Getting the Spanish citizenship for the Sefaradic jews

Obtenir la nationalité espagnole

1492 was the year in which a massive removal of the Jewish community occurred, since the monarchy obliged the Jews to choose between exodus and conversion to Catholicism.

More than five centuries after the expulsion Decree, the Spanish Minister of Justice, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, saying having to pay the “Spanish State’s debt” towards the Sefaradic Jews, drived the project of naturalization of the foreign Sefaradics.

 

That is how the law about the granting of the Spanish citizenship for the Sefaradic Jews has been elaborated and adopted on the 10th of June 2015, offering everyone wanting to get the Spanish citizenship and able to prove their link to the Sefaradic community, the possibility to become a Spanish citizen.

As a consequence, a singular possibility to get a double nationality is then offered to this community, which is very rare advantage in Spain.
Indeed, the acceptance of the Spanish citizenship postulates above all a concurrent renunciation by the applicant to his previous nationality, except in some specific situations concerning the citizens of some ex Spanish colonies.

However, the Sefaradic origins are nowadays regarded as “exceptional circumstances linked to Spain”, able to justify the grant of such a favor, and often considered as discriminatory by the ones opposed to this project.

Since the early October 2015, it is important to mention the fact that the setting up of the procedure requires to provide some documents which will have to be joined to the appliance in order to prove the belonging to the Sefaradic Jewish community. A birth certificate, an extract of the criminal record and a copy of the applicant’s passport, all translated in Spanish and apostilled, will have to be joined to the application.

These documents will then have to be submitted to the Jewish Federation of Spain in order to obtain the necessary certificate of Sefaradic origin, after payment of an about 50 euros tax.
They will then have to be posted on an online platform instituted by the Spanish Government, after payment of a 100 euros-tax for the opening of the file.
In some situations, an interview in Spain with a local notary can also be imposed to the applicant.

The administrative formalities are not the only necessary conditions to be able to get the Spanish citizenship in the specific situation of the Sefaradic Jewish communities.
Indeed, a sufficient connection with the Spanish territory has to be established, and tests of Spanish and Spanish culture have to be passed. The law imposes the proof of sufficient links with the Spanish society to be able to apply for naturalization.

The details of these tests have not been precisely mentioned yet by the Spanish Government, but it seems like the level will not be too difficult to reach, according to the test centers such as the Cervantes Institute.

In case of success, the applicant will then just have to make an oath, in Spain or in front of the Consulate or the Embassy in his original state.

Various efforts are made by the Spanish Government in order to correct the History’s mistakes, and offer to the foreign Sefaradic Jews, in particular Israelis’, significant business opportunities.

In this particular context, our office proposes to accompany the applicants to the Spanish citizenship in order to prepare and drop all the required documents.
We are working together with a lawyer’s office specialized in this field and a notary office, both located in Spain, which allows us to have a permanent monitoring of the files until the granting of the citizenship. Our office counts also in its Team an of Counsel Spanish lawyer dedicated to the compliance with all the procedural requirements provided by articles 21 and 23 of the Spanish Civil Code.