How do we get long-term residence and citizenship?

After 5 years of legal residence, you can get long-term residence (residencia de larga duración): the right to live and work in Spain indefinitely. Spanish citizenship usually takes 10 years for British people, and Spain asks you to give up your British nationality.

Long-term residence: two versions

Time on residence permits, such as an employee permit, the non-lucrative permit or the digital nomad permit, is legal residence. Short visits under the 90/180 rule are not. The rules are in Real Decreto 1155/2024, in force since 20 May 2025.

Time abroad

• Absences of up to 6 months in a row, adding up to no more than 10 months in the 5 years, don’t break your continuous residence
• For work trips the total can be 18 months, still at most 6 months at a time
• Once you have long-term residence, you can lose it after 12 months in a row outside the EU, and the EU status after 6 years away from Spain
• Keep boarding passes and a simple list of every trip

How to apply

1. Apply at the immigration office (oficina de extranjería) for your province in the 2 months before your current permit expires, or as soon as you meet the 5 years if your permit is still valid
2. Bring your passport, the fee receipt (form 790-052, reported as €21.87 for long-term residence), and a criminal record certificate from any country you lived in during the last 5 years; for the EU version, proof of income and health insurance
3. The office has 3 months to decide. If it doesn’t, the application counts as granted
4. Ask for your new TIE within a month. Renew the card every 5 years, and every 10 years once you are 30. Your status doesn’t end if the card expires, but you can be fined

If you lived in Spain before 2021 under the Withdrawal Agreement, your route to permanent residence is different. See GOV.UK’s Living in Spain guide and the Spanish government’s guidance on permanent residence.

Spanish citizenship

1. Residence: 10 years of legal, continuous residence just before you apply. It’s 1 year if you were born in Spain or have been married to a Spaniard for a year and live together, and 2 years for nationals of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal. The UK isn’t on that list
2. Language: pass the DELE at level A2 or higher, from the Instituto Cervantes. In 2026 it costs £170 at a UK centre or €138 in Spain
3. Civics: pass the CCSE test of Spain’s constitution, culture and society: 25 questions in 45 minutes, and you need 15 right. It costs €85 and covers two attempts. The certificate lasts 4 years
4. Apply online to the Ministry of Justice with your birth certificate, passport, criminal record certificates and the fee (form 790-026, about €105). The legal deadline is 1 year, and no answer counts as a refusal
5. Oath: if approved, you must swear allegiance to the King and the Constitution, declare your renunciation and register at the Civil Registry within 180 days, or the grant lapses

Dual nationality

GOV.UK says Spain does not recognise dual citizenship with the UK. Spanish law asks new citizens to declare that they renounce their previous nationality, except for the countries listed above. The UK lets you keep British citizenship: you don’t lose it by becoming Spanish. But a naturalised Spaniard can lose Spanish nationality if, for 3 years, they use only the nationality they declared they had given up. Take legal advice on how this affects your passports and travel before you apply. If you want to keep your British passport as your main one, long-term residence may suit you better.

Children

• A child born in Spain to British parents isn’t usually Spanish at birth, but can apply for Spanish nationality after just 1 year’s legal residence
• Children under 18 apply through their parents (under-14s need a court authorisation), and show certificates from their school to prove integration
• A child born in Spain to a British parent may be British by descent. Check on GOV.UK before applying for a British passport