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Thread: Spanish Nationality for baby

  1. #1
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
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    1

    Default Spanish Nationality for baby

    Hi,

    I am a British national and have been living in Spain since Feb 2007 and have had my own registered business since Dec 2007 (autonomo). I just found out that I am pregnant and would prefer my child to have Spanish nationality if at all possible.

    The father is also a British national who has been residing in Spain for approximately 4 years but we are not married.

    I have heard that the baby would not be entitled to apply for a Spanish passport until it has resided in Spain for 1 year as both parents are British. Is this correct?

    Would the child be able to have spanish nationality if I changed my nationality to Spanish before the birth? Although I understand it normally requires 10 years residency to achieve this, my grandmother on my fathers side was Spanish so I'm not sure if this would speed up matters. I also don't know how fast the process is as I am due in 7 1/2 months.

    I don't mind giving up my British passport as I have no intention to ever return to live in the UK. Personally I am finding the lack of a DNI card to be an issue and I would prefer for my child not to have the same problems growing up with only an NIE number.

    Any advice would be much appreciated.

    Kirsty

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    311

    Default

    Hi Kirsty,

    First of all congratulations for your future maternity!

    Yes, this is correct. Your child will be able to opt for Spanish citizenship via residence, after having resided legally in Spain for a year.

    As a grandchild of a Spanish citizen (of origin) you are entitled to Spanish citizenship after having resided legally in Spain for one year. If you can prove that grandmother left Spain between 1936 and 1958 for political reasons then you will be able to opt for citizenship via La Ley de Memoria Historica, rather than by residence. The difference being that through the first option you acquire nationality of origin rather than by residence. Whichever path you go through, from the moment you submit the paperwork it takes an average of two years to obtain your Spanish citizenship.
    Marta Flores
    Legal Assistant at Lawbird
    Check My Profile

  3. #3
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Posts
    1

    Default Spanish Nationality for baby

    Hi there

    Could you please help at all.

    I am a New Zealand citizen married to a British citizen & we are soon to have a baby in Spain.
    We would like to apply for the baby to have spanish nationality, can we do this based on the baby being born here, even if we ourselves are not Spanish nationals. I see the baby must reside in Spain for 1 year before applying for this, at what age do they have to apply? (we may return to live in NZ for a year or 2 after the baby's birth)

    Many thanks in advance
    Nicky

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    311

    Default

    Hi Nicky,

    Congratulations! These are always good news!

    First of all you will need to request your baby's nationality. Following this his/her residency and finally, Spanish citizenship . You are correct in saying that after one year you will be able to apply for his/her Spanish citizenship. However please note that it will need to be after one year of legal residence. Also note that the residency must be continuous and immediate to the citizenship request.

    Finally, bear in mind that it is not convenient to move countries until the baby has acquired his / her Spanish citizenship.
    Last edited by Marta; 07-22-2011 at 02:59 PM.
    Marta Flores
    Legal Assistant at Lawbird
    Check My Profile

  5. #5
    Unregistered
    Guest

    Default Baby was born in spain....

    Hi there

    I am originally from south africa but have been living in spain for about 10years now and last year august i gave birth to my daughter here in spain.

    However my childs father lives in south africa and comes as often as he can to visit us.

    When my child was born, we had here registered at the town hall and were issued with her spanish birth certificate and libro de familia. I was then told you send the documents to the south african embassy in madrid to have her rgistered in south africa and then to apply for her passport in order to complete her residency application.

    The application was sent, however after 2months i was told the application was lost in transit and had to be redone. By this time my husband wanted the child to come to south africa. I was issued with an emergency south african passport and left for south africa.

    While in south africa, i tried to sort out my childs registration and apply for a south african passport. I managed to get her registered but could not apply for a passport as they somehow picked up that an application was made for one by the embassy in madrid. So i had to wait, eventually after many months i get a call from madrid that the passport is with them. But myself and the child were in south africa, i had the passport couried back to south africa.

    Now i need to return to spain but have just been informed by the spanish embassy in south africa that i cannot take the child back to spain. I need to leave her here, go alone to spain and apply for a regrouping, then after a few months they can issue me with a visa so my child can return to spain and apply for her residency.

    Now its crazy that i have to leave a 1 year old child alone and go to spain to apply for her to join me.


    Is this what i have been told correct? Or can i bring my child to spain and apply for her residency there?

    Your help will be greatly appreciated.


    Thanks

  6. #6

    Default

    Hello,

    As your daughter is an underage, and you hold legal custody, she can travel with you with a visitior´s visa. I believe you are a legal resident , so you need to formalize your daughter´s residency in Spain, from Spain. This would not be possible if you were in an irregular situation.

    Best Regards,
    Patricia Martin
    Immigration Consultant at Lawbird | Contact Me
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  7. #7
    Unregistered
    Guest

    Default Baby born in Spain to British parents

    My husband and I have lived in Spain for a year and a half and have a baby due in June. I am aware that we cannot register the baby for Spanish residency for 1 year. If we apply for a UK passport for it, can we then after a year get the Spanish residency without causing problems? Can the child have both UK and Spanish passports? It is all very confusing and we want to make sure we do everything correctly!

    Thanks

  8. #8

    Default

    Hello,

    As a child being born in Spain, you could apply for Spanish nationality for him/ her after 1 year of legal residency. You mention that you can obtain a UK passport for the baby. In that case once he/she was an EU citizen, you would have no problems in relation to registering him/her as a resident in Spain; an EU citizen can just register as resident without specific requirements. Your child can hold both passports without a problem.

    Regards,
    Patricia Martin
    Immigration Consultant at Lawbird | Contact Me
    Check My Profile

  9. #9
    Unregistered
    Guest

    Default Grandparent rules

    My Grandmother was a Spanish citizen, left Spain in 1911 at a very young age. I have her birth certificate. Is there any path for me to apply for spanish citizenship? I am an american, my grandmother has passed away.

    Thank you very much.

    Quote Originally Posted by Marta View Post
    Hi Kirsty,

    First of all congratulations for your future maternity!

    Yes, this is correct. Your child will be able to opt for Spanish citizenship via residence, after having resided legally in Spain for a year.

    As a grandchild of a Spanish citizen (of origin) you are entitled to Spanish citizenship after having resided legally in Spain for one year. If you can prove that grandmother left Spain between 1936 and 1958 for political reasons then you will be able to opt for citizenship via La Ley de Memoria Historica, rather than by residence. The difference being that through the first option you acquire nationality of origin rather than by residence. Whichever path you go through, from the moment you submit the paperwork it takes an average of two years to obtain your Spanish citizenship.

  10. #10
    Joshi
    Guest

    Default Spanish Nationality for baby

    Kind Attn: Ms Marta Flores Vila / Ms Patricia Martin Benitez

    Hi Ma´m,

    Nice to meet through this very useful forum.
    My question is again in reference to the subject.

    I´m from India (so is my husband) and we have been blessed with a cute daughter the last month.
    We want to clarify how to go about applying for her Spanish pasport. Having already got the Libro de Familia, we are told that we will have to wait for one year to be able to apply for the same.
    Please advise the exact procedure and how long will this process normally take. Also please tell us if we have to be staying in Spain when the application is being processed or can we reside abroad as well.

    Your kind comments are most welcome
    Thanks!!!

    Best Wishes,
    Joshi.

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