Nationality refused on civic conduct: the appeal
Last updated 2026-09-01 · Reviewed by Jaime Piñeira Pardo, registered with the ICAM bar, no. 138826
The short answer
A refusal for want of good civic conduct is fought within one month by a reposicion appeal, or within two months before the Sala de lo Contencioso-Administrativo of the Audiencia Nacional (the national high court), with a lawyer and a court agent. Art. 22.5 of the Civil Code expressly preserves that court route, and what is argued there are the specific facts held against you.
You waited years, sat the exams, gathered the certificates and filed your application for nationality by residence. The decision arrives and fits in a paragraph: refused because good civic conduct is not established. It does not say which fact, or it mentions in passing a shelved complaint, an old fine, or proceedings from which you were acquitted. Nobody explains exactly what it rests on, or that the clock for reacting started the day after notification.
The case, in five lines
- What is brought
- A reposicion appeal or a contencioso-administrativo claim against the refusal, seeking its annulment and recognition of the right to be granted nationality by residence.
- Before which court
- The Ministry itself for the reposicion, and the Sala de lo Contencioso-Administrativo of the Audiencia Nacional (the national high court) for the claim, where you must appear through a lawyer and a court agent.
- Deadline
- One month for the reposicion where the decision is express, under art. 124.1 of Law 39/2015, and two months for the court claim under art. 46.1 LJCA. Both run from the day after notification.
- Who can bring it
- The person who applied for nationality by residence and was notified of the refusal, or their representative. Art. 22.4 of the Civil Code places on them the duty to establish the requirements on the file.
- Financial risk
- Proceedings before the Audiencia Nacional require a lawyer and a court agent and may end in an order to pay costs if the claim is dismissed. In addition, art. 11.4 of Royal Decree 1004/2015 keeps a favourable decision conditional until registration, so a grant that has been won may lose its effect.
Civic conduct and integration are two separate requirements
Art. 22.4 of the Civil Code sets out two requirements in a single sentence: the applicant must establish, in the file governed by civil registry legislation, good civic conduct and a sufficient degree of integration into Spanish society. They are separate requirements, proved differently, and a refusal that mixes them or does not say which one fails is a refusal you cannot answer.
The first task in the case is to read the decision with that distinction in hand. If civic conduct is what is held against you, there is a specific fact behind it: a criminal record entry, a complaint, penalty proceedings. If integration is what is held against you, the argument is a different one. Appealing against the wrong requirement burns the deadline and leaves untouched the ground that actually closed the file.
The same art. 22.4 says who must establish it: the applicant. That burden is not met with assertions, but with documents that explain the fact relied on. Shelved criminal proceedings, an acquittal, a cancelled record entry or a time-barred traffic penalty change meaning when they reach the file with a certified copy and a date, rather than as a stray line in a police report.
The Civil Code itself keeps the court route open
Art. 22.5 of the Civil Code closes the provision with a sentence that decides many cases: the grant or refusal of nationality by residence is without prejudice to the contencioso-administrativo court route. It is not a favour or a remote possibility, it is the law saying that this decision is reviewed by a court, and that the last word does not belong to whoever issued the refusal.
There are two ways to get there. Art. 123.1 of Law 39/2015 allows an optional reposicion appeal before the same authority, or a direct challenge before the contencioso-administrativo courts. Its art. 123.2 warns that, once a reposicion is filed, you cannot go to court until it is expressly decided or deemed refused.
The deadlines are not negotiable. Art. 124.1 of Law 39/2015 sets one month for the reposicion where the act is express and, in its paragraph 2, gives the authority another month to decide. Art. 46.1 LJCA allows two months for the court claim from the day after notification, and its paragraph 4 counts them, where a reposicion was filed, from its express decision or from the point it is deemed refused.
Where a CNI report lies behind it, the ground shifts
Art. 11.2 of Royal Decree 1004/2015 contains a rule worth knowing before litigating: a decision on the file based on the report of the Centro Nacional de Inteligencia (the national intelligence service) is deemed sufficiently reasoned. In other words, the regulation treats the duty to give reasons as satisfied where the refusal rests on that report, and that narrows the room for the formal argument.
That is why the strategy is decided by reading the whole file, not the decision. If the refusal rests on ordinary facts, the argument is evidential and is won by filing documents. If it rests on that report, the case is framed differently, and it is best to know that from day one, not at the closing stage of the proceedings.
Good conduct is still required of you until registration
Art. 11.4 of Royal Decree 1004/2015 requires the decision to be notified stating which appeals lie, the time allowed and the body before which they are filed, and it adds a warning that many discover late: the decision is conditional on the applicant not breaching the good civic conduct requirement up to the moment of registration, and it loses its effect if they do.
That detail matters at two moments. While the case is running, because any new fact may end up on the file and be used against you. And after winning, because a grant obtained by judgment remains subject to the same condition until registration is completed, so the case does not end on the day of the favourable decision but on the day of the registry entry.
What is argued at the Audiencia Nacional, and what it costs
The claim does not repeat the application, it reviews the decision. The complete administrative file is requested, the fact underpinning the refusal is identified, and it is shown that the fact does not prove what the decision attributes to it: that the proceedings were shelved, that there was an acquittal, that the record entry was cancelled, or that the penalty had nothing to do with the civic conduct art. 22.4 requires to be established.
The cost should be measured before starting. Before the Audiencia Nacional you appear through a lawyer and a court agent, the proceedings take time, and dismissal may carry an order to pay costs. In return, art. 22.5 of the Civil Code guarantees that the review exists, and a successful judgment does not send the file back to the beginning: it recognises the right that was denied.
It is worth recalling the framework of art. 22 of the Civil Code, because a refusal sometimes rests on residence rather than on conduct. Its paragraphs 1 and 2 set the required periods: ten years as a rule, five for refugees, two for nationals of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal and for Sephardim, and one in the cases it lists. Its paragraph 3 requires residence that is lawful, continuous and immediately prior to the application.
How we run the case, step by step
- 1
Identify which of the two requirements is held against you
The decision is read separating good civic conduct from the degree of integration, the two requirements in art. 22.4 of the Civil Code. All later evidence depends on that reading, because each is proved with different documents.
- 2
Request the complete file
The decision summarises and the file explains. We request the complete copy to locate the report and the specific fact behind the refusal, and to check whether the reasoning rule in art. 11.2 of Royal Decree 1004/2015 applies.
- 3
Choose the route and do not file both at once
With the ground identified we choose either the reposicion under art. 124.1 of Law 39/2015 or the direct claim under art. 46.1 LJCA. Art. 123.2 bars going to court while the reposicion is undecided or not yet deemed refused.
- 4
Build the evidence on the fact relied on
We gather a certified copy of the criminal proceedings, the criminal record certificate with its cancellations, and the documents that place the fact in its context and date, because art. 22.4 puts the burden of establishing it on the applicant.
- 5
Claim before the Audiencia Nacional
The claim is brought through a lawyer and a court agent, the administrative file is called for, and we ask not only for annulment of the refusal but for recognition of the right to the grant that art. 22.5 of the Civil Code submits to judicial review.
- 6
Watch the file through to registration
Once the case is won, the grant is pushed through to the registry entry, because art. 11.4 of Royal Decree 1004/2015 keeps the decision conditional on continued good civic conduct right up to the moment of registration.
The evidence that decides the case
- A full certified copy of the criminal proceedings relied on, with the order shelving the case, the acquittal, or the sentence and its date of completion.
- The certificate from the central criminal records register and the record sheet showing the cancellation date of each entry.
- The administrative penalty decision held against you, to check whether it ever became final and whether it is time-barred.
- The social security record, contracts and tax returns documenting an orderly life throughout the period of residence.
- Reports from social services, neighbourhood organisations or volunteering bodies describing your conduct in the community.
- The receipt of notification of the refusal, which fixes the starting day of the one-month and two-month appeal periods.
What closes the door
- Answering the wrong requirement. Art. 22.4 of the Civil Code distinguishes good civic conduct from the degree of integration, and proving one does not cure the objection aimed at the other.
- Filing a fresh application instead of appealing. It opens another file with the same obstacle inside it and lets the earlier refusal become final.
- Sending informal letters asking for reconsideration, which do not stop the month in art. 124.1 of Law 39/2015 or the two months in art. 46.1 LJCA.
- Appealing without filing a certified copy of the criminal proceedings relied on, leaving the court to read the fact only through the police report's version.
- Neglecting your conduct between grant and registration, when art. 11.4 of Royal Decree 1004/2015 makes the decision lose effect if the requirement is breached.
The law that applies
- Art. 22.4 del Código Civil. It requires the applicant to establish, in the file governed by civil registry legislation, good civic conduct and a sufficient degree of integration into Spanish society, as two distinct requirements which they must prove. BOE-A-1889-4763
- Art. 22.5 del Código Civil. It provides that the grant or refusal of nationality by residence is without prejudice to the contencioso-administrativo court route, so the ministerial decision is reviewable by a court. BOE-A-1889-4763
- Art. 22.1 a 22.3 del Código Civil. It sets the required periods of residence: ten years as a general rule, five for those granted refugee status, two for nationals by origin of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal and for Sephardim, and one in the cases it lists, and it requires residence to be lawful, continuous and immediately prior to the application. BOE-A-1889-4763
- Art. 11 del RD 1004/2015. It assigns the decision to the Minister of Justice, treats a decision based on the report of the Centro Nacional de Inteligencia as sufficiently reasoned, requires notification stating the appeals, time limit and body, and makes the decision conditional on good civic conduct not being breached up to registration, on pain of losing its effect. BOE-A-2015-12047
- Arts. 123 y 124 de la Ley 39/2015. They allow an optional reposicion appeal before the same authority or a direct claim before the contencioso-administrativo courts, bar going to court while the reposicion is undecided or not yet deemed refused, and set one month to file it and one month for it to be decided. BOE-A-2015-10565
- Art. 46 LJCA. It allows two months to bring the court claim from the day after notification of the express act, six months where the act is not express, and counts those two months, where a reposicion was filed, from its express decision or from the point it is deemed refused. BOE-A-1998-16718
Each article checked against the consolidated text published in the BOE (the Spanish official gazette).
Frequently asked questions
Does an old fine or complaint block nationality?
Art. 22.4 of the Civil Code lists no facts: it requires the applicant to establish good civic conduct on the file. So the case is not won by arguing in the abstract, but by identifying the specific fact held against you and proving what became of it, whether it was shelved, whether there was an acquittal, whether the record entry is cancelled, or whether the penalty never became final.
Can I go straight to court without appealing first?
Yes. Art. 123.1 of Law 39/2015 makes the reposicion optional and allows a direct challenge before the contencioso-administrativo courts, and art. 22.5 of the Civil Code expressly preserves that route. What you cannot do is file the reposicion and go to court before it is decided or deemed refused, because art. 123.2 forbids it.
What if the refusal is based on a CNI report?
Art. 11.2 of Royal Decree 1004/2015 provides that a decision based on the report of the Centro Nacional de Inteligencia is deemed sufficiently reasoned. That does not prevent an appeal, since art. 22.5 of the Civil Code preserves the court route, but it does change the approach: a purely formal attack for want of reasoning loses traction and the case is built from the complete file.
If I win, is it granted and finished?
Not quite. Art. 11.4 of Royal Decree 1004/2015 leaves the decision conditional on the applicant not breaching the good civic conduct requirement up to the moment of registration, and warns that, if it is breached, the decision loses its effect. The case ends with the entry in the civil registry, not with the judgment or with the grant.
What is the financial risk of the case?
Before the Sala de lo Contencioso-Administrativo of the Audiencia Nacional you appear through a lawyer and a court agent, which calls for a payment on account, and a dismissal may carry an order to pay costs. That is why the decision to sue is taken with the complete administrative file in front of you, once you know which fact underpins the refusal and what evidence answers it.
This guide explains how the action works in general. It does not replace the study of your own case: deadlines depend on when things happened and on what you have done since.