Spanish passport

[imfromwales]

How would i go about getting a spanish passport?

My father is spanish and my mother is english. I have lived in england all of my life, and my mother and father are divorced, and have no contact with my father.

Thanks,
Imfromwlaes

[Ramsquare]

This seems hard! Do you know Spanish?
Do you know any other relative in Spain?

[imfromwales]

I do not know spanish very well. I am trying to learn it, hence me joining this forum :)

i will have relatives out there but i have no connection with them, nor does my mother.

[Garry Knight]

I would start with the Spanish Embassy. They should be able to give you the best guidance.

[Pippa]

This has been discussed before. If you are from a European country you cannot have two nationalities being one of them Spanish. Anyway is not a question of having a Spanish passport, but having a DNI, Documento Nacional de Identidad, which all Spaniards must have. (not sure about the lower age limit is now, used to be 14, but I know now children who have it.)
But I should think as Garry says that you should start with the Spanish Embassy (http://spain.embassyhomepage.com/)

[imfromwales]

Thanks, I contacted them and they said they will need my dads birth certificate and mine before they can give me a passport. Obviously i cant get this, so they said to just send them a letter with all the details i know about my dad and they will try and find him and contact him for his birth certificate.

score!

[Legazpi]

This has been discussed before. If you are from a European country you cannot have two nationalities being one of them Spanish. Anyway is not a question of having a Spanish passport, but having a DNI, Documento Nacional de Identidad, which all Spaniards must have. (not sure about the lower age limit is now, used to be 14, but I know now childre:on who have it.)
But I should think as Garry says that you should start with the Spanish Embassy (http://spain.embassyhomepage.com/)

I think I missed that thread. I was under the impression that only from the Spanish government's point of view can you not have two nationalities. AFAIK imfromwales can take Spanish nationality, and in doing so will have to tell the Spanish government (or crown) that he rejects his UK nationality. However this does not actually mean he loses his UK nationality. As far as the UK government is concerned he remains a UK citizen, so he effectively ends up with two nationalities.

[Pippa]

I think I missed that thread. I was under the impression that only from the Spanish government's point of view can you not have two nationalities. AFAIK imfromwales can take Spanish nationality, and in doing so will have to tell the Spanish government (or crown) that he rejects his UK nationality. However this does not actually mean he loses his UK nationality. As far as the UK government is concerned he remains a UK citizen, so he effectively ends up with two nationalities.
Well, when I enquired once about being a UK national, they told me in the Home Office I had to reject my Spanish nationality, so I remained Spanish. That was a few years ago, though.

[Pippa]

@ Legazpi
Why are you so surprised that children have DNIs? Considering that you can use them as passport around Europe, it is much more convenient to carry around than a passport.

[Legazpi]

Well, when I enquired once about being a UK national, they told me in the Home Office I had to reject my Spanish nationality, so I remained Spanish. That was a few years ago, though.

From the Home Office website:

When becoming a British citizen

You do not need to give up your present citizenship or nationality to become a British citizen.

http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/britishcitizenship/dualnationality/

[Legazpi]

@ Legazpi
Why are you so surprised that children have DNIs? Considering that you can use them as passport around Europe, it is much more convenient to carry around than a passport.

@Pippa: I'm not surprised that children have DNIs, and I think they're a good idea (provided the state doesn't abuse them). In fact I think I read somewhere that Spain "allows" children to have dual nationality (i.e. a Spanish DNI and a UK passport) up until the age of 18. I didn't mention it because I assumed imfromwales was over 18.

[Pippa]

@Pippa: I'm not surprised that children have DNIs, and I think they're a good idea (provided the state doesn't abuse them). In fact I think I read somewhere that Spain "allows" children to have dual nationality (i.e. a Spanish DNI and a UK passport) up until the age of 18. I didn't mention it because I assumed imfromwales was over 18.

I asked because of the shocked smilie you inserted in my comment.

[Pippa]

From the Home Office website:

When becoming a British citizen

You do not need to give up your present citizenship or nationality to become a British citizen.

http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/britishcitizenship/dualnationality/

Thank you.

There was no internet in those times:), it was around 1990. I may have been misinformed.

[Garry Knight]

There was no internet in those times:), it was around 1990.

Oh, yes there was. Some of us were using the Internet in the 80s. The World Wide Web wasn't invented until 1991, though.

[Legazpi]

I asked because of the shocked smilie you inserted in my comment.

That was an unintentional click - I didn't even realise I'd put a smiley in there until you mentioned it!

[Legazpi]

Thank you.

There was no internet in those times:), it was around 1990. I may have been misinformed.

I know people who were asked by the UK government to reject their second nationality because of their jobs - e.g. I think certain civil service jobs require that employees only have UK nationality. So it might be that your particular situation meant you couldn't take UK citizenship without rejecting your Spanish nationality. Also, it might just be the case that things have changed since 1990.