Receiving the decision that grants you Spanish nationality does not yet make you Spanish. That decision opens a period of 180 days in which to appear, swear or promise, and request registration, and it is the entry in the Civil Registry that makes you Spanish. If the period lapses without your appearance, the grant expires.
Why the decision is not enough
It is a very widespread confusion: "the decision has arrived, so I am Spanish now". Law 20/2011, on the Civil Registry, provides in article 68.1 that the acquisition of Spanish nationality by residence is entered in the individual's own registry record and that this entry is constitutive. Until it is made, the nationality has not been acquired.
The decision granting nationality is therefore an intermediate step. It opens the door, but you have to walk through it within the time limit and meet specific requirements.
The time limit: 180 days from notification
Article 21.4 of the Civil Code provides that grants of nationality by residence expire 180 days after notification if, within that period, the person concerned does not appear before the competent official to meet the requirements of article 23. Article 12.1 of Royal Decree 1004/2015 specifies that the period runs from the day after the decision is notified to the person concerned or to their representative.
The consequence of letting the period lapse is serious: the grant expires and the application is lost. That is why the first thing to do on receiving the decision is to note the date of notification and work out the day the 180 days run out.
What is declared at the appearance
Article 23 of the Civil Code sets three requirements common to the valid acquisition of nationality by residence:
- To swear or promise allegiance to the King and obedience to the Constitution and the laws.
- To declare renunciation of the previous nationality, a requirement from which nationals of the countries listed in article 24.1 are spared, Ibero-Americans among them. As a Mexican by origin, you are not required to renounce.
- To request registration of the acquisition in the Spanish Civil Registry.
Before whom you may appear
Since the reform introduced by Law 6/2021, in force from 30 April 2021, article 68.3 of Law 20/2011 allows these declarations to be made before the registrar of the Civil Registry, before a notary, or before the diplomatic or consular official in charge of the Civil Registry. Having several doors is useful when appointments at the Civil Registry for your area do not come through in time, but it does not change the 180 days: what counts is appearing before they run out.
It is also worth taking the original documents from the file. Article 12.2 of Royal Decree 1004/2015 provides that, where there is no record that the authenticity of the documents submitted was established earlier, the registrar will check them against their originals, which the person concerned must produce before registration.
A prior requirement people forget: the birth entry
That same article 68.1 of Law 20/2011 adds that Spanish nationality cannot be registered unless the birth has been registered first. In practice, for your nationality to be registered at all, your birth must appear in the Spanish Civil Registry first. It is one more step to plan for inside the 180 days, rather than discover at the counter.
Once the declarations have been made, article 13.1 of Royal Decree 1004/2015 provides that the registrar with competence based on the person's address in Spain registers the acquisition of nationality within five days, which brings the procedure to an end.
What comes next: national identity card and passport
Only once nationality is registered do Spanish identity documents become available, and they do so in a fixed order:
- The DNI (national identity card), processed in person and by prior appointment (article 6.2.a) of Royal Decree 255/2025).
- The Spanish passport, which in Spain is issued on production of a DNI in force (article 4.1.b) of Royal Decree 896/2003).
Booking a DNI appointment before nationality is registered, or trying for the passport before holding the DNI, only produces wasted appointments.
Common mistakes
- Treating nationality as acquired on receipt of the decision granting it.
- Counting the 180 days from the date of the decision rather than from the day after notification.
- Waiting for an appointment at a single Civil Registry without considering the other ways of appearing that the law allows.
- Not checking in good time that the birth is registered in the Spanish Civil Registry.
- Appearing without the original documents from the file.
- Applying for the DNI or the passport before nationality is registered.
Sources
- Civil Code, articles 21.4, 23 and 24.1 (consolidated text from the BOE, consulted in September 2026)
- Royal Decree 1004/2015, of 6 November, Regulation of the procedure for acquiring Spanish nationality by residence, articles 12.1, 12.2 and 13.1 (consolidated text from the BOE, consulted in September 2026)
- Law 20/2011, of 21 July, on the Civil Registry, article 68, paragraphs 1 and 3 (consolidated text from the BOE, consulted in September 2026)
- Royal Decree 255/2025, of 1 April, regulating the National Identity Document, article 6.2.a) (consolidated text from the BOE, consulted in September 2026)
- Royal Decree 896/2003, of 11 July, on the ordinary passport, article 4.1.b) (consolidated text from the BOE, consulted in September 2026)