Spanish Passport Application

The Spanish passport is a complex EU identity document that will serve as your main means of identification for many employment, legal, or travel situations.

Passports that are issued from 2015 onwards are usually the standard red-covered booklets which feature a hard plastic card with your personal details and biometric information encoded onto a scannable electronic chip. It will have your photograph and signature, as well as a passport number that is unique to you.

The standard Spanish biometric passport has 32 pages, which will be needed if you are travelling to regions that have a physical visa-stamp requirement for Spanish citizens. You should keep an eye on the remaining pages you have left as you may not be able to travel if you fail to renew your passport once it has run out of space.

There are, however, four main types of Spanish passport and depending on your circumstances you may receive a different kind.

Page Contents

• Overview of Spanish Passports
• What Are the Different Spanish Passport Types?
• Benefits of Holding a Spanish Passport
• Spanish Passport Eligibility Requirements
• Who Qualifies for Spanish Citizenship?
• Spanish Passport Photo Requirements
• Required Documents to Get a Spanish Passport
• How to Apply for Spanish Passports?
• How Much Does a Spanish Passport Cost?
• Spanish Passport Application Processing Times
• Dual Nationality and Second Passports in Spain
• How Long is My Spanish Passport Valid?
• Can My Spanish Passport be Revoked?
• Renewing or Replacing a Spanish Passport
• Lost or Stolen Passports: Procedures in Spain
• How Can Total Law Help?
• FAQ

A Spanish passport does more than signify the final stage of your Spanish immigration journey. With it, you will be eligible to travel freely within the Schengen region and beyond. While this number may be subject to change, Spanish passport holders benefit from visa-free entry into 166 countries around the world, while you may enter 186 if you have a visa on arrival.

Additionally, the Spanish passport is an easy way to prove your rights as a naturalised Spanish citizen or someone who was born in Spain. As such, you will be eligible to receive free healthcare and other support within the EU. You may work, live and study without seeking further immigration permissions in all European Union countries, as well as countries of the EEA and Schengen region (including Switzerland), and other Spanish territories.

The Spanish passport is only available to individuals with Spanish nationality and citizens who hold current legal status in Spain. It may be obtained by foreign individuals, provided that they pursue long-term Spanish immigration by establishing legal residence to eventually qualify for naturalisation.

In general, if you do not have a birthright to a Spanish passport you will need to pass immigration controls, which usually means proving that your presence in Spain does not have a negative impact on public interest. As such you will usually need to show that you have not participated in illegal activities by providing a criminal record check certificate. You may also need to show that you do not pose a heightened health risk to the Spanish public and the national healthcare sector. As part of this, you may be asked to obtain an official medical certificate.

Foreign residents in Spain may obtain Spanish citizenship via multiple different pathways. At a glance, the main options include naturalisation through residence, citizenship by marriage, citizenship by option, or citizenship by descent. To gain Spanish citizenship, you will need to pass two citizenship tests which assess your familiarity with Spanish society. These tests include the CCSE which evaluates your knowledge of Spanish culture, and the DELE A2 which is a Spanish language test.

Naturalisation by residence is the longest process to acquire Spanish nationality, requiring at least ten years of legal and continuous residence in Spain, where the first five years usually take place with one of the available national visas before this is upgraded to a permanent residence permit that facilitates an additional five years.

Citizenship by marriage may be available to individuals who have married a Spanish partner. It requires one year of joint residency in Spain and evidence that the relationship is real and ongoing.

Finally, citizenship by option and citizenship by descent are two ancestry-based immigration pathways that may be available to individuals whose parents or grandparents have Spanish roots.

You should note that the residential requirements for acquiring Spanish nationality may vary and that there are certain exceptions. Individuals who come to Spain with official refugee or asylum-seeker status may qualify for citizenship after only five years, while Filipino nationals can become eligible after only two years of residence, provided that they can meet general immigration requirements.

When applying for a Spanish passport, you will need to provide two recent passport-sized photographs of you, which will be printed in your official document.

While it is always best to double-check the details before you submit your application, acceptable passport photos will usually have to be 30mm by 40mm. Your face must be facing the camera and be unobstructed by any eyewear or headgear. If you wear prescription glasses with clear lenses these may be okay, as long as your eyes can be seen. Make sure to keep your hair out of your eyes.

You should strive for your passport photo to be a neutral picture where you are easily recognisable. You should avoid any extreme makeup that may distract from or obscure your natural features. Additionally, remember to keep a neutral expression which means a neutral smile without showing teeth, and open eyes.

When applying for a Spanish passport, you will need to provide the appropriate documents to confirm your personal details and eligibility to receive this passport. While the general documents may vary depending on your specific situation, you should generally be ready to submit the following:

• Your Spanish ID (this may be your Documento Nacional De Identidad)
• Two passport-compliant photographs (this should be recent and in colour. Your face should be clearly visible)
• Your passport fee payment or proof of payment
• Your expired passport (if you are applying for a renewal)

You might also need to show additional evidence that you meet the general character requirements. This could include a criminal record check certificate and a medical certificate.

Whether you are applying for your first Spanish passport, need to replace it, or are applying for a passport renewal, you will need to remember that this comes with an associated fee.

Since September 2022, all Spanish passport costs have been unified, meaning that you will need to pay around €30 for any passport procedures.

Do keep in mind that this may not be the only expense if you are just applying for citizenship as that will involve additional application fees.

Under some circumstances, this passport fee might be waived. If you are classed as a beneficiary of a large family, you might not need to pay to receive your passport.

Depending on whether this is your first time applying for a Spanish passport or if you are just applying to renew it, you may need to prepare for a vastly different wait period.

New passport applications involve a rigorous checking process, so it may take one or even two years to get a response after you have applied for your Spanish passport.

Thankfully, Spanish passport renewals are generally a quicker process, provided that there has not been a significant change in your circumstances. You should expect to wait around 10 weeks to receive your new passport.

Remember to take the time to check your application and documents before you submit your Spanish passport petition. Mistakes or missing documents can lead to significant delays in the processing of your application and you might even end up being rejected. An immigration lawyer can help check your application if you are unsure.

You can only have a passport from a country where you are a Spanish national or citizen. You will usually only have one valid passport at once. However, some countries will allow dual nationality in which case you may apply to receive citizenship and, by extension, a passport for two countries at the same time.

Spain is fairly strict when it comes to the limitations on who may receive dual citizenship. While Spanish nationals are generally allowed to keep their Spanish passport when applying for citizenship in another country that allows dual nationality, the same is not true for foreigners who apply for naturalisation in Spain. In most cases, you will need to give up your previous citizenship and passport when applying for citizen Status in Spain.

However, there are some exceptions and nationals from a selection of countries may be eligible for dual nationality in Spain. While decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, countries which may be supported for Spanish dual citizenship include the following:

• Andorra
• Argentina
• Bolivia
• Brazil
• Chile
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Cuba
• The Dominican Republic
• Ecuador
• El Salvador
• Equatorial Guinea
• Guatemala
• Honduras
• Mexico
• Nicaragua
• Panama
• Paraguay
• Peru,
• The Philippines
• Portugal
• Puerto Rico
• Uruguay
• Venezuela

Individuals who have Sephardic Jewish descent may be permitted to apply for Spanish dual nationality as well.

When you have a Spanish passport, you will need to keep an eye on when you need to renew it. The validity period of the passport you’re given depends on the age you were when it was issued.

In general, passports for children who are younger than five years are only valid for two years whereas passports for anyone between the ages of five and 30 years old will be valid for five years at a time. Adults over 30 years of age will receive a passport that is valid for 10 years.

While a Spanish passport grants you rights and represents your status as a citizen in Spain, there are some conditions where your Spanish passport may be revoked.

While this will be checked during the application or renewal process, you must stay compliant with general immigration law and the conditions under which you gained Spanish citizenship.

Decisions to revoke a Spanish passport are made on a case-by-case basis, but possible examples include individuals who reclaim citizenship status in their country of birth despite not being permitted dual nationality. Other cases might include significant illegal actions.

Additionally, Spanish citizenship and passports may be revoked due to inactivity, either if you apply for a new passport and do not utilise it within twelve months, or if you decide to leave the country to live elsewhere for three years or more.

If your Spanish passport-holder status faced revision from the Spanish government or if you just want to learn more about the conditions you must meet to maintain your eligibility, our team of immigration lawyers at Total Law can help you understand all there is to know. You can call us today at +44 (0) 333 305 9375 for immediate advice.

You will need to renew your Spanish passport when it has less than one year remaining on its validity, or when you are running out of free pages. You will need to make an appointment with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs if you are in Spain or with your local embassy or consulate, which can usually be scheduled online. Passport renewals follow a similar process as initial passport applications and you will need to provide all the documents needed to prove your personal details and eligibility.

Keep in mind that passport renewals that are filed from abroad must be registered with the Registro de Matricula (the Spanish civil registry).

If your passport was lost or stolen you should report this to your local police authority as soon as you notice. Passport renewals usually require you to have your previous Spanish passport (to prove your identity but also to prevent identity fraud as it will have to be invalidated upon renewal). When applying for a passport after yours has been stolen you will be required to provide an official confirmation of this, such as a police statement.

If you fail to provide this official documentation you may need to confirm your nationality by other means. However, this usually means that you will only be issued with a provisional passport that is only valid for three weeks, during which you will need to organise and provide the missing documents or confirmations.