates

As you’ll be benefiting from being married to a Spanish person as part of your application, you’ll also have to show your marriage certificate. Your marriage should be registered in Spain. If the marriage took place in another country, it needs to be recognised and valid in Spain.

As well as your marriage certificate, the Spanish authorities will also require both you and your partner to present your birth certificates as part of the process of submitting an application to become a citizen.

Registering a Marriage and Making Sure a Foreign Marriage is Valid

To be fully eligible for nationality by residence, a marriage that took place outside of Spain must be recorded in the Spanish Civil Registry. You can ask for a transcription at the Registro Civil in Spain or at the consulate’s Registro Civil. You must bring the actual foreign marriage certificate with an apostille or legalisation, a sworn translation, copies of passports or IDs, and any other civil-status papers the registry needs.

Cohabitation alone does not replace marriage unless a specific Spanish regional regime recognises it for limited effects and the Civil Registry accepts it, which is uncommon for nationality purposes. If your marriage to a foreigner isn’t registered in Spain, your nationality file might take longer or be denied because it isn’t recognised. First, register the marriage, and then apply for citizenship to avoid any potential issues.

Proof of Sufficient Financial Means

In order to become a citizen in Spain, you must be able to show that you’re able to support yourself financially while living there.

If you have lived in Spain for a while already, this is relatively easy to do. The Spanish system uses something called IPREM to assess your income, and to qualify for citizenship your IPREM score should be at least 150%.

IPREM stands for Public Multiple Effects Income Indicator (Indicador Público de Renta de Efectos Múltiples in Spanish). It is a figure that’s calculated each year and acts as the minimum each person must generate in income on a monthly basis.

The figure stands at €600 per month. So for people applying for Spanish citizenship, 150% of the IPREM means that you must be earning €900 per month or more.

If you can show evidence that you’re earning that much or more each month, the Spanish authorities will be satisfied that you have the financial means needed to support yourself once you become a full Spanish citizen.

A Valid Residence Permit

You need to have been living in Spain with your spouse for at least a year before you can become a full citizen.

As such, it is necessary to have a residence permit. This permit will give you the right to live and work in Spain for five years, so should still be valid if you apply for Spanish citizenship after a year of living in Spain.

If you delay your application, you will need to make sure that your residence permit is still valid when you apply. If it’s not or it is about to expire, you should renew it before applying.

Registered Address

You and your spouse must be living at the same address and registered together at that address at the City Hall in your place of residence.

This is how the Spanish authorities can see that you have been living together for at least a year since getting married.

Criminal Background Check

Anyone looking to get Spanish citizenship must be able to show a criminal background check that shows any past convictions in prior places of residence.

Application Fee

To complete the process you must pay the application fee. The amount that you need to pay for the application will depend on your country of origin but it will typically cost around €60-100.

Requirements Checklist for Spanish Citizenship by Marriage

Rules for Continuity of Residency and Absence

For the one-year residence, you must reside in Spain continuously and maintain records of your stay. It’s okay to take short trips, but prolonged or repeated absences could mean you can’t return. A safe way to do this is to keep absences to no more than three months in total during the qualifying year and not have any one long absence. Keep your residence card up to date, renew it on time, and ensure your empadronamiento is also up to date at your shared address.

If you and your Spanish spouse live together, it means you both have a registered address and a real home. Joint padrón (empadronamiento conjunto), certificado de convivencia, a lease or deed in either or both names, utilities or bank statements sent to the address, and travel records showing you return to that home are all good proof.

If you move to a new city or province, your “residence clock” doesn’t reset as long as your legal residence stays the same. Quickly update your padrón and keep proof of the move, as well as documentation that you are still living there.

Some things that could go wrong include taking an extended vacation abroad that overlaps with your permit renewal, working abroad for months without returning to your shared home, or spending a significant amount of time in your home country, which may lead to the impression that you live outside of Spain. Plan your trip so that you can prove that Spain is your home every day during the qualifying year.

Can You Apply for Spanish Citizenship from Outside Spain?

You can’t count time spent outside of Spain towards your one year of legal residence. The consular route (for applying outside of Spain) is primarily for individuals who have already lived in Spain for a year and then moved abroad, or for those who need to file and attend formalities outside of Spain.

You are likely eligible to apply for Spanish Citizenship by Marriage from overseas if you:

• Are legally married to a Spanish citizen
• Have registered your marriage in Spain
• Have already met the one-year residency period in Spain on a resident visa. This period starts after you receive your resident visa
• Have passed the DELE A2 and CCSE exams
• Provide criminal background checks from all countries you have lived in

When applying from outside of Spain, you may need to provide proof of consular registration, consular certification of cohabitation (if applicable), and additional translations and apostilles for foreign records.

Citizenship by Marriage Refusal and How to Appeal

Common reasons for Spanish Citizenship by Marriage refusals include not residing in Spain long enough, not registering the marriage in Spain, insufficient proof of cohabitation, a criminal record or pending case, discrepancies in addresses, or missing documents. The letter of refusal lists the reasons and provides information on how to appeal.

A common reason for refusal is when a couple gets married in another country but fails to register the marriage in Spain before filing. Before filing, ensure that your civil registration status aligns with your nationality requirements.

Most of the time, you have two main choices.

• You can file an administrative reconsideration with the same authority within a short time frame, or you can file a contentious-administrative appeal with the courts within a longer time frame. Keep an eye on the dates on your letter; missing a deadline makes it harder to appeal.
• If the problem is with documents, a targeted reapplication that adds missing proof (such as a completed marriage transcription or more substantial evidence of cohabitation) can be effective in succeeding where you last failed.

Common Fixes to Refusal Reasons

• Don’t just offer “more documentation,” but refine your application to target the exact problem listed in the refusal
• Use stamps, tickets, and a padrón history to reconstruct the timeline of residence and absences
• Add certificates that show the same address and updated civil registry entries
• If you have any issues with your criminal record, provide updated, clear certificates and proof of rehabilitation, if applicable

How Can IAS Help?

There is strong demand for Spanish residency permits and citizenship, and taking the fast-track route offered by marrying a Spanish citizen is one of the most popular options available. However, not all applications are successful if the relevant steps are not taken. There are specific requirements that must be met to obtain Spanish citizenship through marriage.

Here at IAS, we can assist you with your residency and citizenship applications, as well as all related matters. We are professional, experienced, and understanding immigration advisers, with extensive experience assisting clients in obtaining Spanish citizenship through marriage.

For more information about our services, how we can assist you with becoming a citizen, and how to make the application, reach out to us at +44 (0)333 414 9244, or contact us online.