Your Spanish nationality application was refused: reposición or the court, and the deadlines the texts give

If your application is refused, the texts give you two routes: a reposición appeal before the same body, within one month if the refusal is express, or a contencioso-administrativo appeal before the Audiencia Nacional, within two months. Both months are counted from the day after the notification. Below, every deadline is quoted from the BOE with its article, with the clocks that start with the notice and what to know before you pay a lawyer. This page does not tell you which route to take and does not work out a court date for you. Free.

Go to the free reposición letter

In Spanish. You copy it from this page; nothing is stored.

Last checked: 20 October 2026. Check the official page: boe.es, Orden JUS/1625/2016, art. 13.

CiviqPass is an independent service.

• What a refusal can rest on
• The notice and its date
• The two routes
• Counting the deadlines
• Reposición letter template
• Lawyer, free aid and costs
• What the texts do not tell us
• What happens if it is rejected

1. What a refusal can rest on

The Civil Code says nationality by residence is granted by the Minister of Justice, who may refuse it for reasoned grounds of public order or national interest.

The Reglamento adds that a resolution based on the report of the Centro Nacional de Inteligencia is taken as sufficiently reasoned.

2. The notice and its date

A notification has to contain the full text of the resolution, whether it ends the administrative route, and the appeals that apply in the administrative and court routes.

How you were notified matters for the date. A notice sent electronically counts as made when its content is accessed.

3. The two routes

After a refusal the texts describe two routes. The order on nationality says you may lodge an optional appeal for reposición before the same body that issued the act, or go straight to the Audiencia Nacional with a contencioso-administrativo appeal.

• Reposición, before the same body that issued the act. The Reglamento allows it against a refusal on the terms and deadlines of the general administrative procedure.
  Real Decreto 1004/2015, art. 14.1Official wording

  En caso de denegación de la solicitud de nacionalidad, podrá interponerse recurso de reposición en los términos y plazos previstos en las normas generales de procedimiento administrativo común.
  The deadline is one month if the act is express.
  Ley 39/2015, art. 124.1Official wording

  El plazo para la interposición del recurso de reposición será de un mes, si el acto fuera expreso.
  The Administration has one month to decide and notify.
  Ley 39/2015, art. 124.2Official wording

  El plazo máximo para dictar y notificar la resolución del recurso será de un mes.
  If a month passes without a notified answer, the appeal is treated as refused by silence and the court route opens.
  Orden JUS/1625/2016, art. 13.1Official wording

  Si interpuesto recurso de reposición transcurriese un mes sin que se haya notificado la resolución del mismo, se entenderá desestimado el recurso por silencio administrativo y podrá interponerse recurso contencioso-administrativo ante la Audiencia Nacional.
  You cannot lodge reposición again against its resolution.
  Ley 39/2015, art. 124.3Official wording

  Contra la resolución de un recurso de reposición no podrá interponerse de nuevo dicho recurso.
• The court, at the Audiencia Nacional. The deadline is two months from the day after the notification.
  Orden JUS/1625/2016, art. 13.2Official wording

  El plazo para interponer el recurso contencioso-administrativo será de dos meses contados desde el día siguiente al de la notificación.
  The law on the courts says the same: two months from the day after the notification of the act that ends the administrative route, if it is express.
  Ley 29/1998, art. 46.1Official wording

  será de dos meses contados desde el día siguiente al de la publicación de la disposición impugnada o al de la notificación o publicación del acto que ponga fin a la vía administrativa, si fuera expreso.

The routes are linked. You cannot go to court while a reposición you lodged is unresolved and not yet presumed refused.

No answer at all after a year: what the official texts say

4. Counting the deadlines

The reposición month. Months are counted from the day after the notification.

The court's two months. They are counted from the day after the notification.

Type your dates: the reposición month in the file tracker

5. A reposición letter against an express refusal

This is the form of a reposición appeal against a refusal that was notified to you. It is in Spanish because the file is. It names the provisions quoted above. The reasons are yours to write: the template cannot know them and we do not suggest any. Replace every [BRACKET] with your own data before you use it.

A [ÓRGANO QUE DICTÓ LA RESOLUCIÓN, tal como figura en la notificación]

Asunto: recurso potestativo de reposición contra la resolución que deniega la solicitud de nacionalidad española por residencia, expediente n.º [NÚMERO DE EXPEDIENTE]

D./D.ª [NOMBRE Y APELLIDOS], con [PASAPORTE O NIE] n.º [NÚMERO], y a efectos de notificaciones [DIRECCIÓN POSTAL O CORREO ELECTRÓNICO],

EXPONE:
Primero. Que el [FECHA DE PRESENTACIÓN] presentó una solicitud de nacionalidad española por residencia, a la que corresponde el expediente n.º [NÚMERO DE EXPEDIENTE].
Segundo. Que el [FECHA DE LA NOTIFICACIÓN] se le notificó la resolución de fecha [FECHA DE LA RESOLUCIÓN], por la que se deniega la solicitud.
Tercero. Que el artículo 14.1 del Real Decreto 1004/2015 permite el recurso de reposición en caso de denegación de la solicitud; que el artículo 123.1 de la Ley 39/2015, de 1 de octubre, lo configura como potestativo y ante el mismo órgano que dictó el acto; y que el artículo 124.1 fija en un mes el plazo para interponerlo, si el acto es expreso.
Cuarto. [MOTIVOS: escriba aquí, con sus palabras, los hechos y los documentos que, a su juicio, contradicen los motivos de la denegación, y adjúntelos.]

SOLICITA:
Que se tenga por interpuesto recurso potestativo de reposición contra la resolución indicada, que se admita a trámite, que se estime y se deje sin efecto la denegación y que se dicte resolución expresa.

En [LUGAR], a [FECHA].
Firma: [NOMBRE Y APELLIDOS]

6. Lawyer, free aid and costs

For the court route, the law says that before a single-judge court the parties may give their representation to a procurador and are assisted, in every case, by a lawyer.

The free legal aid law names, among those entitled when they show insufficient means to litigate, foreigners who are in Spain.

In the court route, costs can be imposed. At first or only instance they go to the party whose claims were all rejected, unless the court explains that the case raised serious doubts of fact or law.

A second opinion before you pay a lawyer: the checklist

7. What the texts do not tell us

The nationality file, step by step

8. What happens if my nationality application is rejected?

If your application is refused (some people say rejected), the texts give you two routes: a reposición appeal before the same body, within one month if the refusal is express, or a contencioso-administrativo appeal before the Audiencia Nacional, within two months. Both months are counted from the day after the notification, so keep the notice and write down the day you received it. This page quotes each deadline from the BOE and does not tell you which route to take.

Appeal kit: your dates worked out and the reposición letter filled in

Asked to fix your file? The requerimiento and its three months

Explanation written with AI from the official source cited on this page.

CiviqPass is an independent service. Built from the texts linked beside each line; laws and deadlines change, so confirm on the official page.