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When you can apply for long-term residence and Spanish citizenship

Enter the start of your first residence permit, any study period and your trips abroad. The calculator finds your five-year date for larga duración-UE, checks continuity and shows the citizenship date.

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Information material, not an individual legal opinion. Conditions apply to each specific situation and may change.

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Did you have a study stay (estancia por estudios) before that?
Trips abroad: leaving Spain and coming back. If you are abroad now, leave the return empty
Were the trips for work, and can you prove it with documents?

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How the calculator works

Larga duración-UE requires five years of legal and continuous residence in Spain immediately before the application (Article 176.a of the Regulation)[1]. National long-term status has the same condition (Article 183)[1]. What counts is time with a residence permit, not time since your first entry or since you got your NIE.

RuleLimitArticle
One absence in a rowup to 6 monthsArt. 176.a and 183.2[1]
All absences in the five yearsup to 10 monthsArt. 176.a and 183.2[1]
All absences, if they are for workup to 18 monthsArt. 176.a and 183.2[1]
Study stay (estancia)counts at 50%, EU status onlyArt. 176.a[1]
  • Five-year date: start of residence plus five years. If you studied before your residence, half of the study period is taken off this date for the EU status.
  • Absences: each trip from departure to return. The departure day counts as a day abroad, the return day as a day in Spain. For totals a month is 30.44 days.
  • Six months in a row is checked by the calendar: leaving on 1 March and returning after 1 September already breaks the limit.
  • If continuity is broken, the calculator looks for the first date whose preceding five years fit the limits, using the trips you entered and no study credit.
  • Citizenship: start of residence plus the period you chose under Article 22 of the Civil Code[2].
Period for citizenshipWho
10 yearsGeneral rule, including nationals of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan
5 yearsPeople granted refugee status
2 yearsNationals of origin of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Portugal, and Sephardic Jews
1 yearPeople born in Spain, a year married to a Spanish national without separation, widows and widowers, people born abroad to a parent or grandparent who was originally Spanish, and the other cases in Article 22.2

You apply for long-term residence in the last two months of your current permit, and applying in that window extends the permit until the decision. If the permit is still valid and you already meet the conditions, you do not have to wait for that window (Article 177.2)[1].

What the calculator leaves out: gaps between permits (time without a document is not legal residence), late renewals, irregular departures, and force majeure or work for recognised NGOs, which under Article 183 do not break continuity[1]. Take the start date from your resolution. The rules in detail: how to count the five years for long-term residence and how many years until citizenship.

Years on the digital nomad visa, including the consular visa year, count as temporary residence[3][4], and the main risk for nomads is long trips. You can switch to another basis without leaving Spain: switching from the DNV to another permit. Rules checked against BOE on 20 Oct 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Do years on the digital nomad visa count towards the five years for long-term residence?
Yes. A digital nomad visa permit is temporary residence: article 32 of Ley Orgánica 4/2000 gives the right to long-term residence after five years of such residence, and the Reglamento makes no exception for Ley 14/2013. The consular visa year counts too: under article 74 quater.2 of Ley 14/2013 the visa entitles you to live in Spain. What matters is continuity: the same absence limits apply. [1][3][4]
From what date do the five years start?
From the start of legal residence, meaning the date your first residence permit took effect, not your first entry or the date you got your NIE[1]. For larga duración-UE a study stay counts at half.
How long can I be away without breaking continuity?
One absence of up to 6 months in a row, and up to 10 months in total over five years. If the trips were for work, the total can reach 18 months, with the same 6-month limit for a single absence[1].
What if I was away for 7 months?
Under the text of Article 176 continuity is broken. On our reading, the five years before the application would have to be built up again after your return. Only documented force majeure is assessed separately (Article 183)[1]. A case like this is best reviewed before you apply.
When do I apply for long-term residence?
In the last two months of your current permit, and applying in that window extends it until the decision. If the permit is still valid and you already meet the conditions, you can apply earlier (Article 177.2)[1].
How many years until I can get Spanish citizenship?
Usually after 10 years of legal and continuous residence immediately before the application. Refugees need 5 years; nationals of origin of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Portugal and Sephardic Jews need 2; special cases need 1, for example a year of marriage to a Spanish national[2].
Does study count towards the citizenship period?
Article 22 of the Civil Code does not say; practice decides. The calculator counts from the start of residence; if you studied before that, check it before applying. More: how many years until citizenship.

Official sources

  1. BOE · Royal Decree 1155/2024 (Immigration Regulation), Articles 176, 177 and 183 ↗
  2. BOE · Civil Code, Article 22 (nationality by residence) ↗
  3. BOE · Ley Orgánica 4/2000, articles 31 and 32 (temporary residence and larga duración) ↗
  4. BOE · Ley 14/2013, article 74 quater and additional provision 6 ↗

A guide based on the 2026 rules, not legal or tax advice.

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Prefer to do it yourself? Step-by-step guides: residence permit in Barcelona: from empadronamiento to TIE and route cards by residence ground.

Related articles

All calculatorsLong-term residence in Spain: how the five years are countedHow many years to Spanish citizenship: 10, 5, 2 or 1 yearSwitching from the digital nomad visa to another Spanish residence permitAbsence from Spain on a residence permit: 183 days and long-term status

ReloVictory · Sources reviewed 20.10.2026 · Not a substitute for individual legal advice.

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