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What type of residence is required for the purpose of applying for Spanish citizenship?
Immigration Law
Antonio Flores Vila
26th of December 2000
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Q. I have heard that nationals of former Spanish colonies and sephardic jews need only 2 years "residence" in Spain to be eligible for citizenship. When they say "residence", does this mean 2 years of permanent residence or does it include any type of residence, be it temporary or student residence?
Tess Ballesteros Harris
New York
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A.
Certainly nationals of former Spanish colonies, sephardic jews, citizens from the Philippines, Portugal and Guinea need only 2 years of residence in Spain to be eligible for citizenship. This residence, according to the law, has to be uninterrupted, which means you cannot become a resident of another country meanwhile and then reapply to achieve the period of 2 years.
The Civil Code establishes that the residence situation has to be legal, uninterrupted and prior to the application for nationality. However, a student “residence” is not valid for the purposes of obtaining citizenship. According the Article 33 in the Ley Organica 4/2000 foreign students in Spain hold a regime of “estancia”, which is equivalent in time to the duration of the course in which the student is enrolled. Estancia could be translated into English as a short stay period. This is not the same as a Residence status, which is the main requirement of citizenship.
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