Spanish Permanent Residence and Citizenship in 2026: Long-Term Residence After 5 Years, a Passport After 10 or 2

Most of my clients who move to Spain sooner or later ask about the passport. The Spanish passport is strong: according to the BRIDGES Passport Index of 4 October 2026 it ranks 7th of 199 with 184 destinations without a prior visa. But the road to it is long for most nationalities. Below are the rules from the General Access Point, Royal Decree 1004/2015 and the Ministry of Inclusion.

Long-term residence after 5 years

After five years of legal and continuous residence you can apply for long-term residence. Absences of up to six months at a time do not break continuity, as long as they total no more than ten months over the five years. The card is renewed every five years, but the status itself is permanent and allows work.

Citizenship: the residence periods

Group	Legal residence
General rule	10 years
Refugees	5 years
Nationals of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Portugal; Sephardic origin	2 years
Born in Spain, married to a Spaniard for one year, and other special cases	1 year

The residence must be legal, continuous and immediately before the application. Only residence permits count.

Integration exams

You must pass the DELE A2 Spanish exam or higher and the CCSE test on the Constitution and Spanish society, both run by the Instituto Cervantes. Nationals of Spanish-speaking countries do not take the DELE, but still take the CCSE. People who completed compulsory secondary education in Spain can be exempt from both.

The procedure

The application is filed online with the Ministry of Justice. You need a criminal record certificate from your country of origin and proof of good civic conduct. After approval you swear allegiance to the King and obedience to the Constitution and register in the Civil Registry.

Dual citizenship

Under the Civil Code, new citizens usually renounce their previous nationality. Nationals of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal do not have to.

My honest view

For a Latin American family Spain is one of the fastest routes to an EU passport: two years of residence and no renunciation. For most others it is a ten-year project that requires real life in Spain, Spanish at A2 and planning for the loss of their current passport. I discuss this openly before people choose Spain. See also the complete guide.