Becoming a Venezuelan Citizen
This replaces the general rule for you
Spanish Nationals: Five Years to Naturalisation Instead of Ten
The Constitution halves the residence requirement for people whose original nationality is Spanish, Portuguese or Italian, and Spain is the first of the three named the nationality law repeats the clause word for word. Everything else about the route is the same: the application, the six-month decision period, and no requirement to give up the nationality you already have. The clause turns on your original nationality, not on where you live now.
Naturalisation takes ten years of uninterrupted residence, cut to five if your original nationality is Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, or that of a Latin American or Caribbean country. Marriage to a Venezuelan is its own route at five years from the wedding. Venezuela does not ask you to give up the nationality you have - the Constitution says in terms that Venezuelan nationality is not lost by taking another, and the nationality law says a naturalised Venezuelan is not obliged to renounce theirs. Once granted, naturalisation can only be taken away by a court judgment. The decision on an application is due within six months.
At a glance
- Residence required
- Ten years, uninterrupted
- Reduced residence
- Five years
For nationals of Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Latin American and Caribbean countries.
- By marriage
- Five years from the date of the marriage
- Renouncing your existing nationality
- Not required
Article 25 of the Ley de Nacionalidad y Ciudadanía, quoted here, says so in terms: a naturalised Venezuelan is not obliged to renounce, and renunciation is something the applicant may ask for. This is not an absence - it is a provision.
- Decision due within
- Six months
- Revocation of naturalisation
- Only by court judgment
- Recovering Venezuelan nationality after renouncing it
- Two years of domicile in Venezuela
Requirements
- Ten years of uninterrupted residence immediately before the application, or five where your original nationality is Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Latin American or Caribbean
- Or five years from the date of a marriage to a Venezuelan, from the moment you declare your wish to be Venezuelan
- A reasoned and notarised application stating that the age and time conditions are met
- A copy of a current identity card
- The decision is published in the Gaceta Oficial and then registered in the civil registry
What applies to you
Spanish Nationals: Five Years to Naturalisation Instead of Ten
The Constitution halves the residence requirement for people whose original nationality is Spanish, Portuguese or Italian, and Spain is the first of the three named the nationality law repeats the clause word for word. Everything else about the route is the same: the application, the six-month decision period, and no requirement to give up the nationality you already have. The clause turns on your original nationality, not on where you live now.
- Five years of uninterrupted residence immediately before the application, instead of ten
- The nationality must be your original one
What the law says
«1. Los extranjeros o extranjeras que obtengan carta de naturaleza. A tal fin deberán tener domicilio en Venezuela con residencia ininterrumpida de, por lo menos, diez años, inmediatamente anteriores a la fecha de la respectiva solicitud.»Our translation - not official
Foreigners who obtain a charter of naturalisation. To that end they must be domiciled in Venezuela with uninterrupted residence of at least ten years immediately before the date of the application.
The Tribunal Supremo de Justicia publishes the text as reprinted in Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria N° 5.453 of 24 March 2000, where this numeral reads identically.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The OAS legal portal republishes the constitutions and some statutes of member states. It carries the Constitution of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as Chapter 2 of the Laws of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Revised Edition 1990, printing United Kingdom S.I. 1979 No. 916 as amended by Act 21 of 1986 and Act 15 of 1988 - the only copy of the Vincentian Constitution with a text layer that we could reach, the House of Assembly's own copy being an imageless scan.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: It is a republisher and must never be cited for currency: the file is the 1990 edition, while Saint Vincent's own Acts now cite the Revised Edition 2009, in which chapter numbers have moved. The PDF is a two-up optical recognition of a printed book and its text layer carries recognition errors, so every quotation taken from it must be declared as a recognition and must be left with its errors intact. It must not be cited for any instrument other than the one it reproduces.
We re-read it every 365 days. More about this source
«El tiempo de residencia se reducirá a cinco años en el caso de aquellos y aquellas que tuvieren la nacionalidad originaria de España, Portugal, Italia, países latinoamericanos y del Caribe.»Our translation - not official
The period of residence shall be reduced to five years for those whose original nationality is that of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Latin American countries or Caribbean countries.
About this source
The OAS legal portal republishes the constitutions and some statutes of member states. It carries the Constitution of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as Chapter 2 of the Laws of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Revised Edition 1990, printing United Kingdom S.I. 1979 No. 916 as amended by Act 21 of 1986 and Act 15 of 1988 - the only copy of the Vincentian Constitution with a text layer that we could reach, the House of Assembly's own copy being an imageless scan.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: It is a republisher and must never be cited for currency: the file is the 1990 edition, while Saint Vincent's own Acts now cite the Revised Edition 2009, in which chapter numbers have moved. The PDF is a two-up optical recognition of a printed book and its text layer carries recognition errors, so every quotation taken from it must be declared as a recognition and must be left with its errors intact. It must not be cited for any instrument other than the one it reproduces.
We re-read it every 365 days. More about this source
«Artículo 34. La nacionalidad venezolana no se pierde al optar o adquirir otra nacionalidad.»Our translation - not official
Venezuelan nationality is not lost by opting for or acquiring another nationality.
About this source
The OAS legal portal republishes the constitutions and some statutes of member states. It carries the Constitution of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as Chapter 2 of the Laws of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Revised Edition 1990, printing United Kingdom S.I. 1979 No. 916 as amended by Act 21 of 1986 and Act 15 of 1988 - the only copy of the Vincentian Constitution with a text layer that we could reach, the House of Assembly's own copy being an imageless scan.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: It is a republisher and must never be cited for currency: the file is the 1990 edition, while Saint Vincent's own Acts now cite the Revised Edition 2009, in which chapter numbers have moved. The PDF is a two-up optical recognition of a printed book and its text layer carries recognition errors, so every quotation taken from it must be declared as a recognition and must be left with its errors intact. It must not be cited for any instrument other than the one it reproduces.
We re-read it every 365 days. More about this source
«La nacionalidad venezolana por naturalización sólo podrá ser revocada mediante sentencia judicial, de acuerdo con la ley.»Our translation - not official
Venezuelan nationality by naturalisation may be revoked only by court judgment, in accordance with the law.
About this source
The OAS legal portal republishes the constitutions and some statutes of member states. It carries the Constitution of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as Chapter 2 of the Laws of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Revised Edition 1990, printing United Kingdom S.I. 1979 No. 916 as amended by Act 21 of 1986 and Act 15 of 1988 - the only copy of the Vincentian Constitution with a text layer that we could reach, the House of Assembly's own copy being an imageless scan.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: It is a republisher and must never be cited for currency: the file is the 1990 edition, while Saint Vincent's own Acts now cite the Revised Edition 2009, in which chapter numbers have moved. The PDF is a two-up optical recognition of a printed book and its text layer carries recognition errors, so every quotation taken from it must be declared as a recognition and must be left with its errors intact. It must not be cited for any instrument other than the one it reproduces.
We re-read it every 365 days. More about this source
«Quien renuncie a la nacionalidad venezolana por nacimiento puede recuperarla si se domicilia en el territorio de la República por un lapso no menor de dos años y manifiesta su voluntad de hacerlo.»Our translation - not official
Anyone who renounces Venezuelan nationality by birth may recover it by being domiciled in the territory of the Republic for a period of not less than two years and declaring their wish to do so.
About this source
The OAS legal portal republishes the constitutions and some statutes of member states. It carries the Constitution of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as Chapter 2 of the Laws of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Revised Edition 1990, printing United Kingdom S.I. 1979 No. 916 as amended by Act 21 of 1986 and Act 15 of 1988 - the only copy of the Vincentian Constitution with a text layer that we could reach, the House of Assembly's own copy being an imageless scan.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: It is a republisher and must never be cited for currency: the file is the 1990 edition, while Saint Vincent's own Acts now cite the Revised Edition 2009, in which chapter numbers have moved. The PDF is a two-up optical recognition of a printed book and its text layer carries recognition errors, so every quotation taken from it must be declared as a recognition and must be left with its errors intact. It must not be cited for any instrument other than the one it reproduces.
We re-read it every 365 days. More about this source
«1. Los extranjeros o extranjeras que obtengan Carta de Naturaleza. A tal fin, deberán tener domicilio en Venezuela con residencia ininterrumpida de por lo menos diez (10) años, inmediatamente anteriores a la fecha de la respectiva solicitud.»Our translation - not official
Foreigners who obtain a Charter of Naturalisation. To that end they must be domiciled in Venezuela with uninterrupted residence of at least ten (10) years immediately before the date of the application.
Taken from our own recognition of the gazette facsimile the National Assembly publishes, which has no text layer. The recognition drops accents in places and reorders the page's two columns.
«Artículo 23. Son circunstancias favorables para la obtención de la Carta de Naturaleza:»Our translation - not official
The following are circumstances favourable to obtaining the Charter of Naturalisation:
The eight circumstances that follow include owning real property or a business in Venezuela, having Venezuelan children in your care, more than ten years of residence, a degree from a Venezuelan university and distinction as a scientist, artist or writer. Taken from our own recognition of the gazette facsimile the National Assembly publishes, which has no text layer. The recognition drops accents in places and reorders the page's two columns.
«Artículo 25. Los venezolanos y venezolanas por naturalización no están obligados a renunciar a su nacionalidad. Si la persona interesada desea renunciar a su nacionalidad, deberá manifestarlo en la solicitud que inicia el procedimiento de naturalización.»Our translation - not official
Venezuelans by naturalisation are not obliged to renounce their own nationality. If the person concerned wishes to renounce it, they must say so in the application that opens the naturalisation procedure.
Taken from our own recognition of the gazette facsimile the National Assembly publishes, which has no text layer. The recognition drops accents in places and reorders the page's two columns.
«La decisión sobre la solicitud de naturalización se dictará en un lapso no mayor de seis (6) meses»Our translation - not official
The decision on the naturalisation application shall be issued within a period of no more than six (6) months.
Taken from our own recognition of the gazette facsimile the National Assembly publishes, which has no text layer. The recognition drops accents in places and reorders the page's two columns.
«la persona interesada podrá solicitar nuevamente la naturalización después de transcurridos dos (2) años, contados a partir de la fecha en que la decisión haya quedado firme.»Our translation - not official
The person concerned may apply for naturalisation again after two (2) years have passed from the date the decision became final.
A refusal cannot be appealed administratively; only the courts are open, and a fresh application has to wait two years. Taken from our own recognition of the gazette facsimile the National Assembly publishes, which has no text layer. The recognition drops accents in places and reorders the page's two columns.
Practical notes
Articles 32 and 33 of the nationality law, which set the time limit for registering the Charter of Naturalisation and the fine for missing it, were repealed when the Ley Orgánica de Registro Civil came into force in March 2010, on the nationality law's own page at the National Assembly. They are not stated here for that reason.
Ten years is at the long end of this comparison without being the end of it: Saint Kitts and Nevis asks fourteen for naturalisation, and Brazil's extraordinary route fifteen. Chile still requires renunciation of the existing nationality; Venezuela's Constitution says the opposite in terms.
The procedure in the nationality law refers several steps to a regulation of that law. We did not find that regulation.
- reportsConstitución de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria N° 36.860 de 30 de diciembre de 1999
Organization of American States - Department of International Law · consolidated to 1999-12-30
About this source
The OAS legal portal republishes the constitutions and some statutes of member states. It carries the Constitution of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as Chapter 2 of the Laws of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Revised Edition 1990, printing United Kingdom S.I. 1979 No. 916 as amended by Act 21 of 1986 and Act 15 of 1988 - the only copy of the Vincentian Constitution with a text layer that we could reach, the House of Assembly's own copy being an imageless scan.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: It is a republisher and must never be cited for currency: the file is the 1990 edition, while Saint Vincent's own Acts now cite the Revised Edition 2009, in which chapter numbers have moved. The PDF is a two-up optical recognition of a printed book and its text layer carries recognition errors, so every quotation taken from it must be declared as a recognition and must be left with its errors intact. It must not be cited for any instrument other than the one it reproduces.
We re-read it every 365 days. More about this source
- adjudicatesConstitución de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria N° 5.453 de 24 de marzo de 2000
Tribunal Supremo de Justicia · consolidated to 2000-03-24
About this source
Venezuela's supreme court. Its historical site carries a legislation section with the full text of the Constitution as reprinted in Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria N° 5.453 of 24 March 2000, and the texts of the laws governing the judiciary. It is used here to corroborate the constitutional articles quoted from the OAS copy, which is the only clean text layer we could reach.
Standing: Decides what it means
Cannot be cited for: Its legislation section holds only judiciary-related statutes and the Constitution; there is no migration, tax or customs law there, and the directory itself answers 403 while leaves.shtml is a 404. Its server sends an incomplete certificate chain and is unreachable without supplying the missing GoDaddy intermediate. It cannot carry a long quotation: the extraction service renders the page with a literal line-break tag every few words, and a direct fetch mis-decodes its ISO-8859-1 encoding and destroys every accent, which is exactly the failure the quote check exists to catch. Quote short fragments that fall between breaks, or quote elsewhere and corroborate here.
We re-read it every 365 days. More about this source
- issuesLey de Nacionalidad y Ciudadanía, Gaceta Oficial N° 37.971 de 1 de julio de 2004
Asamblea Nacional de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela
About this source
Venezuela's legislature, and the only reachable index of Venezuelan law. Its database of laws in force gives, for each instrument, the Gaceta Oficial number and date, the vacatio legis, what it repealed, a condition flag reading 'Vigencia Total', and a PDF of the gazette page. It carries decretos constituyentes and decretos-leyes as well as its own Acts, so the 2015 income tax law, the 2020 Tax Code and the 2020 customs law are all here. With the Imprenta Nacional's gazette service unreachable, this is the nearest thing to the publisher of record that can be read.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Its PDFs are scans with no text layer - OmniPage output, jbig2 images, pdftotext returns nothing - so anything quoted from them is our own recognition and must carry extractMethod 'ocr'. The recognition reads the gazette's two columns out of order, drops article headings and whole numerals, and on at least one law invents text outright: the Ley Orgánica de Aduanas comes back with Chinese characters spliced into Spanish clauses. A negative claim must never rest on a reading taken from here. It must not be cited for the law as consolidated either: each PDF is one gazette issue, and where that issue reprints a single text the reprint date is the date of the last amendment, not a sweep. There is no working site search and no working pagination - every listing URL with a query string returns an empty response to both Firecrawl and a direct fetch - so an instrument can only be found by guessing its slug, and failing to find one here is not evidence that it does not exist.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source
- issuesAsamblea Nacional - Ley de Nacionalidad y Ciudadanía
Asamblea Nacional de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela
About this source
Venezuela's legislature, and the only reachable index of Venezuelan law. Its database of laws in force gives, for each instrument, the Gaceta Oficial number and date, the vacatio legis, what it repealed, a condition flag reading 'Vigencia Total', and a PDF of the gazette page. It carries decretos constituyentes and decretos-leyes as well as its own Acts, so the 2015 income tax law, the 2020 Tax Code and the 2020 customs law are all here. With the Imprenta Nacional's gazette service unreachable, this is the nearest thing to the publisher of record that can be read.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Its PDFs are scans with no text layer - OmniPage output, jbig2 images, pdftotext returns nothing - so anything quoted from them is our own recognition and must carry extractMethod 'ocr'. The recognition reads the gazette's two columns out of order, drops article headings and whole numerals, and on at least one law invents text outright: the Ley Orgánica de Aduanas comes back with Chinese characters spliced into Spanish clauses. A negative claim must never rest on a reading taken from here. It must not be cited for the law as consolidated either: each PDF is one gazette issue, and where that issue reprints a single text the reprint date is the date of the last amendment, not a sweep. There is no working site search and no working pagination - every listing URL with a query string returns an empty response to both Firecrawl and a direct fetch - so an instrument can only be found by guessing its slug, and failing to find one here is not evidence that it does not exist.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source