Monday, June 4, 2012

The quest for Spanish citizenship: Day 1

Since I am married to a Spanish citizen, and we’ve been living here for a couple years, I decided to see if I could get my Spanish citizenship. I think it’s generally a good idea to be a citizen of a country you intend to live in for the foreseeable future, and you never know how hard it will be to get all the documents together at some point in the future.
The main documents you will need are:
  • Birth certificate. It needs to be with Apostille and translated by a legally certified Spanish translator. I used Ibidem Group (they were fast, but a bit expensive)
  • Marriage certificate: if you were married outside of Spain, the best thing to do is to register the marriage at the Spanish consulate that corresponds to where you were married. That way, you get the same Spanish marriage certificate that a normal Spaniard would have and save yourself on legalization, and translation.
  • Certificate of good conduct from your country of origin: this needs to be a certificate (also with Apostille) from the police from the country you were born, listing any crimes you may have commit. This also needs to be legally translated.
  • Proof of being able to support yourself: social security statement, employment contract, that kind of thing.
  • The usual other stuff that you probably already have (Spanish birth certificates for your kids, NIE card, passport, empadronamiento showing you living with your spouse)
First I went to the civil registry in Sant Cugat, but they told me that they don’t do nationalization, so I’d have to go to the civil registry in Rubi. Naive as I was, I collected my papers and drove over to Rubi.
Walking into the place I realized perhaps I had been a bit optimistic in paying for a full hour of parking. There were no tickets in the turn dispenser, and they don’t offer a “cita previa”, instead, I was told, you are expect to hang around the door at 8:45am and hope to get a spot for that day. Perhaps they want to make sure that only unemployed people are able to apply for citizenship.
I was told that once I secured a spot, they would tell me which documents I was missing, and then make an appointment for some day in the far future to see me. A couple sitting next to the turn dispenser piped up: “that was two years ago!” Shit.
Perhaps I should see if I can find a lawyer with enchufe…
Current score: Spain 1, Me: 0


Tita said...

Just curious: how good does your Spanish need to be?

Here in Germany, for certain things at least, you need to bring a (certified!) interpreter if your German is poor.

Imagine having to pay someone like that to hang around all day...

I look forward to reading more posts in your ongoing quest ;-)!

Aurora said...

My whole family became Spanish citizens over an extended period of time. It is best to get a lawyer, we can send you the name of ours if you want (I'm not sure if she had enchufe or not). The 3 kids were born in Barcelona of American parents. My brother and sister got their citizenship around age 8 and 12. I got mine at age 24 (long story). My parents became citizens after being here for about 30 years. Overall it is easier now then it used to be, but it is best to have someone who knows the ins and outs. Good luck and patience!

santcugat said...

Thank you for the comment. I have my first meeting with a lawyer tomorrow. Let's see how it goes.

I need to also figure out how much the Civil Registry in Rubi has to do with the whole process, and whether I can bypass the first "we will tell you what you are missing and come back in a year" step.

Pueblo girl said...

I hope you keep us updated. I've been thinking about doing this for years, but the paperwork put me off..

santcugat said...

I'll try to keep this going through the process, so people have an idea of what to expect.

From what I hear, having a lawyer doesn't make things faster, but it does make it so you are less likely to make mistakes that would cost you time.

Unfortunately, they just busted a marriage-of-convenience ring that was run out of the civil registry in Rubi, so I expect extra careful paperwork inspection.