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The Spanish government rejects thousands of citizenship applications - what does this say about the applications submitted to its neighbor, Portugal?

A New York Times investigation recently found that thousands of citizenship applications submitted to the Spanish government were rejected outright.

What is the reason and what can be learned from this to avoid similar rejection of applications for Portuguese citizenship?

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Advocate and notary Adam Friend, in association with Legal Zap

Sunday, 01 August 2021, 10:37 Updated: 10:41

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What is the difference between Spanish and Portuguese policies?

(Photo: ShutterStock)

In 2015, the Spanish Parliament passed a time-limited provision for the Citizenship Law, which facilitates citizens of other countries whose fathers were former Spanish citizens and are interested in applying for Spanish citizenship themselves. The temporary order was intended to enable the descendants of hundreds of thousands of Spanish Jews to regain the Spanish citizenship that was the right of their ancestors, as a kind of compensation for their deportation from the country in 1492 by order of the Spanish Inquisition.

The temporary order allowed the applicants for citizenship to retain their current citizenship and exempted them from the requirement to reside in Spain. The main requirements for applicants for Spanish citizenship by virtue of the Temporary Order were the presentation of evidence of a family connection with the Spanish Jewish community, physical arrival in the country for verification of details with a Spanish notary, and successful passing tests of Spanish language and culture.

The validity of the temporary order was initially set for three years, but was extended for another year, and ended in 2019. A few months before the temporary order expired, many applications were submitted, mainly on behalf of the deportees' descendants, from South American countries.

Now that the vast majority of these requests have been reviewed, the summary phase has begun, and the data is surprising.

From just one rejection to thousands of new rejections within a few months

This week the New York Times published an investigative article in which Spanish government data was revealed: By last year, the Spanish government had approved 34,000 citizenship applications and rejected only one application.

In light of these figures, it is even more surprising to see figures describing the last few months alone, in which the Spaniards decided to reject some 3,000 applications.

It should be noted that there are an additional 17,000 applications in which no decision has yet been made, for various reasons.

According to the response of the Spanish Ministry of Justice, cited in the article, the Spanish government acts in accordance with the law and welcomes those who meet the conditions, but "those who do not meet the requirements will see their request denied, just as would be the case in any other proceeding."

The New York Times quoted a Spanish immigration lawyer as saying that until a few months ago the government had accepted every application approved by Spanish notaries, while in recent months government officials have begun to question notaries' decisions on citizenship applications and re-examine them.

What can be learned from this?

As someone who handled applications for Spanish citizenship by virtue of the same temporary order, I have never encountered rejections. There are other cases in the process, in which the Spanish authority requests additional documents or asks and clarifies various inquiries, but I estimate that all the requests I handle will be approved. However, the feeling is that every application that is being examined in Spain now, is being examined with more grammar than ever and therefore even more meticulousness is required than ever when submitting, and along the way until the application is completed.

The window of opportunity for those who missed the temporary order has not yet closed, as apart from Spanish law, Portuguese citizenship law may also give a similar response to the descendants of deportees from Spain. Unlike Spanish law, the validity of Portuguese law is not limited and does not include requirements such as arriving in the country, taking a test or knowing the language.

The tightening of conditions and the rejection policy in Spain are also not similar to what is happening in Portugal now, but this situation can change and it is definitely advisable to learn from it in order to avoid possible future rejection of applications for Portuguese citizenship. The conclusion from what happens in citizenship applications in Spain is that it is advisable to be extra careful in submitting the application and dealing with the Portuguese authorities, making sure that the application submitted to the Portuguese authorities is complete, accurate and correct and ensuring that every request is properly and timely.

Attorney and Notary individual friend

from the Notary David Friend, dealing published by Portuguese citizens and citizenships European countries in general, and the realization of rights for the elderly, with an emphasis on the rights of Holocaust survivors, torts and insurance.

Locate a law firm and notary David Friend

Phone: 0737780042

Article courtesy of Zap legal

The information presented in the article does not constitute legal advice or a substitute for it and does not constitute a recommendation for taking proceedings or avoiding proceedings.

Anyone who relies on the information in the article does so at his own risk

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