Spain Confirms Equatorial Guinea Is the Only African Country With 2-Year Citizenship Rule

• Spain's government confirmed that Equatorial Guinea nationals qualify for citizenship after just two years of legal residency
• Most foreign nationals living in Spain must wait 10 years before becoming eligible to apply for Spanish nationality
• All applicants must still meet three core requirements, including passing tests set by the Instituto Cervantes

Spain's government has confirmed that Equatorial Guinea is the only African nation whose citizens can apply for Spanish nationality after two years of legal residency, a privilege that contrasts sharply with the standard 10-year requirement imposed on most other foreign nationals.

The confirmation appears on the Spanish government's official nationality page, which sets out the various pathways through which foreign citizens may acquire Spanish nationality.

Spain's residency-based citizenship routes

The most widely used route to Spanish nationality is through continuous legal residency. Under this system, the qualifying period varies depending on an applicant's background and country of origin. While the default requirement is 10 years, certain categories of foreign nationals benefit from reduced waiting periods, with Equatorial Guinean nationals among those granted the shortest residency window on the African continent at just two years.

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This distinction is rooted in historical and linguistic ties between Spain and Equatorial Guinea, which remains the only African country where Spanish is an official national language.

What applicants must demonstrate

Regardless of the applicable residency period, all applicants are required to satisfy three core conditions before their application can be considered. They must prove uninterrupted and lawful residency in Spain in the period immediately preceding the application, present a clean criminal record from their country of origin as evidence of good civic conduct, and demonstrate integration into Spanish society by passing assessments administered by the Instituto Cervantes.

The Instituto Cervantes tests cover two areas: Spanish language proficiency and knowledge of Spain's constitution and sociocultural values. Nationals of Spanish-speaking countries, including Equatorial Guinea, are exempt from the language component of the assessment, though they remain required to sit the sociocultural examination.

The combination of the reduced residency period and the language test exemption makes Equatorial Guinea's position within Spain's nationality framework notably distinct from that of any other African country.

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Spain votes to grant citizenship to Sahrawis

Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported on Spain’s parliamentary vote to grant citizenship to up to 110,000 Sahrawis born under its former colonial administration of Western Sahara.

The legislation also extends eligibility to their descendants and reflects Spain’s historical ties to the disputed territory.

The decision comes as relations between Spain and Morocco remain strained over migration and Western Sahara.

Madrid’s recognition of Morocco’s autonomy proposal in 2022 had eased tensions, but the citizenship measure could reopen a sensitive diplomatic dispute.

Proofreading by Samuel Gitonga, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.

Source: YEN.com.gh