Filipino Wanting Spanish Citizenship

[Patricia]

Yes, we can certainly help you. You need to apply for a Tarjeta de residencia de familiar no comunitario de ciudadano de la Union. That is, Residence card of non EU relative of an EU citizen. This residence card allows you to live and work for 5 years. After that time, you will be entitled to apply for permanent residency.

Regards,

[Dennis]

Are Filipinos still entitled to apply for Spanish citizenship after having resided legally in Spain for two years? Has there been a change in the law on acquiring Spanish citizenship that affects filipinos in Spain.


Thanks.

Dennis de Guzman

[Marta]

Hello Dennis. There has been no change with regards to this.

[Unregistered]

Hello Dennis. There has been no change with regards to this.

Hi!
I´m a Filipina and a resident of Spain for 2 years now. May I know the requirements, how long is the processing and lastly, do I have to master the Spanish language before qualifying the Spanish Citizenship? Thank you in advance and hope to hear from you soon!


Best regards,
Dinah

[Unregistered]

Hi everyone, my great grand mother was a Spanish woman who was married to a Filipino. That makes my grandmother half Spanish. Am I still qualified to apply for Spanish Citizenship and what are the papers I need to prove my affinity with my Spanish grand mother? I would also like to know if citizenship is impossible, would my Spanish lineage help me when I am applying for a Spanish tourist visa? Thank you very much : )
This site has been very helpful and I'm hoping to hear from you guys.

[Marta]

Hello,

If your grandmother holds Spanish citizenship then you will be able to apply for Spanish citizenship either via residence (after a year of legal residence in Spain ) or via La Ley de Memoria Histórica, if you qualify for it. A tourist visa is granted by the Spanish authorities in your country of residence. The fact that you have Spanish ancestors can or not be taken into account when granting a visa. Other factors are certainly more important but nevertheless, it will not harm you to mention it.

[rico]

Can you kindly tell me how long it takes to process a citizenship application once a Filipino has completed the two year residence in Spain? Also is there a particular visa that a Filipino must have held during that two year period or will any visa (i.e. student visa) do?

Many thanks,

Rico

[Marta]

Hello Rico,

The processing time is around two years. Any type of work and/ or residence permit will be considered for this purpose except for the student visa.

[Unregistered]

Hello Rico,

The processing time is around two years. Any type of work and/ or residence permit will be considered for this purpose except for the student visa.

Hi Marta,

On the 2 years processing time - is this from the date you first submitted your documents?

I submitted my documents in 2009. Six months after, I was asked to take the exam. Twelve months later more or less, I received my numero de expediente. And six months ago (18 months after I first submitted my documents), they asked me to submit updated documents.

This month, it has been 2 years. When I checked the status online, this is what I got: El expediente ha tenido entrada en esta Subdirección General con fecha 04/10/2010. Está pendiente de informes solicitados con fecha 05/10/2010. what does this mean? Two years from 2010?

Appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.

[raypozas]

Hi Marta,

My grandfather, Ramon Lopez-Pozas was Spanish, born in the Philippines to a spanish general( he has a street in Madrid named after him General Lopez-Pozas) who was in charge of the province of Cebu when Spain held the Philippines. He left the Philippines with his father when Spain ceded control to the United States. He came back to the Philippines in 1918 with some people from Tabacalera company which was a tabacco company. He then married my grandmother and bore my father, Jose Thomas Lopez-Pozas and my aunt, Ma Carmen Thomas Lopez-Pozas. Last year i went to the Spanish embassy hoping to apply for spanish citizenshiip but was told by a filipina in charge of applicants that i had to have proof that my father renounced his spanish citizenship before i was born in 1951 in order for that to happen. She showed me a card file that showed that my grandfather had entered the Philippines in 1918 with a certain document(tarjeta not a passport) but that he was a spanish citizen. The card also had my fathers name on it with a passport number which was issued in 1946 right after world war 2 (most documents-birth certificates,marriage certificates were destroyed during the second world war). I told that what she said did not make any sense. If my father renounced his citizenship before i was born then i was not a spanish citizen. She said 'basta' which infuriated me and i asked if i could talk to anyone else and she said no so i left since it was useless( the consulate where we met puts too much power in this woman). Could you clarify this for me? I also have a brother and two sisters.The elder sister and i are both listed as spanish citizens in our birth certificates although we were never registered with the Spanish embassy. My grandfather passed away in 1960.