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Essential guide

Spanish nationality document request: how to prepare and file a response

Organise the deadline, documents and filing proof when answering a nationality-by-residence request without losing context.

Reviewed on 27 August 2026Official sources verified

A requerimiento is an official notice asking you to correct an omission or add documents to the case. Your response must address the exact request, arrive within the deadline and use a channel that provides filing evidence.

Reviewed on 27 August 2026. The regulation sets three months from notification for correction, and the notice must state this. If your document shows a different calculation, there is a notification incident or the request raises a substantive legal issue, seek professional help before the final days.

1. Download the notice and acknowledgement

Do not work from the status label in “Cómo va lo mío”. Download the complete notice and evidence of access or receipt. Preserve the original file and use a copy for annotations.

Record the R case number, date made available, access or notification date, resulting last day and whether the applicant or representative was notified. In DEHú, a pending notification remains available for 10 calendar days before it is treated as completed. That affects notification; it does not replace the correction period stated in the request.

2. Turn the request into a closed checklist

Copy every point into your own table: exact request, planned document or explanation, issuer, translation or legalisation, final file and any open question. Do not send an unstructured bundle and expect the authority to infer the answer.

If a point does not apply or a document cannot be obtained, explain why and provide available evidence. Do not invent an equivalent document.

3. Check each document

Review identity, dates, every page, signature or seal, readability and consistency with the case. For foreign documents, confirm apostille or legalisation and sworn translation. Follow the request’s specific validity and format requirements.

Prepare a short covering letter addressed to the Subdirectorate-General for Nationality and Civil Status. Include the applicant, R number, notice date, numbered annex list, point-by-point response, request to add the material to the case, date and the appropriate signature.

4. File through the correct route

If the application began on the Ministry’s Nationality platform, the Ministry allows documents to be added there with the reason “en respuesta a un requerimiento de la Administración”.

The official FAQ also permits the channels in article 16.4 of Law 39/2015, including electronic registration, the Ministry’s electronic register or post. Address the submission to the nationality unit and include personal details, the R number and documents.

Use a route you can complete and verify before expiry. Avoid duplicate submissions through several channels unless there is a clear, documented reason.

5. Save proof and verify it

Download the filing receipt showing number, date, time, recipient and files. Open it and make sure all annexes appear. Store the original request, notification acknowledgement, response letter, submitted files and filing receipt together.

The case status may not change immediately. Timely filing evidence matters more than an instant screen update.

When professional help is appropriate

Do not rely only on a checklist if the request questions continuous residence, criminal records, identity, good civic conduct, integration, an exam exemption, representation of a child, document authenticity or inability to obtain a document. Get help if the deadline may have passed, the notice was rejected or published in the BOE, representative details are wrong, a refusal already exists or the required proof is unclear.

Differences and exceptions

Older paper cases and failed postal notifications may follow different routes. Publication in the BOE can affect time calculation. Do not automatically apply DEHú dates to those cases.

Ready when

  • The original notice and acknowledgement are saved.
  • The deadline has been calculated and checked.
  • Every point has an identifiable response and annex.
  • Translation, legalisation and validity are checked.
  • The correct case and submission reason are used.
  • The receipt confirms date, recipient and every file.
  • Legal issues or deadline incidents were escalated in time.

Next step

Record the filing in your case tracking log and continue monitoring DEHú. Keep every version and original until the procedure ends.