Spanish Court Denies Citizenship to Long-Term Moroccan Resident, Citing Lack of Integration

The Spanish justice has rejected the Moroccan’s appeal against the decision of the Ministry of Justice not to grant him Spanish nationality by residence, as he did not pass the CCSE exam on socio-cultural knowledge of Spain, required by Article 22.4 of the Civil Code. The court ruled that the applicant is not well integrated in the country. However, the man has been residing in Spain since 2000 and has a job, but the court found that he only speaks Arabic and has not provided proof of mastery of the Spanish language and culture.

This father of three children initiated his naturalization procedure in October 2014 and has not been able to obtain nationality by residence since then. The Moroccan’s family and professional roots "do not meet the legal requirement of a sufficient degree of integration into Spanish society," the Audiencia Nacional specifies in its ruling, aligning itself with the "reports of the public prosecutor’s office and the civil registry office" which state the "poor knowledge of the Spanish language and the Spanish reality by the applicant."

Based on these arguments, the Court has decided to dismiss this Moroccan, who has been legally residing in Spain for more than 20 years and is registered in the municipal register of Tarragona. The applicant can appeal the decision to the same court "within 30 days following the date of its notification."