If you’re eligible and are thinking about applying for Spanish citizenship, should you get a lawyer to help you or can you do it yourself? And how much would it cost to get legal help?
Most bureaucratic or administrative processes in Spain are overly complicated, slow and a minefield to try and navigate yourself.
If you’ve lived in Spain for time you’ll be aware of this.
And if you’re thinking of applying for Spanish citizenship via residency – having lived in Spain for 10 years or 2 if you’re from an Ibero-American country, the Philippines, Andorra, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal – you’ll most likely be asking yourself whether hiring a lawyer is worthwhile.
Getting a new citizenship is a big deal after all, so should you save yourself a lot of the hassle by getting a professional to help?
By this stage, you’re probably already be comfortable with the language, so it will be less about not understanding and more about making sure you get right in order avoid delays and ensure you’re submitting all the correct documents.
Of course, most law firms will tell you it’s worth hiring them.
According to Balcells law firm, hiring a professional has two main advantages:
“First, you’ll make sure you’re not missing any documents and that your application is complete”… Secondly “you will benefit from the service delivery method we lawyers use. We can submit the case through a professional registry, which allows us to receive a swift resolution thanks to an agreement with the Ministry of Justice”.
Cohen & Aguirre law firm state that “each immigration file must be monitored to ensure that the police and National Intelligence Centre (CNI) reports are received on time and in the correct format”.
They also state that the requirements for social integration have changed in 2026 and law firms will be able to stay ahead of all those changes and know what’s going on.
How much do law firms charge to submit a citizenship application in Spain?
According to Cohen & Aguirre, the average cost of hiring a lawyer to do this application is €400 – €800, while law firm YSC Abogados say it will cost you between €500 – €2,500 for the process.
CostaLuz Lawyers on the other hand say that citizenship applications generally cost €2,000-€4,000, which includes full application, CCSE/DELE exam guidance, and your nationality hearing.
A fourth law firm, Global citizens say they charge between €1,500 – €3,000, which includes exam preparation and filing.
These are hefty sums of money on top of the fees you’ll have to pay for submitting the application, sitting the exams and paying an official translator to translate your documents.
Is hiring a lawyer even necessary?
According to many readers and people on online forums who have done the process, it’s one of the easiest applications you can do in Spain and many people do it themselves without any professional help.
“Online yourself is better and straightforward. Just start filling in the form now and save it without submitting. You’ll see for yourself”, one wrote on the Barcelona Expats Facebook.
Another agreed saying: “Citizenship is the easiest and straightforward process. Do it yourself. Lawyers will make it slow, pricey with potential mistakes and delays”.
While another wrote: “You can do it by yourself. I feel the help an agency can give you is worthless”.
“Citizenship is the easiest thing, as long as you have a certificado digital, do it yourself” another concurred on another Facebook group.
Submit it yourself
So, while the process itself seems very easy, did anyone find it advantageous to get professional help?
“I did the application all by myself. Was kind of easy. The only thing I made a mistake with was when they asked for a scan of my passport. I don’t know why I didn’t submit all of the pages … so they bounced it back and asked for all of the pages which delayed the process for another 2 months” someone wrote.
She managed to submit the process herself, but then her application was delayed because she wasn’t sure of all the documents she had to send or the correct way of doing things.
Presumably in cases such as this, lawyers would have stopped this from happening, saving her waiting for another two months.
You need to decide for yourself if paying up to €4,000 is worth it to speed up your application by a couple of months.
Another person agreed though they getting a professional is a good idea, as long as you choose the right one. “I get the frustration — a lot of firms talk a good game but don’t really know nationality cases in depth. In Barcelona, people who’ve actually gone through the process often mention firms like Bufete Neila or Wiselegal because they focus specifically on Spanish citizenship, handle the paperwork properly online, and explain things clearly instead of overselling. The key is choosing someone who does nationality cases every day, not a general immigration office, and who will actually follow up during the long waiting period. If you’ve already done most of the paperwork yourself, a good lawyer should feel like support, not a black box”.
Hire a lawyer
There are some people, however, who would argue that lawyers are essential for the process and saved them a lot of stress and headaches.
One user explained that she hired a lawyer to do it because they were good and fast I and that she had her application approved in just four months because of them.
Another agreed saying: “I used a lawyer because it was more convenient and was fast”.
Others though had a lot of issues and wished they had hired legal services.
“It took my mother 5 years from date she applied. She insisted doing it herself. They had her spinning around in circles,”
Lots of other people recommended different law firms who helped them complete the process and were successful.
Is it worth it?
Generally, it depends on whether you feel confident enough they you know exactly what you need to submit and how long you’re prepared to wait.
Several law firms such as Balcells claim that if your application is delayed more than one year, “you can take legal action through an administrative appeal and request a ruling from a judge”. Therefore, if you’ve gone with a lawyer they will be able to try and expedite the process for you.
If you’re in a rush and need your Spanish nationality as quickly as is possible, then getting a lawyer may be worth it, but if you’re used to Spanish admin and you don’t mind waiting and the possibility of sending documents back and forth, then you may want to try doing it yourself.
