# Help with Spanish Citizenship for a child of a Spanish citizen



## rb23 (Jan 13, 2016)

Hello!

I'm brand new to this forum and looking for some answers from all of you experienced expats!

My parents were both born in South America to Spanish parents. Unfortunately my grandparents did not register them as Spanish nationals born abroad so my parents were simply considered nationals of their country only. 

Long story short, my parents divorced when I was 13 and my father abandoned the family and I have no contact with him.

My mom is currently in the process of submitting all the required documents to claim her Spanish citizenship and whilst going though some old documents I found a form with a NIF number, and photo copy of a form to register my younger brother ( who is a minor) in the libro de familia when he was a infant. On that form he registers as a Spanish national. So I guess that after all he was a Spanish citizen? 

My question is this: Is there a way I can confirm this information and somehow gather the necessary documents to claim citizenship through my father but without him? Being that we are not in contact? Can I somehow attain a copy to see if I had been added to the Libro de Familia or anything? As I said, I have no contact with him but have my birth certificate and such to verify my identity. 

If not, i will simply wait to claim it through my mother. 

I don't know if it's relevant but I'm 22 years old. Also, does anyone know the costs/fees of attaining Spanish Citizenship? 

Thank you so much!


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

Hi RB. Welcome to the forum. 

Here's a thread that answers almost all your questions:

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/sp...-living-spain/859546-spanish-citizenship.html

Since your parents were not registered as Spaniards by your grandparents, I don't see why or how you could go through your father. So I'd wait for your mom's citizenship.

I don't think your age is relevant to getting citizenship.

All your questions and more can also be answered by the Consulate of Spain in Miami, Florida, which is here:

Pages - Home

Good luck!


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## smiggy (Apr 13, 2014)

Does it matter that the parents are not Spanish citizens? I thought you could claim Spanish citizenship if one of your grandparents were Spanish.As regarding the age thing, I believe if you are eligible to become "Spanish by option " then you have 2 years to do this when you turn 18 but I don't think this applies in this situation.


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

smiggy said:


> Does it matter that the parents are not Spanish citizens? I thought you could claim Spanish citizenship if one of your grandparents were Spanish.As regarding the age thing, I believe if you are eligible to become "Spanish by option " then you have 2 years to do this when you turn 18 but I don't think this applies in this situation.


Hi Smiggy.  You can only get citizenship through Spanish parents - not grandparents. There is no age limit on this. Here's how you can claim Spanish citizenship through your parents:
_
Persons of Spanish origin are:
- Those born to a Spanish father or mother. 
- Those born in Spain to foreign parents, if at least one parent was born in Spain (with the exception of the children of diplomats). 
- Those born in Spain to foreign parents, if both parents have no nationality (i.e. are stateless), or if the legislation of neither grants their children nationality. In this case, a procedure may be carried out at the Civil Registry corresponding to their place of residence, in order to declare Spanish nationality as mere presumption. 
- Children born in Spain whose parents' identity is unknown. Minors whose first known place of stay is Spanish territory are presumed born in Spain. 
- Minors under 18 adopted by a Spaniard are also of Spanish origin. Adoptees who are over 18 may opt for Spanish nationality of origin within two years after the formalization of the adoption. _

Here's where I copied that from (the Spanish Embassy in Ottawa, Canada):
Pages - Spanish Nationality


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## smiggy (Apr 13, 2014)

AllHeart said:


> Hi Smiggy.  You can only get citizenship through Spanish parents - not grandparents. There is no age limit on this. Here's how you can claim Spanish citizenship through your parents:
> _
> Persons of Spanish origin are:
> - Those born to a Spanish father or mother.
> ...


Hello AllHeart ! Read lots of your threads about you getting your Spanish citizenship and making that life changing move to Spain ( I'm quite jealous lol ) I was looking at another way of citizenship via the residency route...From Wiki...one year for individuals:who were born outside of Spain, if one of their parents or grandparents was originally Spanish (i.e. Spanish by origin).Normally it would be 10 years residency in Spain.I have looked into this a little as I have a Spanish mother but I'm not as brave as you and probably wouldn't go through with it ! Are both of your parents Spanish ?


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

smiggy said:


> Hello AllHeart ! Read lots of your threads about you getting your Spanish citizenship and making that life changing move to Spain ( I'm quite jealous lol ) I was looking at another way of citizenship via the residency route...From Wiki...one year for individuals:who were born outside of Spain, if one of their parents or grandparents was originally Spanish (i.e. Spanish by origin).Normally it would be 10 years residency in Spain.I have looked into this a little as I have a Spanish mother but I'm not as brave as you and probably wouldn't go through with it ! Are both of your parents Spanish ?


Yes, my life has definitely changed entirely since moving here! All for the better! 

I've never heard of grandchildren of Spaniards being eligible for citizenship, nor of a one-year residency requirement to get citizenship. Could you please provide the link?

I was actually born a Spaniard in Sweden, where at the time I was born babies took the citizenship of their father - not their mother. My mother was a Swede, but, yes, she was also Spanish citizen through marriage to my father. So I was born an immigrant in Sweden, then was raised as an immigrant in Canada. Now I'm in Spain and really feel like an immigrant, but at home at last! It's all so confusing! :confused2: But perhaps there are differences in getting citizenship for others who were not born Spanish citizens?

What is stopping you from taking on Spanish citizenship?


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## rb23 (Jan 13, 2016)

Sorry, I guess I was not clear enough. Between his birth and now he had claimed Spanish citizenship and became a Spanish national... The only reason I was made aware of this was because of a form he left with his NIF number and another form in which he added my brother to the libro de familia. 

I lived in Spain for a year previously and I think only nationals have this ( the NIF number), correct?

Basically my question is whether or not I can gather the documents needed without my father as I do not have contact with him..

Thank you for the consulate information I am going to be calling them and seeing when I can make the trip to Miami!


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

RB, the NIF is for foreigners. As a Spanish citizen, we get a DNI. Here's some info:

NIE/NIF: NIE / NIF Registration and & Residencia Application

DNI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documento_Nacional_de_Identidad

Smiggy, I found info on getting citizenship through grandparents. This applies to grandparents who were exiled under Franco and lost their citizenship. Here's some info on that: Descendants of Spanish nationals - Historical Memory Law


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

RB, I forgot to answer your question about not having your father involved in getting your citizenship. I did every step without my parents' involvement. Maybe you can too?


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## rb23 (Jan 13, 2016)

Sorry, I wrote that incorrectly... I had the NIF number when I was residing in Spain lol. What I found was my father's DNI number. Anyway, I am going to call the Consulate and see if with the registro civil paper, his DNI and other documents I can request the needed paperwork to become a spanish citizen. 

If not, I will go forward with the plan to request it through my grandparents and reside there the required time.


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

rb23 said:


> Sorry, I wrote that incorrectly... I had the NIF number when I was residing in Spain lol. What I found was my father's DNI number. Anyway, I am going to call the Consulate and see if with the registro civil paper, his DNI and other documents I can request the needed paperwork to become a spanish citizen.


Gotcha! Good luck! :fingerscrossed:



rb23 said:


> If not, I will go forward with the plan to request it through my grandparents and reside there the required time.


Were your grandparents exiled under Franco?

I didn't have to reside here for a required time to get my paperwork, other than I had to live here in order to get my empadronamiento (which required 7 months' commitment to Malaga), and the empadronamiento was required to get my DNI, then my DNI was required to get my social security number, then my social security number was required to get my healthcare card. So all that ID requires that I live here. Is that what you mean? My citizenship and passport were done while I was living in Canada.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

rb23 said:


> Sorry, I wrote that incorrectly... I had the NIF number when I was residing in Spain lol. What I found was my father's DNI number. Anyway, I am going to call the Consulate and see if with the registro civil paper, his DNI and other documents I can request the needed paperwork to become a spanish citizen.
> 
> If not, I will go forward with the plan to request it through my grandparents and reside there the required time.


I don't see any reference on the govt website of being Spanish via your grandparents, only via your parents. Can you give us a link? 

To become a Spanish citizen by residence is a different issue entirely. First you have to live here legally - which unless you obtain your Spanish citizenship, you can't.

Everything about the various ways that you can be, or become, Spanish, are here ¿Cómo se adquiere la nacionalidad española? - Ministerio de Justicia


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> I don't see any reference on the govt website of being Spanish via your grandparents, only via your parents. Can you give us a link?


I gave that link earlier in the thread, which says you can get Spanish nationality through exiled grandparents:

_The grandchildren of those who lost or were forced to forfeit their Spanish citizenship as a consequence of the exile.

This covers those persons whose father or mother was born after the exiled grandfather or grandmother lost their Spanish citizenship. Therefore, their closest Spanish ancestor is a grandparent._

From here: Descendants of Spanish nationals - Historical Memory Law

But I think, based on previous posts, that RB meant to say mother instead of grandparents.



xabiachica said:


> To become a Spanish citizen by residence is a different issue entirely. First you have to live here legally - which unless you obtain your Spanish citizenship, you can't.


You need both citizenship and passport to come here, and the rest of the ID requires you live here. That's what I said in my last post.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

AllHeart said:


> I gave that link earlier in the thread, which says you can get Spanish nationality through exiled grandparents:
> 
> _The grandchildren of those who lost or were forced to forfeit their Spanish citizenship as a consequence of the exile.
> 
> ...


oops - missed that!

& I'd forgotten about the exiled bit as well!


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## smiggy (Apr 13, 2014)

AllHeart said:


> Yes, my life has definitely changed entirely since moving here! All for the better!
> 
> I've never heard of grandchildren of Spaniards being eligible for citizenship, nor of a one-year residency requirement to get citizenship. Could you please provide the link?
> 
> ...


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

smiggy said:


> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spani...h_nationality_by_naturalisation_and_residence


Interesting! I didn't know that. Thanks!  I was told by the Consulate and Embassy of Spain that I had to stay in Canada to get my citizenship and passport - only visiting Spain under my Canadian passport for a max of 3 months at a time. But according to this article, if I was a resident for a year, I could have obtained my passport and citizenship here in Spain. Or perhaps that didn't apply to me? 

My parents gave up my Spanish passport and citizenship when I became a Canadian citizen at the age of 14. My parents said they didn't have to give it up, but they decided to do so, saying that a Canadian passport was all I needed. I don't know how official that was, though, because I did get the passport and citizenship back.


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## smiggy (Apr 13, 2014)

AllHeart said:


> Interesting! I didn't know that. Thanks!  I was told by the Consulate and Embassy of Spain that I had to stay in Canada to get my citizenship and passport - only visiting Spain under my Canadian passport for a max of 3 months at a time. But according to this article, if I was a resident for a year, I could have obtained my passport and citizenship here in Spain. Or perhaps that didn't apply to me?
> 
> My parents gave up my Spanish passport and citizenship when I became a Canadian citizen at the age of 14. My parents said they didn't have to give it up, but they decided to do so, saying that a Canadian passport was all I needed. I don't know how official that was, though, because I did get the passport and citizenship back.


Yes it does seems a bit strange , so you could only stop in Spain for 3 months at a time ? Well that wouldn't apply to someone who was from a country in the European Union.So you would have to apply for a visa to stop for longer than 3 months in Spain ? This is starting to get a bit confusing lol


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

smiggy said:


> Yes it does seems a bit strange , so you could only stop in Spain for 3 months at a time ? Well that wouldn't apply to someone who was from a country in the European Union.So you would have to apply for a visa to stop for longer than 3 months in Spain ? This is starting to get a bit confusing lol



Yes, I would have had to get a visa. But they never said that was an option for me, so I don't know for sure if I could have. I don't know, but I don't think I would have gone that route anyway, because with the route I took, I got all my ID in Spain, including healthcare, within several weeks!!!

I checked out the references for that Wiki article, and it looks kosher, although it's in Spanish and I can't read Spanish very well. Here they are, in case anyone else is interested (like maybe Xabiachica):

Real Decreto de 24 de julio de 1889, texto de la edici?n del C?digo Civil mandada publicar en cumplimento de la Ley de 26 de mayo ?ltimo. T?TULO PRIMERO.?De los espa?oles y extranjeros (Vigente hasta el 30 de Junio de 2017).

Carta de naturaleza - ¿Cómo se adquiere la nacionalidad española? - Ministerio de Justicia


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