Tasa 790-026 for Spanish nationality: amount, form and payment at the bank

What the 026 is charged for and where the €104.05 comes from

The fee was created by the 2015 nationality reform (Ley 19/2015, seventh final provision, section 4). It is charged on the application that starts the procedure: the applicant owes it, even when acting through a representative, and it is paid whatever the outcome. The law set it at €100; the general increases in state fees in the Budget Acts, the last one for 2022, have brought it to the €104.05 that the Ministry of Justice publishes today.

It has not changed in 2026. With no new Budget, the 2023 Budget Act is still rolled over, and it did not update these fees (as the preamble to Real Decreto-ley 3/2026 points out). The DELE (Spanish language) and CCSE (constitutional and cultural knowledge) exams of the Instituto Cervantes are paid separately (RD 1004/2015, first additional provision).

The 026 only pays for the application to the Ministry of Justice: requirements, documents and exams are on the page on Spanish nationality by residence; real timescales and the full cost, in nationality by residence in 2026.

One numbered form per application

On the Sede Electrónica of the Ministerio de Justicia, on the page «Nacionalidad española por residencia», the link «Descarga del formulario 790 026» (download the form) opens a four-page PDF directly: three copies of the form and the instructions. Each download carries its own receipt number (número de justificante), «790 026» followed by seven digits, repeated on all three copies. That is why the Ministry asks you not to photocopy it: the number has to be unique to each application.

Three ways to pay it

The money reaches the Treasury through the collaborating financial institutions (entidades colaboradoras) of the Agencia Tributaria (Spanish Tax Agency). The procedure page describes paying at the bank; the form's instructions and the resolution on the fee add two online routes.

• At a bank branch, with the three copies. The bank keeps its own copy and validates the «Ejemplar para la Administración» (copy for the Administration) with a machine stamp or an authorised signature: without that, it does not prove payment.
• Through online banking, if you have an account and an electronic signature with a collaborating bank. The receipt must show the NRC (Número de Referencia Completo, full reference number) and is submitted with the «Ejemplar para la Administración» sheet.
• Through the Agencia Tributaria payment gateway, the preferred route according to the Resolution of 10 November 2015; the AEAT includes the 790-026 in its list of fees that can be paid there. It also gives a receipt with an NRC.

Two conditions in Spain: whoever pays needs an NIE or DNI, and the payment always goes in the applicant's name, even if their voluntary or legal representative makes it. A third party can pay as declarant if they hold one of those documents (Resolution of 10/11/2015, first section).

When to hand in the receipt

Before you send the application: payment comes first and the receipt is one of the mandatory documents (RD 1004/2015, art. 5.1.e). In section 9, the application form asks for the payment date and the reference number, or the NRC if you paid online; in an online application, the validated copy is attached as a scan. If it is missing, the Ministry of Justice sends a requerimiento (request for documents) and, if it is not provided within three months, treats the application as withdrawn (RD 1004/2015, art. 10).

Can you get the money back?

Not if nationality is refused. What is refunded is an ingreso indebido (undue payment), such as a duplicate payment or an overpayment (Ley General Tributaria, art. 221, which applies to fees under Ley 8/1989, art. 9). The Ministry of Justice has its own refund form for the tasa 026, addressed to the Subdirección General de Nacionalidad y Estado Civil (its nationality and civil status department):

• If the paid form was never used, you attach the original «Ejemplar para la Administración»; if it was used, a photocopy of the «Ejemplar para el interesado» (applicant's copy).
• The money comes back by transfer to the account you give; a cheque made out to you is exceptional, only if you have no account, and part of its costs is borne by the applicant.
• You have four years from the day after the undue payment to claim it (Ley General Tributaria, arts. 66.c and 67.1).

Two common confusions

• Handing in the wrong copy. Neither the PDF you have just downloaded nor the applicant's copy proves payment: you need the validated copy for the Administration or the receipt with the NRC.
• Paying an immigration fee. The 790-052 of the Delegaciones del Gobierno (central government offices) and the 790-012 of the Police pay for authorisations and cards; the nationality application is paid with the 026.

For law firms: the 790-026 in Aproba

• A freshly issued form for each client. In a nationality case file, the 026 appears on its own among its fees. From the case file or the client record, Aproba downloads a 790-026 from the Justice Sede with its own receipt number and fills in NIE, name, address, date of birth, contact details, place and date, box 19 and the amount (€104.05, editable).
• The NIE, by default. If the client record does not have it, the box stays empty with a note that it is on the TIE, and the passport is one click away; if the chosen document is not an NIE or its letter is wrong, it flags it and lets you carry on.
• Two PDFs of the same form: an editable one, with the official fields still live, to correct in any viewer, and a flattened one which, if it comes from a case file, is saved there and reaches the client portal and the ZIP. In a family case, one per applicant.
• If the Sede does not respond, Aproba retries for a few seconds; if there is still no PDF, it says so, keeps what was typed and links to the official Sede. Signing and paying at the bank are still done by the client or the firm.

Other immigration fees

• 790-012 · Policía Nacional (National Police): the Police fee
• 790-052 · Delegaciones y Subdelegaciones del Gobierno (Government Delegations): the residence permit fee
• 790-062 · Delegaciones y Subdelegaciones del Gobierno (Government Delegations): the work permit fee
• 790-006 · Ministerio de Justicia (Ministry of Justice): the criminal record fee