Last Updated on March 18, 2026 by Bruno Bianchi
Question
Spanish Nationality question: I’m an American who soon will have Mexican citizenship. My end goal is to apply for Spanish Nationality. My question is, I’ve been living in Spain for 3yrs on a student visa, currently going on 4yrs.
I’ve heard that being on a student visa counts as 1/2 year towards residency. If this is true, will I technically have 2yrs of residency at the end of this 4th year on a student visa?
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Start the Moving to Spain Hub →I plan on seeking legal advice, but I’m wondering if anyone has first hand experience with this?
Answers
These are the answers of some Facebook group members:
“Your time living in Spain in a student visa is just a “estancia”, it doesn’t count for residency. In order to apply for Spanish Nationality you should start your next residency as Mexican, so in two years you can apply for Spanish nationality.”
“My lawyer said under student visa 1 year counts for half a year”
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Explore Cities →“If you are in Spain on a US passport, then I don’t think unfortunately you can do it at all in 2/4 years. I believe you will have to apply for Spanish residency using a Mexican Passport to take advantage of that.”
“I believe but am not sure, could be mistaken, that I read that Mexico has one of the strictest and most exclusive citizenship policies in the world. Whereas other countries ignore each other, you might want to see what the effect of Spanish citizenship might have on your Mexican citizenship, if that matters to you.”
“I believe the Spanish law refers to “nacionales” from Iberoamerica but I cannot find any reference to whether or not this unusual word choice means only citizens from birth or all citizens. I have been told by two Spanish immigration lawyers that I will qualify after two years because I applied for my NLV with my Brazilian passport, independent of the fact I am a naturalized Brazilian. Of course, I cannot validate this until at least 2022.”
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