The Spanish Citizenship Oath (Jura): The Final Steps After Your Grant
Being granted Spanish citizenship is not the end. The 180-day oath deadline, the renunciation question and how you finally become Spanish, explained.
When you receive notice that Spanish citizenship has been granted, it is easy to think the process is over. It is not. There is a final stage with its own deadline, and missing it can undo the whole application. This stage is the jura, the oath or promise, and it is the step that actually turns the grant into citizenship.
A grant is not the same as being Spanish
The resolution granting your nationality is a decision in your favour, but it does not by itself make you a Spanish citizen. To complete the process you have to appear in person, swear or promise loyalty to the King and obedience to the Constitution and the laws, and have your nationality registered. Until you do that and the registration is made, you are not yet Spanish.
The 180-day deadline
This is the part to take seriously. From the moment you are notified of the grant, you have 180 days to complete the oath or promise. If that period passes without you doing it, the grant lapses. The legal word is caducidad, and it means the concession expires. People have lost a successful application simply by missing this window, so once you are notified, booking your appointment should be the first thing you do.
Where the oath takes place
Traditionally the oath is made before the Civil Registry, the Registro Civil, in front of the official in charge. Following changes to the registry law, it can now also be made before a notary. Either way, you attend in person on an appointed date, make the declaration, and sign.
What you actually declare
At the oath you do three things. You swear or promise loyalty to the King. You swear or promise obedience to the Spanish Constitution and the laws. And, depending on your nationality, you may declare that you renounce your previous nationality.
The renunciation question
The renunciation step worries a lot of people, but for many it does not bite. Spain does not require nationals of certain countries to give up their original nationality, because of the historical ties recognised in law. Nationals of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal, along with people of Sephardic origin, are not required to renounce their nationality of origin. For them the declaration is a formality that does not cost them their first passport.
For applicants from countries outside that group, the picture is different. Spain formally asks you to renounce your previous nationality at the oath. Whether your country of origin actually treats you as having lost its nationality is a separate matter governed by that country's own law, which is why this is worth checking against your own country's rules before the day.
After the oath
Once you have taken the oath, your Spanish nationality is registered in the Civil Registry. After that registration you can request a literal birth certificate as a Spanish national, and with that you can apply for your DNI, the Spanish national identity document, and your Spanish passport. Those final documents are what most people think of as the end point, and they come after the oath, not before.
Confirm the details for your case
The oath deadline, the venue options and how the renunciation step applies depend on current rules and your own nationality. Confirm the details with the Civil Registry handling your case and the official information at mjusticia.gob.es, and for the renunciation question check your country of origin's own law or ask a qualified adviser.
If you are earlier in the journey and still have the CCSE ahead of you, that is the part you can prepare for now. PassCitizen has the full official CCSE question bank, organised by topic, with study mode and full mock exams and no account needed.
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