Hi,

I’m leaving for Spain on Saturday and am working on the assumption that I should be able to file for residency, at least.  Here’s my background:

I was born in Madrid, but registered as a US citizen born abroad.  My mother was half-Spanish, half-American, and lived in Spain for at least 15 years prior to giving birth to me, but I don’t think she was actually a Spanish citizen? (this was back in the 80’s and according to my family she was probably just a resident).  My father is a full Spaniard, but I’ve only met him a couple of times, the last time being 10 years ago, and he was never married to my mother, his names aren’t on my birth documents, etc: basically, I have no way to show that he’s my father (and all I know about him is that the last time I met him he was living in Madrid).

My maternal grandmother was from Valencia, and moved to the US early in 1955.  I think she eventually lost her Spanish citizenship, but from what research I’ve done, it looks like I can still be eligible for citizenship given that she’d be considered an exile.

So, basically, if I’m 22, and have lived most of my life in the US, does it look like a safe bet that I could at least apply for residency given all of this information once in Spain?  I don’t even have a copy of my Spanish birth certificate (or even know if I have one?), just my US citizen born abroad document.  If any of you have any idea, I’d love to know!

I don’t think you’ll be able to do it from within Spain. You’ll probably have to go through the embassy to figure it out. Yours is definitely a special case. I’m guessing you already read through this series of posts? http://www.spainexpat.com/spain/forum/viewthread/6797/

I was born in Madrid, but registered as a US citizen born abroad.  My mother was half-Spanish, half-American, and lived in Spain for at least 15 years prior to giving birth to me, but I don’t think she was actually a Spanish citizen? (this was back in the 80’s and according to my family she was probably just a resident).  My father is a full Spaniard, but I’ve only met him a couple of times, the last time being 10 years ago, and he was never married to my mother, his names aren’t on my birth documents, etc: basically, I have no way to show that he’s my father (and all I know about him is that the last time I met him he was living in Madrid).

if you were born in madrid, you should have a spanish birth certificate in the registro civil in pradillo street.
take a look at that document first you might be a spanish citizen after all.

My maternal grandmother was from Valencia, and moved to the US early in 1955.  I think she eventually lost her Spanish citizenship, but from what research I’ve done, it looks like I can still be eligible for citizenship given that she’d be considered an exile.

you might take advantage of the ley de la memoria historica, which expires this year.

So, basically, if I’m 22, and have lived most of my life in the US, does it look like a safe bet that I could at least apply for residency given all of this information once in Spain?  I don’t even have a copy of my Spanish birth certificate (or even know if I have one?), just my US citizen born abroad document.  If any of you have any idea, I’d love to know!

you might also be a spaniard under the following article of the spanish constitution
1. Son espa?oles de origen:
  Los nacidos de padre o madre espa?oles.
  Los nacidos en Espa?a de padres extranjeros si, al menos, uno de ellos hubiera nacido tambi?n en Espa?a. Se except?an los hijos de funcionario diplom?tico o consular acreditado en Espa?a.
Where was your mother born? Have you got her birth certificate?

Hi,

I am going through the Spanish citizenship process as well. Does anyone know if the MINREX stamp is required on Cuban documents or can they be legalized by the US?

aritz - 23 July 2011 12:59 PM

I was born in Madrid, but registered as a US citizen born abroad.  My mother was half-Spanish, half-American, and lived in Spain for at least 15 years prior to giving birth to me, but I don’t think she was actually a Spanish citizen? (this was back in the 80’s and according to my family she was probably just a resident).  My father is a full Spaniard, but I’ve only met him a couple of times, the last time being 10 years ago, and he was never married to my mother, his names aren’t on my birth documents, etc: basically, I have no way to show that he’s my father (and all I know about him is that the last time I met him he was living in Madrid).

if you were born in madrid, you should have a spanish birth certificate in the registro civil in pradillo street.
take a look at that document first you might be a spanish citizen after all.

My maternal grandmother was from Valencia, and moved to the US early in 1955.  I think she eventually lost her Spanish citizenship, but from what research I’ve done, it looks like I can still be eligible for citizenship given that she’d be considered an exile.

you might take advantage of the ley de la memoria historica, which expires this year.

So, basically, if I’m 22, and have lived most of my life in the US, does it look like a safe bet that I could at least apply for residency given all of this information once in Spain?  I don’t even have a copy of my Spanish birth certificate (or even know if I have one?), just my US citizen born abroad document.  If any of you have any idea, I’d love to know!

you might also be a spaniard under the following article of the spanish constitution
1. Son espa?oles de origen:
  Los nacidos de padre o madre espa?oles.
  Los nacidos en Espa?a de padres extranjeros si, al menos, uno de ellos hubiera nacido tambi?n en Espa?a. Se except?an los hijos de funcionario diplom?tico o consular acreditado en Espa?a.
Where was your mother born? Have you got her birth certificate?

My mother was born in Rhode Island-I don’t have her birth certificate, but I could easily have family get it for me in the US if I need it for the ley de memoria historica route.  I was talking to someone the other day here (I’m already in Madrid), and they were telling me that someone they knew that tried to get citizenship thru that method wasn’t given it because apparently it only applies to grandfathers? Can anyone confirm this?

And thank you so much for the tip about going to see if I have a Spanish birth certificate-I’ll head over to the Registro Civil tomorrow!  I’m thinking that I might, because my certificate of US Citizen Born Abroad was issued 2 1/2 weeks after I was born, so I figure I must have had a Spanish birth certificate in the mean time?  We’ll see.

a.bremerj - 24 July 2011 03:45 AM

Hi,

I am going through the Spanish citizenship process as well. Does anyone know if the MINREX stamp is required on Cuban documents or can they be legalized by the US?

cuban documents are first authenticated by cuban authorities thru minrex stamp, look thru all the posts here regarding this matter, some cuban americans applying have given suggestions on who to contact.