Step-by-step tutorial
Discover how to easily check your Spanish citizenship status online with our tutorial video. Follow the step-by-step instructions to gain valuable insights into your citizenship application:
Tutorial Video: Check the status of your Spanish citizenship application
How to check your Spanish citizenship status?
If you have started your application for Spanish citizenship by residence, the Ministry of Justice offers an online and totally free platform with which you can check the status of your file.
This platform will be very useful for you.
As you may already know, the citizenship application can take a year or more (although it is likely to get a resolution in just a few months, in many cases the process extends over 2 years).
Thanks to this platform called “How is my procedure going?” you will be able to control at all times what state your application is in.
Thus, you will be able to know if you have been stuck at any stage, if there is any extra procedure that you must perform, or if you have finally been granted your citizenship and you can already request the appointment for the oath of citizenship.
Get your R number
To check your Spanish citizenship status, the first step is to make sure that it has been registered.
This is because when the file is registered, it receives an identification number (R number) that will be essential to check its status later.
Here are two different options to complete this registration and consequently the identification number:
- If you have submitted your file electronically (something we recommend you do), this number will be assigned automatically.
- If you did it by Civil Registry or Public Registry this number will be assigned to you later, once your file is digitalized (something that may take months).
Access the electronic headquarters of the Ministry of Justice
To be able to see your Spanish citizenship status and know what phase it is in, you must access the platform How is my procedure going?
Include your data
Once you enter the link, you will arrive at a page where you must fill in all the requested fields:
- In the first box, include your NIE number, in capital letters and without a hyphen.
- Where the R number appears, you must include the number of your citizenship file, a 6-digit number. You must include the corresponding number assigned to the Ministry of Justice and not that of the Civil Registry.
- Also, input the year of the file, which you can find at the end of the number you have entered before (corresponding to the year in which you applied for citizenship).
- The order field is optional, so it is not 100% mandatory to include it.
What if I do not have a file number?
Later we will explain how to get one quickly and instantly.
Once you enter the data, a page will open with all the information related to the file. That is, you will be able to see exactly what phase it is in (pending mandatory reports, complete reports, under study, granted, etc.)
2 keys to understanding how “How is my procedure going?” works
You must bear in mind that, after entering all your data, the information you see is not official, but merely informative.
In other words, if you see that your citizenship has finally been granted, taking a screenshot and printing that image will not have any validity.
You will have to wait to receive the official statement from the Ministry of Justice.
The information is not updated immediately, so you can experience some delay. Thus, your file may have passed to a later stage in the procedure, but you still do not see it reflected in How is my procedure going?
So, while it is true that this is usually reliable information and you can trust it, note that it is much better to understand it as something indicative.
Other ways to check your Spanish citizenship status
Contact form Ministry of Justice
The first option to check your Spanish citizenship status is to file in the contact form that you will find on the website of the Ministry of Justice and ask directly over there (sadly, there is no English version of this specific page and form on their official website).
A civil servant will respond to you personally informing you of the status of the file.
By telephone
Entering through the same link, you will also see a section to contact by phone.
This is the citizen attention number of the Ministry of Justice, and simply by giving your NIE number, you will get an update on your citizenship file.
This way is totally useful and recommended if you don’t have a registration number, since they will give it to you automatically when you call (and from then on you can already check the online status through How is my procedure going?).
Mi Carpeta Ciudadana
You can also check the status on a totally different platform: Mi Carpeta Ciudadana (or, “My Citizen Folder”).
This platform groups and shows all open files with the Spanish public administration, so it is another way to verify your active files.
You can access it by entering here.
Keep in mind that in this case, you will need a digital certificate to be able to check the status of the file.
Face-to-face consultation
It is also possible to check your Spanish citizenship status by going in person to the offices of the Ministry of Justice located in Madrid and asking directly there.
The office is located at C/ Bolsa No. 8, and you must make an appointment in advance (no English version is available on the website).
Keep in mind that it is not possible to do this face-to-face consultation at the Civil Registry (even though it was possible years ago).
Via Telegram
Finally, the most up-to-date option to check your Spanish citizenship status is to make the consultation through the Telegram of the Ministry of Justice.
You must add the number 663 290 231 to your contact list, and ask through that platform.
How to achieve a much faster resolution?
If you do not present it the correct way, your file can be frozen in each of the visible phases on “How is my procedure going?” for months and months, reaching its approbation in 3 or 4 years.
Thus, if you want to get your citizenship much faster, we recommend that you follow the next 2 tips:
- Submit it electronically, and never in person. Only the digitalization of your file can take an extra 2 years, so submitting online will give you a file number instantly and will speed up the application in a very remarkable way.
- Apply through a specialized lawyer. Applying for Spanish citizenship on your own can save you money, but not time. Lawyers have a special electronic registry with which resolutions can be obtained more quickly and directly.
Let’s talk!
We want to listen to you and know what your questions are about the procedures you have to carry out. Count on the advice of our experts to clarify all your doubts.
If you want to do any immigration procedure, make sure it has an expert team in the field. In Entre Trámites we invite you to know our immigration services here. Fill in our contact form and we will call you to help you as soon as possible, schedule your online consultation, or simply text our WhatsApp.
