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Spain: Information on the recovery of citizenship and on a treaty with Mexico concerning dual nationality (follow-up to ESP22572.E of 23 January 1996 and ESP22748.E of 22 January 1996)

Please find attached a translation prepared by Public Works and Government Services Canada of a letter and the 2 November 1995 law on recovery of Spanish citizenship, originally provided by the Embassy of Spain in Ottawa.

The Embassy's letter states the following:

No treaty concerning double nationality exists between Spain and Mexico. However, Mexican citizens who acquire Spanish nationality are not required to renounce their Mexican nationality. Nor does the acquisition of Mexican nationality by a Spanish citizen imply the loss of his original Spanish nationality. This rule applies to all of the countries of Ibero-America (22 Jan. 1996).

The letter also states that an individual "is Spanish by birth if his father was a Spaniard at the time of his birth, even where such birth took place in another country" (ibid.). It adds that

[I]f the individual acquired Venezuelan nationality by virtue of having emigrated--thereby losing Spanish citizenship--the current legislation grants him the right to recover same. To do so, he would have to fulfil the requirements set forth in Article 26 of the Civil Code (as set out in Law 29 of November 2, 1995) which amended the Civil Code provisions concerning the recovery of nationality, and which entered into force on January 4, 1996 (attached is a photocopy of this law) (ibid.).

Finally, in response to a query on the effect a conviction in Canada could have on a request to recover Spanish citizenship, the letter states that

[I]n order to determine whether a judicial decision in Canada can affect one's right to recover Spanish nationality, [a Spanish authority] would have to first study the contents of the same (ibid.).

For additional information, please consult the attached documents.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Reference

        Embassy of Spain, Ottawa. 22 January 1996. Letter sent to the DIRB. Translated by the Multilingual Translation Directorate of the Department of Public Works and Government Services Canada.

Attachments

        Embassy of Spain, Ottawa. 22 January 1996. Letter sent to the DIRB. Translated by the Multilingual Translation Directorate of the Department of Public Works and Government Services Canada.

Spain. 2 November 1995. Law 29/November 2, 1995, Amending the Civil Code in Matters Relating to the Recovery of Nationality. Translated by the Multilingual Translation Directorate of the Department of Public Works and Government Services Canada.