New judicial setback in a request for Spanish nationality by residence, a process that, far from being easy, requires demonstrating that a series of conditions are met to achieve definitive naturalization. Thus, the National Court has confirmed this time the decision of the Ministry of Justice to deny Spanish nationality to a Moroccan citizen who had been living in Spain since 2005 and was married to a Spanish person, after having been convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol. The court considers that the applicant has not demonstrated “good civic conduct”, one of the requirements required by article 22.4 of the Civil Code to obtain Spanish nationality.
The man, of Moroccan origin but who had already been living in Spain for 12 years, had requested nationality in June 2017 and decided to appeal the decision, citing as the main reason that he had been residing uninterruptedly in Spain since 2005, adding to this fact that he also had family, social and work roots, and that his criminal record was no longer valid or had been cancelled. But all this was not enough, giving more importance to several convictions for crimes against road safety and fraud, some of them for things he did after submitting the nationality application.
In his ruling of September 18, 2026 (available at this link of the Judicial Branch), the Contentious-Administrative Chamber agrees with the Ministry of Justice and rejects the Moroccan citizen’s appeal. Justice reminds that it is not enough to not have a current criminal record to prove good civic conduct, but the behavior of the applicant must also be assessed throughout the processing of the file.
He had been living in Spain since 2005 and was married to a Spaniard
According to the ruling, the affected person was born in Casablanca (Morocco) in 1985 and had been residing in Spain uninterruptedly since 2005. In June 2017, he requested Spanish nationality by residence, taking advantage of the reduced period of one year for being married to a person of Spanish nationality.
However, on January 16, 2023, the Ministry of Justice rejected his request, considering that he had not sufficiently justified the good civic conduct required by the Civil Code. Specifically, the resolution referred to a conviction for driving under the influence of alcoholic beverages.
The Administration explained that, regardless of whether the criminal record was canceled or not, “it cannot be ignored that it was illegal behavior that does not correspond to what is considered good civic conduct.”
In addition, other previous convictions were taken into account during the review of the file. Among them, a sentence from the Criminal Court number 1 of Murcia, from October 2014, for driving under the influence of alcohol and refusing to perform alcohol detection tests, as well as another from the Investigative Court number 7 of Murcia, from November 2018, for a crime of fraud.
There was also a conviction for drunk driving for acts committed on February 1, 2019, when he had already submitted his application for nationality.
Faced with this situation, the Moroccan citizen filed an appeal for reconsideration, which was rejected in February 2024, so he decided to go to court.
In his defense, he maintained that he had no current criminal record and that previous convictions were of little seriousness. He also highlighted his roots in Spain, where he had lived for more than a decade and had raised a family.
Therefore, he considered that he met the requirements to obtain Spanish nationality and requested that the resolutions of the Ministry of Justice be annulled.
The National Court confirms that it is not enough to have criminal records canceled
Despite the arguments presented by the Moroccan citizen, the National Court has rejected his claim, considering that he had not proven the requirement of good civic conduct established in article 22.4 of the Civil Code.
The court explains that the absence of a criminal record does not necessarily mean that a person meets this requirement, since the circumstances of the crimes committed and their subsequent behavior must also be assessed.
In this sense, the ruling recalls that the applicant must demonstrate conduct in accordance with the rules of coexistence and that this requirement must be maintained throughout the entire processing of the procedure, until the moment of granting nationality.
In fact, it includes the doctrine of the Supreme Court according to which “the existence or non-existence of criminal records is not decisive”, since even when these have been cancelled, the acts committed can be taken into account to assess the civic conduct of the interested party.
The National Court pays special attention to the fact that the man committed two crimes after applying for nationality, one of fraud in May 2018 and another of driving under the influence of alcohol in February 2019.
Regarding these sentences, the Chamber points out that “these facts, which are very close to the application for nationality, do not reveal a desire to adjust their conduct to that normally carried out by any Spanish citizen.”
Furthermore, it highlights the reiteration of behavior related to driving under the influence of alcohol and considers that the appellant also did not provide sufficient positive evidence to counteract this antecedents, beyond his roots in Spain.
Therefore, the court concludes that “the appellant has not met his burden regarding the need to prove the requirement of ‘good civic conduct’.”
Justice allows a tenant to pay a third less rent because her landlady did not fix the humidity in the house
Social Security removes the permanent disability of a welder because he can now work, his company declares him “unfit” to return and the court recognizes 33,888.82 euros if he is not reinstated
Finally, the National Court rejects the appeal and confirms the denial of Spanish nationality by residence. The resolution is not final and an appeal can be filed against it within 30 days of its notification.