Bill to count study time for Spanish nationality and allow dual citizenship

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. The bill would allow years spent in Spain under either residence or stay (estancia) status to count toward Spanish nationality by residence, as long as the stay is legal, continuous and immediately before the application. Reduced periods remain: five years for refugees and two for nationals of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Portugal, and Sephardic Jews.
2. The bill would remove the requirement to renounce one's previous nationality to acquire Spanish nationality through option, carta de naturalezaCarta de naturaleza An exceptional grant of Spanish nationality made by the Government for special reasons., or residence. The remaining requirements would be swearing loyalty to the King and obedience to the Constitution and laws, and registering the acquisition in the Civil Registry.
3. Article 24 of the Civil Code would be amended so that Spaniards who are not Spanish by origin and live abroad would lose their Spanish nationality only if they voluntarily acquire another one and expressly declare they renounce the Spanish one.
4. The bill would eliminate the loss of nationality for Spaniards who are not Spanish by origin due to using only the nationality they had renounced to obtain the Spanish one.
5. Civil Registry entries resulting from the granting of Spanish nationality would be handled by the registrar who recorded the person's birth.
6. The law would take effect twenty days after its publication in the Official State Gazette (Boletín Oficial del Estado).

Who it affects

• Foreigners in Spain on stay (estancia) status, such as students: Years on study, internship, or research stay permits could count toward applying for nationality, instead of starting the count from zero.
• People applying for nationality by residence, option, or carta de naturaleza: They would no longer have to give up their original nationality to obtain the Spanish one.
• Spaniards who are not Spanish by origin and live abroad: They would stop losing Spanish nationality for using only the other nationality they had renounced.

Words worth knowing

Estancia (stay)

A permit to be in Spain for a limited time, for example for studies, without being residence.

Carta de naturaleza

An exceptional grant of Spanish nationality made by the Government for special reasons.

Registro Civil (Civil Registry)

The public registry where events such as births, marriages, and nationality acquisitions are recorded.

Proposición de ley

A bill introduced by a parliamentary group; it is not a law until it is passed.

It summarizes the text as it was introduced. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries