- Benefits of obtaining Spanish citizenship
- How to obtain Spanish citizenship - general rules
- General ways of obtaining citizenship
Holidays in Spanish resorts are perceived by many Russians as quite ordinary, cities and resorts are like relatives. Many of the residents of the Russian Federation are thinking about whether to move to this country for permanent residence. And the plans of individual daredevils go even further, how to obtain Spanish citizenship, and with it the rights due to the status.
Benefits of obtaining Spanish citizenship
Many people do not see the difference between obtaining a residence permit and acquiring the status of a citizen of a particular country. Obtaining citizenship undoubtedly brings certain advantages to a person. First of all, this concerns the equalization of rights with the indigenous people of the country, the opportunity to participate in political life - to elect and be elected. Secondly, citizenship gives a foreigner the right to hold government posts and move up the career ladder.
Full citizens have advantages in health care, education, and other social spheres of society. In addition, this applies not only to the lands occupied by the Kingdom of Spain, but in general to the countries of the European Union. A Spanish citizen is under the protection of the state abroad, which becomes very important in critical situations. He has the right to ask for help in the event of a diplomatic conflict or natural disaster.
How to get Spanish citizenship - general rules
The very first reason for acquiring Spanish citizenship is residence in the kingdom for ten years, and on a legal basis. At first glance, it seems that this is a very long time, especially when compared with other countries, such as Canada or Australia. On the other hand, it gives a person the opportunity to get to know the host country well, consciously make a decision to change citizenship. And the Spanish authorities, in turn, can assess the activities of a person, his benefits for the country and society. There are categories of potential citizens for whom shorter terms are set in this list:
- refugees (for political reasons) who have lived legally for at least five years in Spanish territory;
- immigrants from the former Portuguese colonies (the Philippines, Latin America and Andorra), who have been on the territory of Spain on a legal basis for two years;
- Descendants of the Sephardic Jews, a sub-ethnic group of Jews who lived in Spain in the Middle Ages and were expelled by the Inquisition, are also set for two years.
Even more fortunate are those who have only one year of legal residence prior to obtaining citizenship. There are also a sufficient number of such categories, for example, children born in Spain who have a residence permit become full citizens in a year. The same period for orphans who were at least two years earlier under the care of a Spanish citizen, for a spouse who is legally married and has lived in the kingdom for at least a year, a nuance - the couple should not be divorced at the time of filing the petition.
It is important to observe a few more points - continuous residence in the territory of the Spanish Kingdom, the period is specified in the Civil Code. The basis for obtaining citizenship is a person's residence permit, other documents (student, or residence permit) are not taken into account.
General ways of obtaining citizenship
Spanish law provides several ways to obtain citizenship, some of them can be used by residents of any country and nationality, other methods affect the categories of future citizens with Spanish roots, for one reason or another, at one time found themselves far from their historical homeland.
According to article 17 of the Civil Code of the Kingdom, children receive citizenship by descent if one of the parents (mom or dad) is a citizen of this country. Children fall into this category if they were born in the Spanish kingdom and one of the parents was born here. Another way to obtain Spanish citizenship is the option, it concerns persons who were under the care of Spanish organizations or citizens adopted by a citizen.
To submit a petition, an application form is used, which is the same for all regions of the country, it can be obtained from the Registro Civil (local registry office) at the place of residence, or downloaded from the Internet. A set of documents is attached to the application, which is different for different categories of applicants, therefore, in order not to miss anything, it is necessary to request a list and collect materials in strict accordance with the requirements of Spanish law. You also need to be prepared for the fact that representatives of the registry office will require other documents.
After examining the documents, the person will have an exam in Spanish and an exam for citizenship. A whole year is allotted for the consideration of the entire package, which a potential citizen will spend awaiting the result.
