A favourable decision grants nationality, but the route does not end with the status screen. You must receive notification, complete the oath or promise and have the acquisition entered in the Civil Registry. That registration is constitutive.
Reviewed on 27 August 2026. Your decision and competent Civil Registry instructions take priority over a general checklist. Do not book travel or documents around an estimated registration date.
1. Save the decision and notification proof
Download the signed decision and acknowledgement showing when it was notified. Check name, NIE, address and competent authority. Clarify any error or missing notification date before starting the oath stage.
The grant depends on completing the requirements within 180 days from the day after notification. The Ministry says you must appear with the required documents or obtain an appointment within those 180 days; a later appointment can be valid if assigned within the period. Save the booking proof.
2. Choose the Civil Registry or a notary
The Ministry recognises two routes in Spain:
- Civil Registry: preparation, oath or promise and subsequent registration.
- Notary: records the declarations in a deed and sends it to the Civil Registry for registration.
A notarial oath does not remove the Civil Registry stage or turn the deed into the registration itself. Compare availability, cost and transfer procedure without assuming either route guarantees a completion date.
3. Prepare the act
Follow the decision and office list. You may need the decision and notification proof, identity document, TIE or EU certificate, passport, padrón and originals requiring comparison. The Registry may compare original documents previously uploaded unless a valid comparison is already recorded.
The act records the oath or promise, Civil Code declarations, renunciation of the former nationality where applicable, civil-law residence and the name and surname details to be registered. Do not make a renunciation or name decision without understanding its effect.
4. Separate the oath from registration
After the act, the birth and acquisition of nationality must be entered in the Civil Registry. For a notarial route, the deed must reach the competent office. Keep evidence of the deed or transmission.
The procedure order provides for registration within five days after the oath, but this is not an operational time promise for every office. Systems, workload and corrections vary. Ask your office how to follow the entry and do not apply for a DNI until registration is complete.
5. Obtain the certificate for a first DNI
Once registration is available, request a literal birth certificate issued for DNI purposes. For first registration, Interior requires it to be no more than six months old.
Also prepare an appointment, physical attendance, fee, recent 32 × 26 mm photograph, padrón issued within three months and any TIE or EU registration certificate showing the NIE. For a newly naturalised person, presenting that NIE document is mandatory when held.
With a valid DNI, you can apply for a passport at a Documentation Unit. Interior requires attendance, fee, DNI and photograph; another photograph is normally unnecessary when DNI and passport are issued the same day.
Cases requiring individual review
Seek help if 180 days may have expired, identity or address data differ, the decision imposes conditions, there is a post-grant good-conduct issue, the Registry cannot locate the case, renunciation is disputed or a notarial deed does not reach registration.
Office differences
The law is national, but appointments, original-document checks, tracking and certificate delivery depend on the office and whether it uses DICIREG. Keep evidence of every booking and request. A lack of appointments should not go undocumented during the deadline.
Ready when
- Decision and notification acknowledgement are saved.
- The 180-day period is controlled.
- The appointment or act used a valid route.
- The oath or promise is documented.
- Nationality appears in the Civil Registry.
- You have a literal certificate valid for DNI.
- The first-DNI appointment file is complete.
Next step
Continue with the first DNI and passport checklist. Afterwards, update your identity details and keep evidence linking the former NIE to the new DNI.