Spanish Citizenship: Ten Years, Two Exams, One Application

Spanish citizenship takes 10 years of legal residence for most British and American applicants, two exams you have to pass, and a 100 euro application fee. Neither London nor Washington takes it away. Your old passport stays. What Spain asks you to declare at the swearing-in is a separate question, and that is the one that trips people up.

Spanish citizenship: what you actually get

Budget 10 years of waiting, 85 euros for one compulsory exam, 138 euros for the other and 100 euros for the application fee. The residence behind it has to be legal, continuous and immediately prior to the application. Then there is the paperwork. Every document has to be valid on the day you file.

A Spanish passport is not a stronger version of your TIE residency card. It leaves immigration law behind. You vote in general elections, you can apply for civil service posts, you stop counting days against a permit, and you travel the EU as a Union citizen rather than a third-country national. For families whose children finished school here, that last point is usually the decisive one.

Documented time counts. Felt time does not. Article 22.3 of the Código Civil requires residence that was “legal, continuada e inmediatamente anterior a la petición”.

Article 22.4 adds “buena conducta cívica” and a sufficient degree of integration into Spanish society. Integration here means paperwork. Someone who arrived on a tourist stamp, picked up an N.I.E. number and then lived here informally has not banked a single qualifying year.

How long you need to have lived in Spain

The headline number is 10 years. It is not the only one. Article 22 of the Código Civil sets four different qualifying periods, and which one applies depends on your nationality of origin, your place of birth and your marital status. British and American applicants without Spanish ancestry or a Spanish spouse sit in the 10-year group.

The wording is unusually precise. Article 22.1 names 10 years as the standard period, 5 years for recognised refugees, and 2 years for nationals of origin of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal, and for Sephardic Jews. Article 22.2 drops the period to 1 year for several groups, including people born in Spanish territory and spouses of Spanish nationals. One year of marriage only counts if there is no legal or de facto separation when you file.

Qualifying residence periods by group

Why a gap resets the clock

“Continuada” does the damage. Let a permit lapse, spend two years back in Manchester or Miami, or take your name off the municipal register, and the count is at risk. Anyone planning a return who deregisters in Spain is touching the foundation of a future citizenship file.

The ministry counts backwards from the filing date. Which permit you held matters less than whether you held one without interruption. Gaps show up either way. People who arrived on a non-lucrative visa and renewed on schedule are in a different position from people who let a renewal slide by four months.

Frequent travellers have the harder version of this. The same logic applies to holders of the digital nomad visa, who tend to move between countries. Renewal dates are worth a calendar reminder.

CCSE and DELE A2: the two exams you have to pass

Article 6 of Real Decreto 1004/2015 asks for two things: a Spanish language diploma at level A2 or above, and a test on the constitution and social life. Both run through the Instituto Cervantes. Both cost money, and both have to be passed. Turning up is not enough.

The constitutional and sociocultural test (Spanish: CCSE) costs 85 euros. That price is fixed. It covers the exam itself, the certificate and the official preparation manual the questions are drawn from.

The test is 25 multiple-choice questions in a maximum of 45 minutes, and 15 correct answers are enough to pass. The Instituto Cervantes reports results after roughly 20 days, and the certificate is valid for 4 years from the date the mark sheet is approved. After that it lapses.

One registration buys two attempts. The second has to happen within 6 months at the same exam centre, and only if you failed or did not show up. A pass leaves the second attempt unused.

CCSE sittings in 2026 fall on 29 January, 26 February, 26 March, 30 April, 28 May, 25 June, 30 July, 24 September, 29 October and 26 November. August and December are blank. Registration closes earlier each time, on 8 October 2026 for the October sitting and on 5 November 2026 for the November one.

The DELE A2 diploma costs 138 euros in Spain. The Instituto Cervantes price table for 2026 lists 112 euros for A1, 138 euros for A2, 173 euros for B1, 204 euros for B2, 225 euros for C1 and 240 euros for C2, all in euros. Only level A2 is required.

Five dates, no more. A2 is examined in 2026 on 13 February, 17 April, 23 May, 17 October and 13 November. For the sitting on 17 October 2026 you have to register by 2 September 2026. If your Spanish so far comes from a phone, it is worth reading what the learning apps do and do not cover.

Official fees for the process

Who is exempt from the exams

Article 6 of Real Decreto 1004/2015 exempts nationals of countries where Spanish is an official language from the DELE. That will not help you. Anyone already holding a DELE at A2 or above is also exempt from retaking it.

The Instituto Cervantes exempts holders of the Spanish ESO school certificate from the CCSE, and under Orden JUS/1625/2016 applicants under eighteen and people whose legal capacity has been modified by a court are exempt from both. A separate age limit applies to registration. The minimum age to register for the CCSE is 16.

The application: documents, the tasa and the online route

Everything runs electronically through the Ministry of Justice, and the Minister signs the final decision. Start with the certificates. Getting a UK or US birth certificate apostilled and sworn-translated regularly takes longer than the wait for the next CCSE sitting, and it is the step people leave until last.

From application to swearing-in

1. Check your residence period → which Article 22 period applies to you
2. Book CCSE and DELE A2 → 85 euros and 138 euros, watch the closing dates
3. Gather documents → apostilled birth certificate, police certificates, proof of registration
4. Pay the tasa → Modelo 790 Código 026, 100 euros
5. File electronically → sign within 2 months or the draft is deleted
6. Wait for the decision → legal deadline of 1 year
7. Swear in → within 180 days of notification

How the nacionalidad por residencia process runs

What Orden JUS/1625/2016 asks for

The list is short. Orden JUS/1625/2016 names the standard application form, the birth certificate from your country of origin “debidamente legalizado y traducido en su caso”, a valid passport, a police certificate from your country of origin “debidamente legalizado y traducido”, and proof that the fee has been paid. For UK and US documents, “legalizado” means an apostille under the Hague Convention plus a sworn translation into Spanish.

On the Spanish side, the paperwork is lighter than it looks. An authorisation is enough. Under the same Orden you allow the ministry to query the Registro Central de Penados and the municipal register directly.

Withhold that authorisation and you file the certificado de empadronamiento and the Spanish police certificate yourself. Then it is your errand again. Applicants married to a Spanish national also need a “Certificado de Convivencia o Empadronamiento conjunto con el cónyuge”.

Everything has to be valid on filing day. Police certificates without a validity date of their own count for 6 months from issue under the Orden. Six months goes fast.

The electronic route needs a digital signature, and the certificado digital is the usual key. The signature is the step that counts. A draft created online but left unsigned is deleted after 2 months.

How long the decision really takes

This is the most interesting number in the whole process. It is not in the statute. Article 11.3 of Real Decreto 1004/2015 sets a maximum of one year: “El procedimiento deberá ser resuelto y notificado en el plazo máximo de un año.” If the year passes without a decision, the application counts as refused.

Practice looks different. The Ministerio de Justicia reports 281,099 open nacionalidad por residencia files as of 31 March 2026. Over the period since 2021 the same statistics record 1,143,527 decisions, of which 1,030,641 were grants, 75,431 refusals and 37,455 archived cases.

No average processing time is published. The statistics count files, not months. The backlog figure is therefore the most honest indicator available.

The consequence is uncomfortable but useful to know. The one-year deadline is not a promise of a decision. It is the point at which the administrative courts become an option, and Article 22.5 of the Código Civil states that a grant or refusal “deja a salvo la vía judicial contencioso-administrativa”. Plan the years, not the months.

Then the clock speeds up. Article 21.4 of the Código Civil says a grant expires 180 days after notification if you have not appeared before the competent official. Anyone working abroad during that window needs someone watching the post. The 183-day rule of Spanish tax law is a different matter entirely, even though the numbers look similar.

The oath and the renunciation clause

The process ends with an appointment. Article 23 of the Código Civil attaches three conditions to the acquisition, and the second one is the reason this subject produces so much half-truth online. So it is worth separating what the statute demands from what it does to your other nationality.

Article 23 a) requires an applicant over fourteen to “jure o prometa fidelidad al Rey y obediencia a la Constitución y a las leyes”. Article 23 b) requires: “Que la misma persona declare que renuncia a su anterior nacionalidad.” Article 23 c) requires registration in the Registro Civil. That entry makes you Spanish.

The exceptions sit in the same sentence. Article 23 b) continues: “Quedan a salvo de este requisito los naturales de países mencionados en el apartado 1 del artículo 24 y los sefardíes originarios de España.” Article 24.1 names the Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal. The United Kingdom and the United States are not on that list.

So the declaration is compulsory for you. Whether it has any effect at home is decided by British or American law, not by Spain. That is the point where the two answers diverge, and where most of the confusion online comes from.

Can you keep your British or American passport?

For British citizens the answer is short. GOV.UK states it in one line: “You do not need to apply for dual citizenship. You can apply for foreign citizenship and keep your British citizenship.” There is no permission to request, no form to file and no British authority to notify before a Spanish swearing-in.

Americans need one more step. The State Department says that “U.S. law does not mention dual nationality or require a person to choose one nationality or another”. Naturalising in a foreign state after the age of 18 is listed among the potentially expatriating acts under section 349(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, together with taking a formal declaration of allegiance to a foreign state. That sounds alarming until you read the next condition.

Intent is what decides it. The wording leaves little room. The State Department is explicit: “In order to relinquish U.S. nationality by virtue of naturalization as a citizen of a foreign state, the law requires that the person must apply for the foreign nationality voluntarily and with the intention to relinquish U.S. nationality.” The department presumes that a person who naturalises in a foreign state or declares allegiance to one intends to keep US nationality, and the burden of proving otherwise lies with whoever claims it was given up.

Put the halves together. Spain asks for a declaration under Article 23 b) at the swearing-in because its own Civil Code says so. London does not treat that as a loss, and Washington treats a foreign naturalisation as expatriating only where the intent to give up US nationality is there.

Losing either passport takes a deliberate, separate act in front of your own authorities. Neither happens by default. Tax obligations are a different question again, and US citizens keep filing regardless of a second passport.

This article quotes statutes and official guidance. It is not legal advice. Dual nationality cases turn on details such as date of birth, earlier naturalisations and the exact date of the swearing-in, so have a nationality lawyer look at your own file before you take the appointment at the Registro Civil. The rest of the road there is mapped out in our relocation section.

One hurdle stands either way. Two exams decide the application, and one of them is written and marked in Spanish. Bar Spanish carries you a long way and then stops abruptly at the written task in the DELE A2. Weekly one-to-one practice with a native speaker moves that needle faster than any vocabulary app.

Frequently asked questions

10 years of residence, two exams, three fees and a folder of certificates. It adds up. This is not a weekend project but one stage in a much longer plan, and it sits alongside residency renewals, tax residency and school decisions. Seeing how those pieces line up in time is easier with one overview than with a drawer full of notes.

Verdict

Count the years before anything else. Article 22.1 of the Código Civil puts 10 years of legal, unbroken residence between a British or American resident and a Spanish passport, and neither language skills nor property shorten that. Then add 85 euros for the CCSE, 138 euros for the DELE A2 and a 100 euro fee.

One clause stops more applications than the ten years do. Readers meet the declaration under Article 23 b) and assume their first nationality is finished. It is not. GOV.UK states that you can take foreign citizenship and keep British citizenship, the State Department wants both a voluntary act and the intention to relinquish before US nationality goes, and 281,099 open files show how many people read the clause and filed anyway.