Can I apply for Spanish citizenship and then leave the country?

You can qualify to apply for Spanish citizenship if you meet certain requirements. These include 10 years of continuous legal residency in Spain or five years if you’re a refugee.  

Those from Spanish or Portuguese-speaking Latin American countries, Andorra, Equatorial Guinea, the Philippines or Portugal, however, will only have to wait two years.

Alternatively, if you marry a Spaniard, you only have to legally reside in Spain for one year. This is the same for a child who is born in Spain.

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What happens when you apply for Spanish citizenship though and then decide to move and leave the country before you get your answer? Perhaps you or your partner have been offered a new job abroad, maybe you need to move back to the country you’re from in order to help care for family members or perhaps you just want a change.

Whatever the reason for your move, will your Spanish citizenship application still be able to go through or will it be denied because you’re no longer here?

The answer is that this depends on your situation and most importantly, where you are moving to and how long you are leaving for.

According to Balcells Group legal firm, during the application process your main aim is not lose your Spanish residency status. This means that if you do decide to move abroad while your application is in process you must maintain the legal residency requirements and not cancel your residency here.

But they do admit though that “being in an irregular situation once you have already presented your nationality application, would not invalidate that application and would still allow you to obtain a favourable answer”.

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Generally, what will looked at upon deciding whether to grant your application or not is that you have met all the requirements up until the time of the application, in other words, beforehand.

While you can be outside of Spain during the time your citizenship is being processed, according to Liane Leza Abogados, there are certain time limits for remaining outside of the country.

For long term residency holders (more than five years), you are allowed to reside for one year continuously outside the European Union while your application is a progress.

For those with a temporary residency card, you cannot be outside for Spain for more than six months in a one year period.

You are allowed to reside of Spain for no more than two years continuously if you have an EU green card.

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This means in theory, if you have long term residency you could go and live in Japan for one year while your Spanish citizenship is being processed, although you must be careful not to lose your Spanish residency in the process.

It also means that if you’re from an EU country, say Sweden for example and you’re applying for Spanish citizenship, you’re allowed to live outside of Spain for up to two years, also being careful not to lose your Spanish residency.

Balcells warns, however, that if you receive a favourable resolution for you application while you’re outside of Spain, you have a maximum of 180 days to take the oath to become a Spanish citizen. If you wait to return to Spain six months after receiving the resolution, you will lose your new Spanish nationality.

They also say that in order to avoid legal issues in final stages of the procedure such as obtaining your Spanish ID and passport, it is strongly advisable “that you keep your residency in force and fully valid”.

Therefore, while it’s possible to leave Spain and live abroad while your citizenship application is being processed, it can only be for a limited amount of time and it could be a gamble because you don’t want to lose your Spanish residency in the process.