The Ministry of Justice approved the possibility of taking the Spanish citizenship oath before a notary, in order to greatly speed up this process, reducing waiting times to a minimum and making it possible for you to obtain your citizenship in record time.
Previously, once you received your favorable grant of Spanish citizenship, you had to go to the nearest Civil Registry to take the Spanish citizenship oath and pledge fidelity to the Constitution and its laws.
If you lived in a big city with many foreigners, this was constantly a problem since the Civil Registries were totally saturated for this procedure and did not make an appointment until many months later (sometimes for periods of more than a year).
However, this situation changed because the Ministry of Justice established two new ways to carry out the Spanish citizenship oath from now on:
- At the notary, after the assignment of a specific one by the College of Notaries
- At the Spanish consulate, given the case in which you receive this concession while you are abroad
In other words, although there is still the possibility of taking the Spanish citizenship oath at the Civil Registry, now you have these two extra ways to get your oath appointment much faster.
How does the Spanish Citizenship Oath before a notary work?
Choose the notary and set the appointment to take the Spanish citizenship oath
For this process, you will have the right to choose a specific notary, so you should contact the notaries closest to your home that can offer the service.
Prepare your documentation
As well as the oath process before the Civil Registry, you must present to the notary the documentation that indicates your resolution based on our file number, additionally, each notary is free to request any extra documentation.
How to know the documentation that you must provide?
Resolution of the concession:
First of all, we have to distinguish if we have submitted our application for Spanish citizenship through the Civil Registry, or by electronic means.
If the presentation has been by registration:
When we consult our file through the “How is my procedure going” page, a secure verification code (CSV) will appear that will allow us to download the resolution through the same platform.
With this document, you must go to the Civil Registry where the application for citizenship was initiated so that the concession is officially notified there, and request the appointment for the processing of the Spanish citizenship oath.
If the presentation has been sent electronically:
And in turn, if you have presented it with your digital certificate and you have consented to receive online notifications, you can either:
- Receive it by email
- Download it directly from the page of the Ministry of Justice
- Download it from your Citizen Folder (“Mi Carpeta Ciudadana”)
If the presentation has been made by a professional on your behalf, the applicant will receive a concession through their certificate and must send you said resolution.
It is important to take into account that the notification of the resolution has full legal effects, once downloaded, the terms begin to run, in case of a favorable resolution, of 180 days to make the Spanish citizenship oath, and in case of an unfavorable resolution, one month to file the corresponding optional appeals for replacement or two months for contentious-administrative appeals.
Original apostilled birth certificate
The same document presented in the application must be provided, legalized and apostilled.
Certificate of criminal record apostilled
The same document presented in the application must be provided, legalized and apostilled.
In addition to identification documents:
Complete and original copy of the valid passport
In our notary’s office, we can take the Spanish citizenship oath with the expired document as long as the residence card is provided in full force.
Valid residence card
Remember that the fact of being granted Spanish citizenship does not exempt you from keeping your residence up to date, so you must take care to renew/modify it in a timely manner.
Up to date Empadronamiento of less than 90 days ago
It is essential that this is your current address or that you have the possibility of picking up your correspondence there since at this address you will receive the literal Spanish birth certificate with which you will have to apply for the Spanish passport and DNI.
Data declaration sheet
Exceptional cases
Minors under 14 years of age: Legal representatives will limit themselves in the public deed to accepting the granted citizenship, determining the surnames, and opting for the corresponding civil residence. Nor is it necessary, in these cases, to renounce citizenship (art. 23.a) and b) CC).
In order to prove the family tie, they must provide valid documents such as: a family book or birth certificate, (if the applicant is a foreigner they should be duly legalized and/or apostilled). For cases in which only one parent appears, the power of attorney of the absent parent, the latter’s death certificate, or a court ruling stating the exclusive exercise of parental authority will be required.
Minors over 14 years of age: In these cases, it is the minor themself, assisted by their parents, who make the Spanish citizenship oath, opts for civil residence, and renounces, or not, their previous nationality.
People with disabilities: It is the applicant with a disability, in the exercise of their legal capacity, who makes the Spanish citizenship oath, opts for civil residence, and renounces, or not, their previous nationality, with the support and procedural adjustments that are deemed necessary.
Attend the appointment on the scheduled date and take the Spanish citizenship oath
With the provisions of Articles 23 CC and 224, 226, 228 and in accordance with the Civil Registry Regulations (hereinafter, RRC), the central object of the public deed is the declaration of the applicant who makes the Spanish citizenship oath of fidelity to the King and obedience to the Constitution and laws.
Do I have to give up my nationality?
Pursuant to Art. 23 CC, every person must renounce their nationality of origin in order to acquire Spanish citizenship with some exceptions such as nationals of Andorra, Portugal, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, and Ibero-American countries (with the exception of those of Anglophone and French-speaking links such as Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Guyana) and the Sephardim, who may not renounce their nationality of origin and maintain dual citizenship.
France on the other hand signed a dual citizenship agreement with Spain on March 15, 2021.
When it is not one of these exceptions, the RESIGNATION of citizenship must be considered and it is the Notary who must make sure that this is indeed the will of the applicant.
Remission of the deed to the civil registry
Notaries will send by electronic means to the General Office of the Civil Registry the public documents that give rise to an entry in the Civil Registry in accordance with the provisions of Art. 35 LRC.
As long as the computer application is not available, the notary will send the authorized document to the competent Civil Registry Office, which, in principle and as a general rule, will be the one corresponding to the address, which could cause the obtaining of the Spanish literal certification to be delayed at least for a couple of months.
How much does the Spanish citizenship oath before a notary cost?
At the moment there is no established or homogeneous price for all notaries in Spain and therefore each notary establishes their own fees.
Is it possible to swear before the consulate?
Another novelty that this new measure has is the possibility of making the Spanish citizenship oath also abroad, before any diplomatic or consular agent. In other words, if you received your citizenship resolution when you were in your country of origin, you will not need to return to Spain to take the oath.
You can go to the consulate and carry out the process in an equally valid way, something that greatly speeds up the process and offers you an important advantage.
Do you need more help?
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