Good news for everyone interested in acquiring Spanish nationality through the so-called «Grandchildren’s Law»: the legal norm officially extends its validity until October 2025.
This decision by the Council of Ministers formalizes a possibility contemplated in the Law of Democratic Memory, in its eighth additional provision.
What is the Grandchildren’s Law?
This regulation grants the right to opt for Spanish nationality to children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren of Spaniards born outside Spain, who were originally Spanish and can prove their ancestor’s nationality through a birth certificate.
As stated by the Spanish Government, from October 2022 until March 31 of this year, 301,121 applications have been received under the «Grandchildren’s Law.» About 95% of these come from Latin America, with Argentina and Cuba showing the most interest.
Due to this high volume of applications, the deadline has been extended to 2025, “so that all appointment requests already submitted and pending date assignment, as well as all new applications, can be processed.”
What is our recommendation in this new scenario?
At AIM Global, our advice to all interested in opting for Spanish nationality through this route is that, regardless of this new deadline, it is ideal not to postpone or delay the procedures.
As our lawyer Carolina Charad points out, the key factor is “to start the process as soon as possible, given that the consulate is heavily burdened with the large number of applications, significantly slowing down the response. It’s difficult to get appointments, and any error can lead to a slower processing of the application or even make it impossible to process.”
“It’s also important to consider,” adds the lawyer, “that preparing the file can take at least a couple of months. Literal birth certificates must be requested from the Civil Registry, and especially if they are births outside of Santiago, this can take up to 40 days. Then they must be apostilled, a process that also requires time, as an appointment must be made at the Civil Registry.”
For the expert, another important aspect to consider is that “most people apply for nationality through their Spanish grandfather or great-grandfather, and in this case, it is essential to have the literal Spanish birth certificate, which often is not available, requiring a search in Spain. All these procedures take quite some time, so it is essential to have expertise, both to expedite the process and to avoid any error or omission in the application.”
If your grandfather or great-grandfather were Spanish and meet the requirements of the Grandchildren’s Law, schedule a meeting with our team. We have all the necessary experience to successfully handle your application, and we will accompany you every step of the way until you receive your Spanish passport. Schedule a meeting now!
