Immigration · Free tool

When can you apply for Spanish nationality?

Choose your situation and the date your legal residence began. We'll tell you the day you can apply from, and what you need to have ready.

Indicative result

Choose your situation and the start of your residence: the date appears here instantly.

Legal, continuous residence right up to the application
For the whole period and until you apply, with a valid residence card. Long absences can break continuity: the law sets no number of days, so if you've spent time abroad it's worth checking.
Good civic conduct
A criminal record certificate from your country of origin, legalised or apostilled and translated if needed.
DELE A2 exam (Instituto Cervantes)
Depends
Exempt if you're a national of a country where Spanish is an official language; otherwise you need to pass it.
CCSE exam (Instituto Cervantes)
Constitutional and sociocultural knowledge of Spain. Spanish speakers take it too.
Under-18s don't sit the exams. If you passed compulsory secondary education (ESO) in Spain, attaching that certificate to your application is usually enough. In other cases, such as not being able to read or write, you can ask to be excused before applying.
Personal documents
A valid passport, residence card and birth certificate (legalised or apostilled and translated where needed), plus proof of your case, such as a marriage certificate.
Ministry of Justice fee
Form 790, code 026, paid before you submit the application.

Legal basis

Indicative, not legal advice

This tool gives you a first orientation and is no substitute for professional advice: every case has nuances a calculator cannot see.

Checked against the law in force in September 2026.

Periods (art. 22.1 and 22.2 of the Civil Code): 10 years in general; 5 for refugees; 2 for nationals of origin of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal and people of Sephardic origin; 1 year in the six cases of article 22.2.
How we count: We add the years to the start of your legal residence, date to date. Some periods, such as time as a student or as an asylum seeker, may count differently: if that's you, let's check it.
Legal, continuous and immediately prior residence (art. 22.3): It must hold for the whole period and right up to the application.
Integration (art. 22.4 and RD 1004/2015): Shown by passing the Instituto Cervantes DELE A2 and CCSE exams, unless exempt.
After you apply: You can apply online with the Ministry of Justice. The rules allow one year for a decision (in practice it often takes longer) and, with no answer by then, it is deemed refused. If granted, you have 180 days to swear or promise allegiance.

Official sources

Next step

A wrongly chosen start date or a long absence can end in a refusal after months of waiting. We'll review your case before you file anything.

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