In this article I’ll be covering the process and requirements I went through to obtain my first Spanish passport and DNI card after acquiring Spanish citizenship through Ley de Nietos from abroad.
While this topic probably isn’t widely searched I still think providing the experience I’ve had with this might be useful for anyone in a similar position to me and curious as to what comes next after you’ve received your Spanish birth certificate from the civil registry.
While my Spanish birth certificate was the defining document that proves my Spanish citizenship, for me, I couldn’t help but feel that my new status was real until I had the passport and DNI in my hands.
Why? I dunno…
It was just a very exciting process and I think the fact I had a trip booked for Spain in the September to follow, it just seemed like everything had lined up perfectly to take my first trip to Spain as a Spaniard.
The email I received from the consulate containing my Spanish birth certificate noted that I was now able to apply for my passport and then prompted me to follow the instructions listed on their website:
English Translation:
“From the SYDNEY CIVIL REGISTRY OFFICE:
Good morning,
Attached is the birth certificate of Mr. Thomas Gardner Roche. You can now apply for your passport by following the instructions on our website.
Thank you and greetings
Sydney Consular Civil Registry Office”
After referring to the consulate’s website for passport applications, the high level process to obtain my Spanish passport for someone in my position was:
1. Make an appointment with consulate.
2. Complete the passport application form.
3. Attend appointment with completed application form, current passport, your recently issued Spanish birth certificate & complete bio metrics.
4. Pay the fee ($50AUD cash only according to the Sydney Consulate)
5. Wait for notification to pick the passport up.
For my DNI card, I was advised by the consulate that this is something you only receive when in Spain as it’s a nationality identity card that can only be used inside Spain, so a consulate won’t offer the issuance of your first one from abroad.
I began the motions of the above process shortly after receiving my Spanish birth certificate but I quickly realised I wasn’t going to be able to obtain my Spanish passport before my trip as the only available passport appointments with the consulate fell in mid September or later which was disappointing but not the end of the world I guess.
It’s actually quite astonishing that the wait times for an appointment with the consulate are so long. The appointment I got with them for the submission of my S1A was issued in early April 2025 for June 2025… To put that into perspective, I waited longer for my appointment to submit my citizenship application than I did for the application to be processed by the Spanish authorities. I submitted the paper work to the consulate on June 10 2025 and was a Spanish national by July 16 2025. Go figure…
Anyway, I ended up making a few enquiries with the consulate in early August 2025 to see what the process/options were for me to obtain my first Spanish passport and DNI from within Spain and after a couple weeks of no response I started doing a bit of research myself using Google, ChatGPT and liaising with my Dad who made some enquiries with his local town hall and police office.
Obtaining Your First Spanish Passport Within Spain
The process for obtaining your DNI card and passport from within Spain is a bit different to the consulates process I gave the high level on previously. From the research I was able put together between Chatty and my Dad was, in Spain, individuals are required to make an appointment with the local police office (Cita Previa) in their town who will issue the passport and DNI (often within the same day) for a fee. However, the catch is in order to make an appointment with the Police office you must book online and provide a DNI number.
On top of that, to get your first DNI card in Spain, you first need to present a certificate of residence (Empadronamiento) from your local town hall to the police office to prove you live in the town where you are applying for it. My Dad went into the police office in his home town to ask them some questions about the best thing to do and they told him he could book an online appointment for me using his DNI card but reiterated that I’d need an Empadronamiento in order to get my own DNI issued. Interestingly they indicated that I’d still be able to get my passport if I could provide my Spanish birth certificate and my Australian passport.
So at bare minimum not all was lost. With that info I felt as though I could at least bypass the Empadronamiento & DNI process to at least get my passport while I was in Spain which was an outcome I was more than happy with.
Seeing as I still hadn’t received a response from the consulate in Sydney and I felt my query to them was valid and not outlined on the website, I decided to follow up with them in late August to try and get some sort of official confirmation or instruction in writing to which I ended up receiving 2 completely different responses!
The first response read:
English Translation:
“Good morning Thom,
Please note that the information this Consulate can provide is about the procedures handled here.
Please confirm if you will be attending the appointment on October 10th.
Sincerely,
Consulate General of Spain in Sydney”
Which I interpreted as confirmation that I would have to go to Spain and figure it out on my own and the second response was the polar opposite. The email prompted me to fill out a Certificate of Residence application close to the time of my departure and they would issue me the certificate accordingly so I could present to the police office in Spain as a substitute for the Empadronamiento certificate that I would normally have to get when actually living in Spain.
Here’s how the second email from the Spanish consulate read:
English Translation:
“Good morning:
To apply for your First Passport, you will need your literal Birth Certificate no more than six (6) months from its date of issue, which was given to you when you acquired Spanish nationality.
If you are applying for your first passport in Spain, you will also be required to apply for your first national identity document (DNI). For this purpose, you will also need a Certificate of Residence issued by the Spanish Consulate General in Sydney. This certificate can only be issued once in a lifetime and is valid for three months from the date of issue. Therefore, you should only apply for it when your trip to Spain is scheduled and confirmed. To apply for this certificate, please reply to this email, attaching the completed Application for a Certificate of Residence (attached) along with a copy of your Australian passport.
For more information about the Certificate of Residence, you can click on the following link on our website: Consular Services
For more information about the DNI (National Identity Document), please click on the following two links:
- General information and loss or theft: Consular and
- You can consult our website: https://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consulados/sydney/es/ServiciosConsulares/Paginas/index.aspx?scco=Australia&scd=271&scca=Pasaportes+y+otros+documentos&scs=Documento+Nacional+de+Identidad+(DNI)
In Spain, passports and national identity cards are requested at the National Police Stations:https://www.citapreviadnie.es/citaPreviaDniExp/
Since you don't have an ID, you won't be able to make an appointment. Once in Spain, you'll have to go to a police station and make an appointment in person. To do so, you'll need to show your Australian Residence Certificate (the one we issued to you).
We hope this information has been helpful.
Sincerely.”
I was relieved and confused at the same time with this response but none the less completed the application straight away to get the ball rolling. I wasn’t really sure how long it would take to receive this certificate so in my email to them I requested a bit of urgency on the matter and reiterated that I had been trying for a month to get some clarity from them. Sure enough, I received my Certificate of Residence the next day!
English Translation:
“Good afternoon,
Following your request, you can find attached the electronically signed Certificate of Residence for your DNI renewal. You must print it to present when renewing your DNI at the police station in Spain. Remember to make an appointment at a National Police station that best suits you through the following link: https://www.citapreviadnie.es/citaPreviaDni/
For your information, the attached certificate includes a verification QR code that can be verified on the corresponding official website.
If you are unable to verify the QR code, you can verify the CSV code on the following website:https://sede.administracion.gob.es/pagSedeFront/servicios/peticionCSV.htm
Once you've entered the CSV code, you must enter the captcha code and click "search." You may see the message: "The CSV entered may be in different agencies. Please select an agency." You should select the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation. A window will appear where you must click "open file," which will then display the verified document.
We wish you a very good trip.
Sincerely,”
Obtaining Your Passport & DNI in Spain
Once I arrived in Spain, my Dad had gone ahead and made an appointment online for me at the local Police office using his DNI number and I when we got there all I had to present to the police officer serving us was my Spanish birth certificate and my recently issued certificate of residence from the Spanish Consulate.
I also needed to confirm my details on the screen in front of me on the desk, provide a signature and get my biometrics done (fingerprints only). Strangely, I was not required to present my passport or any other photo ID at all during the process. Like, I literally could have been any average joe with 2 sheets of paper for all they know, but hey I wasn’t going to say anything.
Within 10 minutes, my DNI card was printed and then my passport shortly after, right there and then.
The processing time in particular was extremely fast compared with what you would expect back home in Australia. From memory the last time I renewed my Australian passport There was up to 1 month wait for it to be issued and it cost me about 500AUD from memory. I think Australia could take a few tips from Spain when it comes to the processing of documentation…
So to recap, if you’ve acquired Spanish nationality from abroad and you are wanting to obtain your first passport and DNI card while you’re actually in Spain, the process looks a little something like this from a high level once you’ve received your Spanish birth certificate:
1. Request your Certificate of Residence from the Spanish Consulate where your birth was registered - Remember the certificate only lasts from 3 months and you only get given 1 so make sure your request is as close as possible to when you’ll be arriving in Spain.
2. Make an appointment with the local Cita Previa of where you will be staying/residing - If you know someone in Spain who can attend the appointment with you, they can make an appointment for you online using their DNI card, if not, you’ll need to make your appointment in person when you arrive in Spain.
3. Attend your appointment with the correct documentation - Including your Spanish birth certificate issued within the last 6 months, your certificate of residence and passport (even though you may not need it.) and any other required documentation that may be applicable according to the consulate.
4. Pay the fee and you’re done - 12 Euros for your DNI & 30 Euros for your passport.
That wraps up both processes in a nutshell for you. I hope you found this post helpful & if you have any further questions about the process that I maybe didn’t answer feel free to send me an email via my contact form.
See you in my next post!