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RESIDENCY PERMITS

Does being born in Spain give you Spanish residency rights for life?

Being born in Spain gives you the life-long right to apply for Spanish nationality after a year of residency, but if you’re a foreigner who left Spain as a child or later, do you also have the automatic right to move back to the country?

Published: 14 December 2023 17:01 CET
Does being born in Spain give you Spanish residency rights for life?
Being born in Spain only easily facilitates residency rights for minors, not adults. (Photo by JOSE LUIS ROCA / AFP)

Children born in Spain to foreign parents are not automatically granted Spanish citizenship in the majority of cases. 

Instead a year of legal residence in Spain has to pass before you (or your parents rather) can apply. 

This is covered in Spain’s Organic Law 4/2000, of January 11th, on the Rights and Freedoms of Foreigners in Spain and their Social Integration (articles 16 to 19 and 31) and the Regulation of Organic Law 4/2000, approved by Royal Decree 557/2011, of April 20th (article 186).

The exceptions are for parents from Argentina, Cape Verde, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guinea Bissau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, San Tome and Principe, Uruguay or those who are stateless, in which case their child can get Spanish citizenship straight after birth.

READ MORE: How to apply for Spanish citizenship for a baby born in Spain to foreign parents

Nevertheless, only one year of residency before citizenship is still a very appealing offer for many people whose personal circumstances allow for this. 

So what happens if you were born in Spain but you never obtained Spanish citizenship before you moved to another country?

Fortunately, you hold onto the right to claim Spanish nationality after a year of residence throughout your life. 

READ ALSO: Does having a baby in Spain mean the parents can become Spanish?

However, the main obstacle for many in this situation will be how to obtain that one year of residence before applying for Spanish citizenship.

You may not want to obtain Spanish citizenship but instead just want to live in Spain, and hope that having been born in España will mean Spanish authorities welcome you back without any hurdles in the way. 

Is this the case? Not exactly, as being born in Spain only easily facilitates residency rights for minors in Spain, not adults who left.

If you’re an EU national, getting Spanish residency will be very straightforward due to the bloc’s freedom of movement policy, and will initially involve getting a green residency certificate (Certificado de Registro de Ciudadano de la Unión). 

On the other hand, if you’re a non-EU national, having been born in Spain will give you no automatic advantage over other third country nationals who are applying for residency.

In essence, you will have to decide which visa you should apply for. 

There are work-related visas: standard work visa, self-employment visa, the EU Blue Card for highly skilled workers and the newer digital nomad visa.  

Then there are visas for those with plenty of money and who don’t need to take on work – the non-lucrative visa and the golden visa.

And there are other visa options which you may be lucky enough to obtain, such as the visa for a family member of an EU citizen, as in the case of a parent or spouse living in Spain being a Spanish national or from another EU country. 

So, all in all, if you’re say a UK national who was born in Spain to British parents but you all left when you were a child, you will be able to apply for Spanish citizenship as an adult after one year of residency, but getting back into Spain to live in the first place may have its challenges.

There is no unlimited period of absence from Spain, the same rules apply to you as to other non-EU nationals who’ve resided in Spain.

Keep in mind as well that you will have to sit Spain’s language and culture exams if you want to get Spanish citizenship, and that waiting times can be of several years. 

If one of your parents is Spanish, or one of your parents was born in Spain, then the year of residence to apply for citizenship isn’t necessary as you will be considered a Spaniard by origin. 

Spain’s new grandchildren law may also be worth looking into if your grandparents fled Spain during the Civil War or Franco’s dictatorship.

You should also take into account that most foreign nationals will be expected to renounce their original nationality once they obtain Spanish citizenship.

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For members

VISAS

EXPLAINED: When you can exchange visas in Spain

There are several different types of visas and residency permits you can get to be able to live and work in Spain, but what happens when your situation changes and you want to exchange your visa for a different one?

Published: 30 April 2024 14:20 CEST
Updated: 4 May 2024 08:21 CEST
EXPLAINED: When you can exchange visas in Spain

There are many different reasons you may want to exchange the type of visa or residency permit you have. Perhaps you’re on a student visa and have completed your studies, but still want to be able to stay in Spain. Or maybe you’ve been on a one-year non-lucrative visa, but can no longer afford not to work and want to exchange it for one where you’re allowed to work. 

Read on to find out which visas are possible to exchange and which are not. 

Student Visa to Digital Nomad Visa 

The simple answer is yes, it is possible to exchange your student visa for the new Digital Nomad Visa (DNV) that first became available last year. This will, however, depend on your individual circumstances and what job you plan on doing.

Firstly, in order to apply for DNV you must either have a degree from the field you want to work remotely in or have three years’ work experience in that industry. If you’ve just finished your studies this could be possible, but if you were studying something different, it could prove difficult.

If you are an older student, you could definitely have three years’ work experience in the industry you want to work in or you may have gained the experience working part-time in Spain while on your student visa.

Secondly, you must make sure you have worked for the company that hired you for a remote role for a minimum of three months before you apply for the DNV. The main caveat is that the company has to be registered outside of Spain as you are not eligible for the DNV if more than 20 percent of your income comes from inside Spain. This means that you will have to secure a remote job in another country while still on your student visa, making sure that you stick to the 30 hours a week you’re allowed to work.

Non-Lucrative Visa to Work Permit or Self-Employed

Being in Spain on the Non-Lucrative Visa or NLV can prove to be expensive because you’re not allowed to work, but have to prove you have a significant amount of savings or passive income. If you want to stay in Spain, beyond the initial year, you may be considering a different residency permit. Luckily, you can exchange it for a work permit or self-employed permit in a process called residence modification.

During your last few months on the non-lucrative visa, you are able to apply for jobs in Spain, which may give you the possibility of being granted a work permit. There are many prerequisites, including having lived in Spain for a year and being offered a pre-employment contract.

You could also decide to become self-employed at set up your own business. In order to do this you will need to meet the requirements that current legislation requires for opening and operating your chosen business. You will also need to sign up to the autónomo system, pay your own social security fees and submit your taxes five times a year.

READ ALSO: Should I change my non-lucrative visa for another residency permit in Spain?

Student Visa to Work Permit or Self-Employed

If you’re living in Spain on a student visa, then it’s relatively straightforward to exchange it for a work permit or become self-employed, if you want to be able to stay longer. The main requirement is that you have to have lived in Spain for three consecutive years, before you exchange it. This means, it’s really only possible for those who are doing a long-term course, such as a degree at a Spanish university. If you’re simply here for a year doing a language course, then it won’t be possible.

If you have been here for three years on a student visa, you have two options – the first is to find a job and become an employee by getting a work permit and the second is to become self-employed. If you opt for the first, the easiest way is to get a job offer and apply for the permit that way. Because you’ve already had a student visa and been here three years, it will be easier for companies to hire you as they won’t have to prove that there isn’t anyone from Spain or the EU that can do it first or that they have a shortage of professionals who can carry it out.

If you want to exchange it for a self-employment permit, you will have to present a business plan in order to get approval and prove you have the correct qualifications and experience to carry it out. If approved, then you will typically sign up to the autónomo system.

Student Visa to Entrepreneur Visa

Student visas are the easiest visas to modify in Spain, meaning you have many different options to exchange them if you want to stay longer. The Entrepreneur Visa – Visado de Emprendedor is another option that will allow you to stay for a period of three years (with the option of exchanging or extending). It is, however, slightly more complicated to exchange to than simply getting a work permit or becoming self-employed.

The Entrepreneur Visa is especially for those who want to set up a business considered to be innovative with a special economic interest for Spain. Unlike becoming just an autónomo, you must agree to be able to create employment opportunities for locals in the future. You could also in theory exchange your NLV for an entrepreneur visa too, provided you can prove that you haven’t done any work while you’ve been living in Spain for the year on your NLV.

Non-Lucrative Visa to Digital Nomad Visa

It may sound confusing, but you can now actually exchange your NLV for a DNV too. Even though you are not allowed to work while on the NLV, you can actually decide to change it for a DNV, so that you will be allowed to work remotely either for a company or for yourself via clients. The Unidad de Grandes Empresas (UGE), the body that deals directly with DNV applications, has confirmed this is possible and The Local has heard of people who have successfully done this too. The only thing to remember is that no more than 20 percent of your income can come from inside Spain once you change over. 

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