This chance of examining online can be done from their own home or from another place without having to travel in person to the Instituto Cervantes examining centers, and is valid for applicants who submitted their application for Spanish nationality to the Ministry of Justice on time (before October 1, 2019), but lacked the certificate of having passed the tests of the Cervantes Institute. 

The Cervantes Institute's decision to digitize the CCSE tests will only benefit those nationality applicants who had registered for these tests before December 31, 2020, but who, due to mobility restrictions caused by COVID19, have not been able to travel to another location to take the exam because of the cancellation of their exams. The U.S. cities with candidates registered in 2020 where exams have not yet been held are Miami, New York, Chicago, Albuquerque, Boston and Seattle. In Canada, the city of Calgary. 

This new possibility of taking the exam remotely over the Internet is based on Spanish Royal Decree 1049/2020 of December 1, which empowers the Instituto Cervantes to administer the tests remotely using electronic means when it´s possible to verify the identity of the interested parties and the correct development of the tests. Always in the cases and with the requirements determined by the Institute itself.

The remote CCSE test is voluntary and will entail an additional cost for the candidate of 100 USD, which will be added to the 85€ paid at the time of registration.

Those candidates who cannot, or do not wish to take the CCSE exam remotely, will continue to be able to do so in person whenever possible, according to Instruction 1/2021 issued by the General Secretariat of the Instituto Cervantes on the new procedure for administering these tests.

This would be the first step towards a future digitalization that will allow candidates to take online other exams required in the application process for Spanish nationality, such as the DELE and SIELE Spanish diplomas administered globally by the Instituto Cervantes.

More information about the online exam offers, on the website of Instituto Cervantes:

https://www.cervantes.es/sobre_instituto_cervantes/prensa/2021/noticias/ccse_en_remoto.htm

Updated information on the incidence of the COVID19 pandemic in the CCSE and DELE tests of Instituto Cervantes at:

https://www.cervantes.es/consecuencias-coronavirus-dele-ccse.htm

Alejandro de Vicente. Abogado

Larrauri & Martí Abogados

Obtaining spanish nationality for jewish descendants