Back to the Spain overview
🇪🇸
Spain: document checklist
Every document you need for a Spain citizenship-by-descent case — who issues it, how to request it, and roughly what it costs and takes.
Ancestor's Spanish birth or nationality record (Article 20 or 22.2)
- Local Registro Civil of the town of birth, or Registro Civil Central if centrally registered
- Written request to the specific local office
- Modest fee
- Weeks to months, varies by office
Proof of nationality by origin, or of Sephardic origin (Article 22.1 only)
- Civil registry of the country of origin (nationality-by-origin claims); genealogical evidence (Sephardic-origin claims)
- Certified nationality/birth record request, or specialist genealogical documentation
- Modest fee for civil-registry documents
- Varies by country of origin
Spanish residency permit (Article 22.1 or 22.2)
- Oficina de Extranjería
- Visa application before arrival, then permit registration in Spain
- Varies by visa/permit category
- Months to obtain, plus the 1- or 2-year residency period itself before filing
Proof of exile/loss of Spanish nationality (pending Memory Law cases only)
- Spanish Civil Registry (Registro Civil) or historical archives
- Written or online request
- Modest fee
- 8–20 weeks
Want this tailored to your exact case?
The Personalized DIY Guide turns this generic checklist into a case-specific plan — with pre-written request letters and per-document translation guidance.