- With a Spanish passport you are already a Spanish national, so this procedure is not for you.
- Two years of legal, continuous residence in Spain are enough. The general rule is ten.
- You need ten years of legal, continuous residence, unless one of the one-year cases applies to you (for example, being married to a Spanish national for a year) or you have refugee status, which brings it down to five.
- You do not have to sit the Spanish language exam (DELE A2). If you are an adult, you do have to pass the CCSE.
- If you are an adult, you have to pass the CCSE and the DELE A2. You can skip the DELE if you already hold a DELE or an official Spanish certificate at A2 level or above.
- You keep your nationality: you do not have to renounce it when you swear allegiance.
- When you swear or promise allegiance, you have to declare that you renounce your previous nationality. What that declaration means in your own country is decided by that country's law.
To apply for Spanish citizenship by residence, an adult has to pass two Instituto Cervantes exams: the CCSE, on Spain’s Constitution and society, and the DELE Spanish language exam at A2 level. Nationals of Spanish-speaking countries only take the CCSE. Choose your passport above to see which applies to you. The rest of the application is in the guide to Spanish citizenship by residence.
Who takes each exam
Every applicant aged 18 or over takes the CCSE. Only minors and people whose legal capacity has been modified by a court are exempt.
Every adult also takes the DELE A2, except nationals of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Equatorial Guinea, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela. That is the list in Royal Decree 1004/2015. Brazil, Portugal, Andorra and the Philippines are not on it: their nationals need two years of residence instead of ten, but they do take the DELE.
You also skip the DELE if you already hold a DELE at A2 level or above, or an official Spanish certificate at A2, B1 or B2 level from an Official Language School (Escuela Oficial de Idiomas) or a Spanish education authority, entered in its register of qualifications.
If you have two nationalities and one of them is on the list, you can skip the DELE even if Spain knows you by the other one. You have to file a valid passport from that country or a consular certificate recognising that nationality. The second nationality only counts for the exam. Your residence years are worked out from the nationality you declared when you applied for residence.
Exemption from the exams
People who cannot read or write, or who have learning difficulties, can ask the Ministry of Justice to exempt them from both exams. The exemption is requested before the citizenship application, on the Ministry’s online portal. If you file both at the same time, the citizenship application is closed. The Ministry has six months to decide, and if it does not answer, the exemption is deemed refused. The decision can grant the exemption, refuse it, or allow you to sit adapted exams at the Instituto Cervantes.
People who went to school in Spain and completed compulsory secondary education (ESO) have a shorter route: they can file the citizenship application directly with their qualification attached, without requesting the exemption first.
People with disabilities can ask the Instituto Cervantes for the support and adjustments they need to sit the exams.
What the CCSE is like
60% of the questions are about the Constitution and Spain’s administrative and territorial organisation, and 40% about Spanish culture, history and society. All have closed answers and carry the same weight. You sit it at an exam centre recognised by the Instituto Cervantes.
Every year the Instituto Cervantes publishes a preparation manual with practice questions and their answers. The 2026 edition is on its website, and there is also a free official app, “CCSE Nacionalidad Española”, for Android and iOS.
The certificate for passing the CCSE is valid for four years from its date.
CCSE dates
Registration for the 2027 sessions opens on 23 November 2026. Only the November session is left in 2026, with its official date on 26 November 2026, and its registration closed on 5 November.
| 2027 session | Registration closes | Official session date |
|---|---|---|
| January | 7 January | 28 January |
| February | 4 February | 25 February |
| March | 25 February | 18 March |
| April | 8 April | 29 April |
| May | 6 May | 27 May |
| June | 3 June | 24 June |
| July | 8 July | 29 July |
| September | 9 September | 30 September |
| October | 7 October | 28 October |
| November | 4 November | 25 November |
Appointments at the centres are spread over the two weeks that end on the official date: in January, from the 14th to the 28th.
DELE A2 dates
Registration for 2027 opens on 18 November 2026. The last 2026 session with A2 is on Friday 13 November, and its registration has closed.
| 2027 session with A2 | Written exams | Registration closes |
|---|---|---|
| March | Friday 5 March | 20 January |
| April | Friday 2 April | 10 February |
| May | Saturday 22 May | 7 April |
| July | Friday 9 July | 12 May |
| September | Friday 10 September | 14 July |
| October | Friday 15 October | 1 September |
| November | Saturday 13 November | 29 September |
DELE registration closes six to eight weeks before the exam, much earlier than for the CCSE.
Price and registration
Both exams are paid to the Instituto Cervantes, through its online shop, and the price is separate from the citizenship application fee. The Instituto Cervantes is preparing a new exams website, and in the meantime the dates and deadlines are on a temporary page.
Results
Marks and certificates are available in your personal area on the Instituto Cervantes website. You do not need to upload them with the citizenship application if you authorise the Ministry of Justice to check them directly.
Frequently asked questions
Do Venezuelans or Colombians have to take the citizenship exam? Only the CCSE. They are exempt from the DELE.
Does a Brazilian have to take the DELE? Yes. Brazil is not on the exempt list, even though Brazilians only need two years of residence.
Can I apply for citizenship before passing the exams? Order JUS/1625/2016 requires you to show that you passed them, so it makes sense to apply once both are passed.
How long is the CCSE certificate valid? Four years from the date of the certificate.
Do my children under 18 have to sit the exams? No. Minors are exempt from both exams; their integration is shown with certificates from their school.
Guide checked on 07/11/2026. Sources: Royal Decree 1004/2015, Regulation on the procedure for acquiring Spanish nationality by residence, article 6 (BOE, consolidated text as of 10/09/2024); Order JUS/1625/2016, article 10 and annex (BOE, consolidated text as of 28/10/2022, as worded by Order JUS/1018/2022); Ministry of Justice online portal, notice on exemption requests for the Instituto Cervantes exams; Instituto Cervantes, “Información para las convocatorias DELE y CCSE 2027” and “Manual de preparación de la prueba CCSE 2026”. The Instituto Cervantes sets the dates and may change them: check its website before you register.