Dual Citizenship in Spain for Americans: The Renunciation Question

For Americans, dual citizenship in Spain is governed by two separate legal systems, and it works differently for them than for Mexicans or Argentines. After the 10 years of residence the Civil Code requires of most U.S. citizens, a new Spaniard must declare at the oath that they renounce their previous nationality, and the United States is not among the countries exempted from that declaration. What the declaration does to U.S. citizenship is for U.S. law to answer; whether Spanish nationality survives afterward depends on how the two are used. This article is for informational purposes only and is not immigration, tax or legal advice; verify current requirements with the relevant Spanish authority or a licensed professional.

Do you lose U.S. citizenship when you become Spanish?

As the U.S. texts read, the Spanish grant does not by itself end U.S. citizenship. 8 U.S.C. 1481 lists the acts that can end U.S. nationality, beginning with naturalization in a foreign state on your own application after age 18 and an oath of allegiance to a foreign state after 18. Each of these acts counts only when performed voluntarily and with the intention of relinquishing U.S. nationality; the Foreign Affairs Manual repeats both conditions at 7 FAM 1211 and cites Afroyim v. Rusk (1967) and Vance v. Terrazas (1980).

The rule consular officers apply, 22 CFR 50.40, presumes that you meant to remain a citizen: U.S. citizens who naturalize abroad or take a routine oath of allegiance do not have to submit evidence of that intent. The regulation states one limit. A person who affirmatively tells a consular officer, after the act, that they meant to relinquish U.S. citizenship loses it. The statute adds that whoever claims a loss must prove it by a preponderance of the evidence.

The State Department’s legal page on dual nationality goes a step further: U.S. law does not make a citizen choose, and a U.S. citizen “may naturalize in a foreign state without any risk” to that citizenship. Because the statute still lists foreign naturalization, the presumption is best treated as protection for the ordinary case, not as proof that nothing said to a consular officer matters.

No current State Department page read defines a “routine oath of allegiance” or deals with a foreign oath that contains a renunciation of prior nationality, as Spain’s does; 7 FAM 1250, the manual’s chapter on foreign naturalization, now reads “unassigned”. The sharper risk lies on the Spanish side.

Spanish law and U.S. law, side by side

The two systems ask different questions: Spain requires a declaration, while the United States looks for intent.

Why Americans must declare the renunciation

The obligation comes from article 23 of the Civil Code (BOE consolidated text of January 3, 2025), which sets three conditions for acquiring Spanish nationality by residence: the oath, the declaration of renunciation, and registration in the Civil Registry. The renunciation is waived for natives of the article 24.1 countries (the Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal) and for Sephardim originating from Spain; nationals of origin of those countries also need only 2 years of residence, against the general 10 for Americans, or 1 for an American married to a Spaniard for a year. The full file is described in the nationality by residence guide, and the tests in the DELE and CCSE exams guide. No official page read lists the United States or mentions a U.S.-Spain dual nationality treaty.

France: two ministries, two lists

On France, two ministries keep different lists. According to the Justice Ministry, a Spain-France nationality convention entered into force on April 1, 2022, allowing citizens of each country to take the other’s nationality without renouncing their own. The Foreign Ministry’s consular page on nationality by option lists France as exempt, whereas the Justice Ministry’s dual nationality page and its notary instruction of December 22, 2021 do not. The exemption rests on the treaty, not on article 24. For an American, nothing changes: the United States appears on neither list.

Born in Puerto Rico

On the Justice Ministry’s page, Puerto Rico is considered Ibero-American for dual nationality purposes, unlike Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago or Guyana. The registry directorate (DGRN) applied that reading in a resolution of June 25, 2007: a U.S. citizen raised by Puerto Rican adoptive parents could opt for Spanish nationality without renouncing, because the Code’s natives of those countries means their nationals, not people born there. The resolution also says the reading governs the 2-year residence period, one of the routes in the guide to marriage and the other short routes. What remains open is proof: no official page read says which document a registry accepts, so the registry or notary should be asked before the appointment.

When and where the declaration happens

The Justice Ministry’s page on the steps after the grant places the renunciation at the Civil Registry, unless a dual nationality case applies. The 2021 reform of article 68.3 of the Civil Registry Law added two options, set out in the ministry’s instruction of December 22, 2021: a notary, in a public deed recording the oath, any renunciation and your surnames, or a diplomatic or consular officer in charge of the Civil Registry. Children under 14 take no oath and make no renunciation, since both acts are strictly personal.

Under article 21.4 of the Civil Code, a grant by residence lapses 180 days after notification if you have not appeared to meet those requirements. A circular of March 5, 2021 from the Justice Ministry’s registry directorate (DGSJFP) tells registries to question the deadline only after 190 days from the grant (180 plus 10 for notification), and under the notary instruction a request for the oath before a notary suspends the period while it is handled. The 190 days are administrative practice, not law, so the deadline to plan on remains 180 days from notification.

The three-year rule that can cost you Spanish nationality

Article 25.1.a of the Civil Code applies only to Spaniards who are not Spaniards of origin, a group that includes every American naturalized by residence: they lose Spanish nationality when, for a period of three years, they use exclusively the nationality they declared they renounced. Recovery is also harder than after other kinds of loss. Under article 26.1, a legal resident of Spain can recover lost nationality by a declaration at the Civil Registry, but article 26.2 prevents anyone caught by article 25 from doing so without a prior authorization that the Government grants at its discretion.

The two systems meet at the border. Subject to exceptions the President may set, 8 U.S.C. 1185(b) makes it unlawful for a U.S. citizen to leave or enter the United States without a valid U.S. passport, and the State Department says you may not enter on a foreign passport, may not use one to apply for an ESTA, and as a citizen are not eligible for a U.S. visa. The same page notes that in a country whose nationality you also hold, you may need that country’s passport.

No official Spanish text read defines “exclusive use” or says whether using a U.S. passport where U.S. law requires it counts toward the three years. The question stays open in both directions: nothing read says such use is safe, and nothing says it is exclusive use. Where much of your travel passes through the United States, the question belongs with a Spanish nationality lawyer, with your travel record in hand.

Renouncing U.S. citizenship as a separate act

Formal renunciation, the fifth act listed in 8 U.S.C. 1481, takes place before a U.S. diplomatic or consular officer in a foreign state, and it is separate from the Spanish oath. In Spain, requests for a Certificate of Loss of Nationality are handled by the U.S. Embassy in Madrid and the Consulate General in Barcelona, according to the embassy’s renunciation page, updated March 13, 2026:

1. Contact the American Citizen Services unit through the online assistant; a renunciation cannot be booked as a regular appointment.
2. Send scanned documents and complete Part I of Form DS-4079, with Part II left blank and unsigned.
3. Attend a first interview, followed by a final interview in person with the originals.
4. Sign Part II before the officer, then pay the fee if you decide to proceed.
5. Wait for the State Department’s review, which may last several months or more.

Since April 13, 2026, the fee has been $450, down from $2,350, under a State Department final rule published in the Federal Register on March 13, 2026. The embassy page states no amount, but it says the fee cannot be waived and is not refunded if the request is denied. It describes the loss of U.S. nationality as irrevocable.

The tax side: returns now, Form 8854 if you renounce

Becoming Spanish leaves U.S. tax obligations in place: the State Department’s dual nationality page says U.S. citizens must comply with U.S. tax laws, so returns continue after the Spanish oath. The state side of a move abroad is covered in the state income tax guide.

A renunciation brings in the rules on the IRS expatriation tax page. A person is a covered expatriate if any one of three tests applies:

• average annual net income tax above $211,000 for the 5 taxable years before expatriation, the 2026 figure in Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (the IRS page stops at $206,000 for 2025);
• a net worth of $2 million or more on the expatriation date;
• no certification on Form 8854 of full federal tax compliance for the 5 preceding years.

A covered expatriate’s property is generally treated as sold at fair market value on the day before the expatriation date, with the gain reduced, though not below zero, by $910,000 for 2026. For tax purposes, the expatriation date is the earliest of four dates, the first being the day you renounce before the consular officer if the certificate is later issued. The initial Form 8854 is filed with the income tax return for that year, and failing to file it when required can lead to a $10,000 penalty.

The exception in the Form 8854 instructions for people who became U.S. and foreign citizens at birth does not extend to nationality acquired by residence, and even those people must certify 5 years of compliance. Anyone behind on filings can turn to the streamlined procedure guide.

Settle your intent before the oath appointment

Before the oath is booked, within the 180 days that follow notification, articles 23 to 26 of the Civil Code and the exact wording of the declaration your registry or notary uses deserve a careful reading, and the oath makes sense only if you can make the renunciation it contains. Its effect on U.S. citizenship is for U.S. law to decide, under 22 CFR 50.40. For anyone who would rather not naturalize, the indefinite status is long-term residence, which involves no change of nationality.

An American who has read the wording of the declaration, lives in Spain most of the year and is current on U.S. filings can take the oath without a lawyer. A Spanish nationality lawyer is worth seeing first for anyone born in Puerto Rico, anyone who spends long periods in the United States, or anyone uncertain about the declaration’s wording, and a U.S. tax professional before any step toward renouncing, since the Form 8854 tests look back 5 years.

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