Greetings All
The latest update.  After my “swearing in” in Madrid for my citizenship I returned to California. Just this past month I was able to apply for and get my Spanish passport at the Spanish Embassy in San Francisco.  Super easy - had the forms completed (access via email to Embassy) & presented along with photos and $20 +/- USD - all pleasant and easy.  The passport arrived about 8 days later!  A long journey but one that actually ended with success!

Best Wishes!

Congratulations!!! And thanks so much for posting and updating your experience…

I am an American and have lived off and on in Barcelona for almost 10 years and will now be getting married and plan to stay here to live and work permanently.  Your advice has been very helpful and has given me some <real> timelines to consider as I start the process.

Any ideas on how long it takes from date of marriage to receiving legal right to work?  All official websites and/or personal experiences greatly appreciated.

Gracias!!

Quite the helpful thread. Thank you!!

Does anyone happen to know if time in Spain on a student card counts as residency? My fianc? and I have been empadronada at the same address for nearly a year now. I’m just wondering if I’ll be able to do the oposiciones to be a teacher 8 months after we marry, (Sept. 2011) or if I’m going to miss it by a hair and have to wait another two years.

After reading so many peoples different journey to obtain the Spanish citizenship I’m happy for you that you made it. It is a little different for us all. I’m doing my paperwork here in So. Florida at the Spanish Consulate in Coral Gables. I have one document left to give them. & of course that is from Cuba.( working on it).
I really appreciate reading everyone’s different experiences, it helps to kind of know what to expect. for me…...my grandparents were both born in Spain. they moved to Cuba, where my mom was born, several years after that they obtained their Cuban citizenship. I’m looking forward to obtaining my citizenship with Spain. We still have alot of family there and here in Miami. Good luck to everyone….

James..

This thread was really very helpful. Thanks Pacific and congratulations for your victory at the end.

My story is probably similar to yours though I am not US citizen but both of us are non-EU with a Spanish spouse. Since my Tarjeta de Residencia (communitario) was issued in May 2008 I had worked and paid taxes and ?seguridad social? till Aug 2008. Thereafter I had been offered a good job in the UK. I took the post and been flying between Spain and the UK till June 2009 when I applied and was granted UK residence card. I had never stayed more than six months out of Spain. As family we moved to live in England in Aug 2009. My wife was issued a Registration Certificate here as EU national living in the UK. We fly to Spain very often and I am still registered as resident in Madrid with an active ?empadronamiento?. I applied for my Spanish citizenship in Nov 2009 but never heard a word yet.

You’ve mentioned somewhere in your thread that you’ve been in and forth Spain during the first year of residency. Have you been asked about this during the application process?. And have you submitted any papers from the States to support your/your spouse financial status (like US bank statements !!)? I’m asking this because throughout the second half of my 1 year residency I used money from my UK bank more often than I did with the Spanish one.

Cheers

WK

There is lot?s of paper work and it is all rather confusing but do-able without a lawyer. Sounds like you are working with a lawyer and I imagine that might make you feel more confident.  If not, if you let me know where you are in the process I may be able to provide some more info before I go totally brain dead - I guess I just want to forget all the steps at this point.  Some tips now though ... you will need to get US ?apostilles? for US official documents (like birth certificates, marriage licenses, criminal record reports) so be sure to allow plenty of time to research that aspect and get those papers together.  Apostilles are obtained from the Secretary of State of the state in which the document originates. I posted a reply to another thread regarding Apostilles here on the Forum? but you can ?Google? apostille and learn plenty on line.  Also - the biggest annoyance factor is dealing with the immigration office at the main police station in Madrid.  The lines are so incredibly long!  My husband has an uncanny knack of ?working the system? and he was able to gain entrance each time we had to go by stepping right up to the front door ?gate keeper? and pleading a reason to get in right away.  If the lawyer could help you navigate through that department then he/she may be worth what you are paying.
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Debit cards in Spain

Greetings
Reply to JUNDOC and the question ... Was I ever asked about traveling back and forth from US to Spain or US financial status during application process for Spanish citizenship. 

Answer: Surprisingly… No! Throughout my application process I was living more in US than Spain and certainly had a great deal of skepticism about a successful outcome to the application given that.  The naturalization office only asked for my passport (to make a copy) once and that was in when I submitted the “final” full packet of papers.  I always maintained official Spanish residence in the same location in Madrid.  I did have a fairly odd “interview” with an official at the local police station about 6-12 months after submitting the papers.  I had to submit a few more papers, and did include bank statement from the US.  It did not appear that there much interest in the financial papers (they were not even translated).

I think the whole process from initiating the residency application to swearing in took about 5 years.  What seemed to help me was… bring all the required papers in as requested (you miss something and you will get delayed) and of course, having someone in Madrid help me with translations and navigating the all too many offices I had to go to.  I did not get a lawyer.

As mentioned in the preceding post… the lines at the immigration office are really, really long. Like the author I was always able to shortcut the line and get right in because my friend convinced the security guard that we had a valid but dramatic reason to jump in at the front door.  I think the Spaniards love a bit a drama! 

Wish you all the best!

I am being reasigned to our company branch in Spain, any suggestions or thoughts on what I should know about Spain

Hi there,
Does anyone know if it is legal to work in Spain at any time during the ~1yr waiting period for citizenship? Once the tarjeta is received am I given some sort of working status? Or must I wait for the citizenship to become final?

My fiance and I will be marrying later this year, we currently reside in the US. He is undergoing the process to receive a green card, but I was hoping to begin my application for Spanish citizenship/residency simultaneously. I foresee us moving to Spain in the near future, and would love to have some sort of official working papers by the time that happens- is this completely unrealistic? Please pardon my ignorance! This is just the beginning of my research…

I would appreciate any insight anyone has!

Thank you!!

First off, congrats on your upcoming marriage!

First off: where are you getting married?

If you’re getting married in the US, my understanding is that you must go to your local Spanish consulate and get registered as his spouse. This used to entail getting your Libro de Familia but I believe this no longer exists. You can then ask them about residing in Spain. Dual citizenship is not legally possible. You’d have to renounce your US citizenship before Spanish authorities in order to claim Spanish citizenship. My understanding, too, is that you can only get Spanish citizenship after x-number years of residency.

Hello everyone…it has been interesting reading everyone’s experiences.
I have a more unique situation…and just starting to research the matter.

I have dual citizenship already (live outside of Spain).
Partner has overextended their Visa and current health of parents will take them back home in a month or so as their health is failing.  This will complicate if not null re-entry.

We are already engaged, but this will definitely throw a wrench in situation from a US standpoint.  Thinking marriage in their homeland (EU nation) first at Spanish embassy and partaking in visa waiver program via Spain to return…but not sure if 1) viable option, 2) how long it would take to obtain their citizenship if living outside of Spain - although married.

Any input will be greatly appreciated.
Muchas gracias.

Very informative thread, some notes:

The criminal records check can only be done, for US citizens, through the FBI: http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/background-checks

This document must then be sent to the State Department for an apostille: http://www.state.gov/m/a/auth/

Once returned to you in Spain, it must be translated by an official “traductor jur?dico.” Keep in mind the FBI documents must not be more than 3 months old when submitted to the Registro Civil at the start of the nationality petition.

The birth certificates follow a similar procedure, but on a state level. One requests the certificate, then sends it to the relevant state apostille agency, usually also named ‘State Department.’ For example: http://www.dos.ny.gov/corps/apostille.html

This, once returned to you in Spain also needs to be translated officially. Once you have those two documents the rest is easy, grab two Spanish people who know about your life and head to the Registro Civil.

I did it last june. I had two interviews, one from a nice woman from the Ministerio de Justicia who came to my place, and one at the Polic?a Nacional. Both were very similar - where do you work, quick summary of basic facts, etc etc.

Now I’m just waiting. It’s important to keep Justicia updated with any address changes as communication is via post only. There is a website where you can check the progress of your petition: http://www.mjusticia.gob.es/cs/Satellite/es/1200666550200/Tramite_C/1215326363758/Detalle.html

Guys,

What is the current average time for processing the application from the time you apply for citizenship till you get the passport?

Thanks a lot

I think someone said it’s about 5 years from time of application for residency until receiving citizenship.  So if residency takes 6 months… then it takes 4.5 years!! OMG!!

That’s not cool! Thanks for replying anyway.