Giving an exact answer is very complicated since it depends on two different factors (which we will explore in a second).
However, just to give you a broad idea, your citizenship application may be inside the “en estudio” phase for just 2 months, although this may be delayed for up to 1 year or more depending on the particular situation.
Which are those two factors that can affect the length of the procedure?
Firstly, the result of your reports from the Ministry of Justice and the Police. In some cases the CNI in Spain (National Intelligence Center) or the police may investigate the applicant for nationality if the reports generate doubts, paralyzing the process and leaving it on hold.
This, of course, makes the transition to the next phase much slower, and can even take years to exit from.
On the other hand, if there are any additional requests or the process becomes stalled for any reason, it is also possible that this phase will extend longer than usual.
In the event that there is no problem with these reports and the documentation is favorable, this stage is usually lasts from 2 to 6 months at most.
On the other hand, there is another factor that will also make the total waiting time vary greatly. Which one?
The exact region where the file is resolved.
That is because it is not the Ministry of Justice the institution that manages each application at this stage, but the property and commercial registrars in Spain, who get a specific number of applications each.
Thus, a file initiated in a particular autonomous community (say Catalonia or Madrid) can be studied by a registrar in another autonomous community (eg in Valencia).
And what is the problem then? That some registrars will take longer than others, making the duration of the process very variable.
It is very common to find parents and children who have initiated the process together and at the same time and that one obtains a resolution much faster than the other just because their file has been analyzed by registrars in different regions.
