Spanish Citizenship and Spanish passport

On February 2014 the Spanish Ministry of Justice published a draft of a law which would enable the descendants of the Spanish exiles to receive, under certain conditions, Spanish citizenship.

What is unique about this proposal, which is a continuation of two previous laws on the matter passed in 1929 and 1949, is that this time around, the applicant need not relinquish his or her additional citizenship.

This will enable many applicants to obtain an additional citizenship without giving up their Israeli one. In light of our many years of dealing with German and Austrian citizenships and in light of our intimate acquaintance with the Spanish authorities, we have begun working on this matter.

The work of David Yadid Law and Notary office on the subject of Spanish citizenship and passport is done with the cooperation of law offices in Spain, who specialize in the field of Spanish citizenship, as regards the relevant Spanish authorities.

In June 2015, the litigation process ended in Spain, and the law came into effect for the duration of three years, which, as it seems, will not be extended. As we were told, the aim of this law was chiefly to enable Jews from Turkey and Venezuela, two countries in which the Jewish community has been enduring hardships, to receive a Spanish citizenship and immigrate to Spain.

True to the time of writing, it appears that the number of administration workers who would tackle this matter, and the number of permits given, will not be great, while additionally any document which constitutes a part of the citizenship acquirement process must be translated and approved by a certified translator, from Hebrew to Spanish. Today in Israel there is only one such certified translator who is accepted by the Spanish authorities.

As it would appear now, the process of obtaining a Spanish citizenship is going to be complicated and quite expensive and it is recommended to keep track of developments and the progression of processes.

The Israeli citizen who wishes to obtain a Spanish citizenship under this amendment, must progress through these five steps:

1. Demonstrating a family relation to the Spanish exiles
2. Demonstrating mastery of a certain level of the Spanish language, through examination at the Cervantes Institute
3. Demonstrating an existing actual connection to Spain
4. Interrogation by a Spanish notary
5. Examination on the history, heritage, constitution, legislative houses and government of Spain
   
   

After the passing of the law in Spain, together with a similar law passed in Portugal, some of the applicants will have the option to apply to both countries simultaneously or, alternatively, to decide for themselves on the more convenient route for approval.

It should be noted that the difficulty lies in the obtaining of the coveted Spanish citizenship, and the procedure of being issued a Spanish passport is easy and simple.