Democratic Memory Law: where your application stands now the window has closed

The window to apply for Spanish nationality under the Democratic Memory Law (Ley de Memoria Democrática) closed on 22 October 2025 at 23:59. Since 23 October, consulates no longer accept new appointment requests on this basis. If you requested your appointment or filed your application in time, your right still stands: what changed is that nobody new can join the queue.

This guide explains where your case may be and what happens next.

Who could apply

The law (the eighth additional provision of Law 20/2022) let three groups of people born outside Spain opt for Spanish nationality of origin:

1. Children and grandchildren of a mother, father, grandmother or grandfather who was originally Spanish and lost or gave up Spanish nationality because of exile. According to the official instruction, this group also covers children and grandchildren of Spaniards of origin who were not exiles.
2. Children of Spanish women who lost their nationality by marrying a foreigner before the 1978 Constitution.
3. Adult children of people whose Spanish nationality of origin was recognised through this same route or through Law 52/2007 (the earlier "grandchildren's law").

You applied by making a declaración de opcióndeclaración de opciónThe formal act of claiming Spanish nationality through an option route, such as the Democratic Memory Law. It is made before the Registro Civil that covers you; if you live outside Spain, at your consulate.Close at the Registro CivilRegistro CivilThe public office that keeps identity and civil-status records: births, marriages, deaths and nationalities. In Spain, civil-registry functions also exist at consulates.Close that covered you; if you live outside Spain, that is your consulate's registry.

Where your case may stand

Depending on what you did before the window closed, you are in one of these situations.

You requested an appointment in time but have not filed your documents yet

Your place is kept. The consulates that announced the closure say that if you requested your appointment before 23 October 2025 and received proof of it, they will send you credentials to choose a date and time. On that day you must bring your original documents and the proof that you requested the appointment within the window. In Buenos Aires that proof is called the IDU; other consulates use a secure verification code (CSV).

Keep that proof as the most important document of your whole process: without it you cannot show you made it in time.

You have already filed your application

Your expedienteexpedienteThe folder of documents and records a consulate opens when you file an application. It is your official file: while it stays open, the process is still moving.Close is open and waiting for review. The officer in charge of the consular registry studies it and decides. Meanwhile:

• Watch your email. It is the main channel consulates use to contact you. Keep the address you gave active, and check your spam folder too.
• You may receive a requerimientorequerimientoA notice from the consulate saying something is missing from your expediente or needs correcting. It is not a rejection — it is a request to keep going, usually with a deadline to respond.Close. If a document is missing, the consulate asks for it and you have 30 días naturalesdías naturalesCalendar days: every day counts, including Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. This differs from working days (días hábiles), which leave out weekends and holidays.Close to provide it. In Caracas, for example, the consulate explains that it asks for missing documents when it reviews the file, not before. Read our guide on how to answer a requerimiento.
• If you move, tell the consulate. Caracas asks applicants to reply to the favourable-decision email with their new place of residence.

Your application has been decided

If the decision is favourable, there are still steps left: the oath and the inscripcióninscripciónThe official entry of a fact (a birth, a nationality) in a public registry. When your nationality is inscrita, it is recorded in the system.Close in the consular registry, then your passport. Our guide on what to do after a favourable decision explains them.

If the decision is unfavourable, the consulate notifies you formally and you can appeal to the Directorate-General for Legal Certainty and Public Faith (Dirección General de Seguridad Jurídica y Fe Pública). The notice tells you how and by when.

How long it takes

No official document gives a fixed time for a decision. The Caracas consulate puts it simply: it depends on each file, and sometimes other authorities have to be consulted. Waiting times vary widely from one consulate to another.

That is why this platform's tracker exists: real people share the month they filed and the stage they have reached, and each consulate shows its median wait as soon as it has at least 10 cases.

What you do not have to do

• You do not have to give up your other nationality. The official instruction says so expressly for this route.
• You do not need an agent. You file in person, and consulates do not admit intermediaries to the appointment: in Miami, for example, lawyers and representatives are not let in. Be wary of anyone offering "slots", "guaranteed appointments" or a faster decision for money: only the consulate gives appointments and decides.
• Do not send documents nobody asked for. Wait for the requerimiento.

• I kept the proof that I requested my appointment in time (IDU or CSV)
• My email address is active and I check the spam folder
• I have a copy of everything I handed in
• The consulate has my current address

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