Should you’re a foreigner who has been legally residing in Spain for a complete of 10 years (or two years for those who’re from a Latin American nation, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Portugal or are of Sephardic origin) you possibly can apply for Spanish citizenship by way of residency.
This generally is a considerably advanced course of with a lot of necessities that must be met and documentation it’s essential show, in addition to having to move a language and a basic Spanish data examination. On a extra optimistic notice, processing instances have reportedly been significantly shortened just lately.
READ ALSO: Why getting Spanish citizenship now takes months slightly than years
However what occurs if after all of your efforts your Spanish citizenship utility is denied? Is there something you are able to do?
If this has occurred to you, relaxation assured that you just’re not alone, as in 2024 Spain rejected a report variety of folks for Spanish citizenship: a complete of 20,099.
Firstly, there are a number of explanation why you’ll have been rejected. It may merely be right down to timing – having not lived in Spain for lengthy sufficient, as a result of you may have submitted incorrect documentation, you may have a felony report or since you didn’t reply in time, if the administration wanted extra data.
READ ALSO: The principle causes for having your Spanish citizenship utility denied
Spanish nationality utility procedures normally take a while to be resolved, however, most often, the Administration’s choice is favorable and nationality is granted.
In accordance with Vicente Marín, a lawyer at Parainmigrantes, round 15 % of citizenship functions are denied.
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If this occurs, you may have three choices.
The primary is an attraction for reconsideration which ought to be filed with the Ministry of Justice. It’s known as the Recurso potestativo de reposición or Potential Attraction for Reinstatement.
Ideally, you must current this attraction inside one month of receiving your rejection. You could file it at any of the registries and places of work with the Ministry of Justice.
It’s necessary to test that every one the necessities have been met and that the paperwork are up to date and can be found to current. In case you have missed one thing you possibly can normally embody it in your attraction.
In accordance with Parainmigrantes, the principle downside with these appeals is that they take a really very long time and it’s not unusual to have to attend greater than a 12 months to listen to again and look ahead to a response.
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The second choice is to file a Contentious Administrative Attraction in courtroom, which is heard earlier than the Nationwide Courtroom. For this you will need to rent a lawyer to characterize you. It may also be filed when the Public Administration has not responded to your preliminary attraction, and also you’ve exhausted all different avenues.
This can be a rather more advanced course of than an administrative attraction as a result of finally it will likely be a choose who decides whether or not you may have the suitable to Spanish nationality or not.
However the excellent news you should use this feature in case your file has been in course of for greater than a 12 months. Utilizing this technique, for those who haven’t obtained a response to your attraction additionally, you will have the ability to declare approval as a consequence of administrative silence.
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Your third and closing choice is to easily re-apply and begin the method once more. This time you will need to be sure you have all of your paperwork so as and also you meet all the necessities in order that it will likely be profitable.
It’s greatest to rent a lawyer to be sure you have every little thing so as so it isn’t denied once more.