Spanish Citizenship: Can Non-EU Parents Gain Citizenship Through Their Spanish Child?

Last Updated on April 18, 2026 by Bruno Bianchi

Question

How can non-EU parents benefit from Spanish Citizenship granted to their child born in Spain? (Child granted nationality after one year of residency in Spain). Parents have temporary resident permit.

Answers

These are the answers of Spainguru’s Facebook group members:

“It should qualify you for residency based on arraigo familiar, but I don’t think it speeds up acquisition of Spanish citizenship.” – “The parents already have residency, I was looking at citizenship. Thanks for your response.”

“Are the parents citizens of an Ibero-American country?” – “No.”

“No fast track citizenship for parents of Spanish citizen, as far as I know. You’d be eligible after 10 years via residency though.”

Conclusion

Parents of a child who has been granted Spanish nationality by virtue of being born and residing in Spain for a year do not receive any direct path to accelerated Spanish citizenship merely through their child’s status.

While they can benefit from residency under family reunification provisions, they typically must follow the standard path to citizenship, which involves a residency period of 10 years unless they are citizens of Ibero-American countries, which have different provisions.

Bruno Bianchi CEO & Spain Immigration Expert

Bruno Bianchi is the founder and CEO of Spainguru, Spain's largest expat immigration community with 150,000+ members. Since 2014 he has helped thousands of people relocate to Spain through expert guides, webinars and vetted professional services covering visas, residency, taxes and life in Spain.

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