This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 MADRID 001764 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR CA/VO/F/P 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CMGT EAIR XT AS BX JA NZ SI SN KOCI CASC SPCVIS
SUBJECT: VISA WAIVER PROGRAM COUNTRY REVIEWS:  SPAIN 
 
REF:  A) STATE 92156; B) STATE 102840 
 
1) SUMMARY:  POST SENT A FORMAL REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 
TO THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS ON APRIL 29, 2004 IN 
THE FORM OF A NOTA VERBAL.  TO DATE WE HAVE NOT 
RECEIVED A FORMAL RESPONSE TO OUR NOTE; HOWEVER, WE 
HAVE EVERY REASON TO BELIEVE THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT IS 
TAKING THE REVIEW SERIOUSLY AND WE DO EXPECT TO RECEIVE 
A SUBSTANTIVE RESPONSE IN THE NEXT WEEK OR TWO. 
ELECTIONS OF MARCH 14, 2004 RESULTED IN A CHANGE OF 
GOVERNMENT FOR SPAIN, AND TRANSITION TO THE NEW 
ADMINISTRATION IS STILL IN PROCESS.  THE NEW 
ADMINISTRATION IS STILL NAMING THE NEW OFFICERS FOR KEY 
POSITIONS IN ALL PARTS OF THE GOVERNMENT, WITH THE 
DIRECTOR GENERAL FOR CONSULAR AFFAIRS BEING NAMED ON 
FRIDAY MAY 7, 2004.  THIS REORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT 
MINISTRIES HAS CREATED DELAYS IN THE NORMAL PROCESSING 
OF REQUESTS.  THE CHARGE RAISED THE ISSUE WITH THE 
NEWLY APPOINTED NUMBER TWO AT THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN 
AFFAIRS, WHO ASSURED HIM THAT THEY APPRECIATED THE 
IMPORTANCE OF THE ISSUE AND THAT THEY WOULD RESPOND 
SOON. THE INFORMATION PROVIDED BELOW HAS BEEN ASSEMBLED 
BY THE MISSION IN MADRID AND WILL BE SUPPLEMENTED BY 
DOCUMENTS BEING SENT BY EXPRESS MAIL.  FURTHER DETAILED 
INFORMATION FROM SPANISH GOVERNMENT SOURCES WILL BE 
FORWARDED AS IT IS RECEIVED.  POST IS ANTICIPATING THE 
ARRIVAL OF THE IWG TEAM IN SPAIN THE LAST WEEK OF JUNE 
(JUNE 28-JULY 2).  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2.  Documents are being sent via DHL to Scott Cecil in 
CA/VO/F/P, tel. 202-663-1251.  Alternate point of 
contact is Debbie Lopes da Rosa, also in CA/VO/F/P, 
tel. 202-663-1173.  Fax for both is 202-663-3897. 
Documents being sent are in Spanish and many can be 
downloaded directly from the Internet at the locations 
cited below.  Translation assistance may be needed from 
Language Services. 
 
¶3.  As part of the information gathering phase, the IWG 
formulated a comprehensive list of questions, some of 
which can only be answered with certainty by the host 
country.  Those questions are below.  Post may have 
some of the information requested, and the IWG would be 
grateful for input post would have; however, given the 
time constraints, we request posts to pose the 
following questions to appropriate host country 
officials for complete answers.  Some of these 
questions seem at first glance to have little to do 
with immigration; they are intended to help the IWG 
form a basis for evaluating the country's level of law 
enforcement cooperation.  Please share this fact with 
countries, which may raise doubts about the content of 
some of the following questions.  The extent of the 
information we gather in advance will determine the 
agenda of the reviewing team during the in-country 
visit.  The more information we have up front, the less 
the team will have to do on the ground.  We therefore 
request posts to submit the following questions as soon 
as possible: 
 
¶4.  Since January 1994, how many blank national 
passports have been reported as lost, stolen, missing, 
or otherwise unaccounted for worldwide?  If possible, 
please provide a complete list of these passport 
numbers. 
 
Number of lost blank passports since 1994 - 
approximately 1000.  We have been informed by Spanish 
authorities that lost/stolen blank passports are 
reported to the DHS (legacy INS) office in Madrid. 
 
¶5.  In 2003, how many lawfully issued national 
passports were reported stolen, lost, missing, or 
otherwise unaccounted for worldwide? 
 
Reported Lost/stolen or misplaced in 2003 - 14,448. 
 
¶6.  Is the government required to check a person's 
fingerprints against a database before granting 
permanent residence status? 
 
All Spanish citizens and all foreign legal residents of 
Spain are documented with identity cards linked to a 
central database with fingerprint data (right index 
finger).  This data is checked against a national and 
EU/Schengen database. 
Ministerio del Interior: Extranjera e Inmigracin 
(www.) [Spanish, English, French] This site describes 
all the paperwork needed for residency. 
All non-EU citizens wanting to stay in Spain for more 
than 30 days need a visa from the Spanish Embassy or 
Consulate closest to their place of residence outside 
of Spain. When they arrive in Spain, they must apply 
for residency. Getting residency in Spain allows you to 
live anywhere in the EC. Likewise, getting residency 
somewhere else in the EC gives you a right to residency 
in Spain. 
The various visas you can obtain are described in these 
Spanish Consulate of New York links: Student Visas; 
Tourist and Business Visas; and Residence Visas.  The 
e 
Spanish Consulate in New York lists the requirements 
for each of the six types of residence visas/work 
permits. 
      If you're married or related to a Spanish citizen, 
     you apply for the Visa de Reagrupacion Familiar (Family 
     Unification). 
    If you're retired, you apply for the Visa de 
Jubilados (Retiree). Note: on arrival in Spain, you may 
be asked to prove you have medical insurance. 
    If you're wealthy, apply for visas #4 or #5. 
    If you're a Mormon, apply for visa #6. 
After arriving with the residence visa in their 
passports, non-EU citizens have three months after 
arrival in Spain to go to the nearest Oficina de 
Extranjeros (Foreigners Office). Below are the 
following documents generally required. 
      Form called Solicitud de Tarjeta en Regimen 
     Comunitario 
    Passport and 2 photocopies 
    3 passport-sized photos 
    Medical certificate 
    If a member of the family is Spanish (or has 
residency): your Libro de Familia (Family Book), DNI 
ok), DNI 
(National Identity Card or Legal Residency Card) of 
that family member, Empadronamiento, and medical 
insurance. 
    If you will be working for someone: a contract of 
employment. 
    If you will be self-employed: documents that prove 
you fulfill the requirements necessary to undertake 
that activity. 
    If you won't be working: documents that prove you 
have enough money to live during your time in Spain, 
plus medical insurance. 
    If you will be a student: proof of matriculation 
in an accredited school, plus the requirements of the 
previous item. 
The Resident Card is issued after adjudication of the 
application. Each Oficina de Extranjeros (Foreigners 
Office) processes candidates locally and the time spent 
both waiting in line at the office and waiting for your 
Resident Card can vary tremendously, depending on where 
you do it. Your photo and fingerprint will be taken and 
maintained in a central database held by the Spanish 
National Police (SNP), a sub-section of the Ministry of 
 of 
Interior (MOI). 
ID Numbers in Spain 
NIE (Nmero de Identidad de Extranjero - Alien ID 
number): The immigration service (SNP) issues this 
number upon obtaining residency (the number is on the 
Resident Card). This is the identification number in 
Spain. It is needed in order to file taxes, establish a 
business, open a bank account, and for almost all other 
forms. Both EU citizens and non-EU citizens get issued 
a NIE. 
      DNI (Documento Nacional de Identidad): This is the 
     ID number for Spanish citizens. The same number is used 
     for one's driver's license and it linked to the "Family 
     Book" (Libro de la Familia), which lists births, deaths 
     and marriages. 
    NIF (Nmero de Identificacin Fiscal): This is the 
tax ID number for all individuals. For Spaniards, it's 
the DNI plus one letter; for foreigners, it's the same 
number as your NIE. With a NIE, there is no need to re- 
apply for a NIF. If you're a nonresident who has to pay 
taxes in Spain, a NIF is issued without having a NIE. 
NIE. 
    CIF (Certificado de Identificacin Fiscal): This 
is the same as the NIF, but for companies. 
    Social Security Number: The employer applies for 
this number when you start your first job in Spain. 
This number then stays with you for all subsequent 
jobs. If you are self-employed, you apply yourself for 
this number. 
 ¶4.   Is the government required to check a person's 
fingerprints against a database before granting 
naturalization? 
 
All legal residents of Spain are documented with 
fingerprint data prior to being eligible to apply for 
naturalization. Among the documents to be presented are 
certificates of prior criminal records or absence of 
these from all countries of prior residence including 
Spain.  Police Security checks are mandatory before 
granting Spanish nationality. 
 
¶5.  Please provide information, including if 
practicable a copy of pertinent laws, that describe all 
the circumstances (and qualifications) in which a 
person might naturalize and/or obtain citizenship in 
in 
the country.  Have any nationality and citizenship laws 
changed since the country was admitted to VWP, 
particularly those that relate to the circumstances in 
which people born outside the country may acquire or 
may have acquired citizenship in the country? 
 
Spanish nationality law was amended on October 8, 2002 
by Law 36/2002, modifying the civil code on nationality 
issues. 
 
The law provided benefits to recover nationality for 
those who had lost it and to facilitate access to 
Spanish nationality for relatives of Spanish citizens, 
expanding the acquisition through family relationships 
to include grandchildren of Spanish citizens born 
outside of Spain.  Reciprocity with a number of South 
American countries has resulted in a number of people 
acquiring Spanish nationality while still being able to 
retain their other nationality. 
 
Legislation being pouched (Appendix F) and available on- 
line at: 
http://www.justicia.es/servlet/Satellite?cit= 10582103524 
3&pagename=Portal_del_ciudad 
 
¶6.  Provide the number of applications for 
naturalization approved, denied and pending, each year 
since 2001, breaking down the denials by grounds for 
denial and the number denied under each ground. 
(Examples of grounds could include, but are not limited 
to, failure to meet host country's residency or 
language requirements, terrorism, various law 
enforcement concerns, etc.). 
 
Unknown - Cons has requested the information from MFA 
and from Spanish National Police Documents Unit. 
 
¶7.  Under what circumstances may a passport be revoked? 
Can convicted felons obtain passports?  If so, are the 
passports annotated in a way that would indicate that 
the bearer has a criminal conviction? 
 
Art. 25 of the Spanish civil code establishes the 
following grounds to lose Spanish nationality by 
naturalized citizens: 
  a.   Those who, for a period exceeding three years, 
     exclusively use the nationality renounced when 
     acquiring the Spanish nationality. 
b.   Those who voluntarily joined the armed services or 
assume a political position in a foreign country 
against the specific prohibition of the Spanish 
government. 
c.   Those who are convicted of forgery, omission or 
fraud in the acquisition of the Spanish nationality 
will have their acquisition of Spanish nationality 
nullified, although this will not affect bonafide third 
parties.   The Prosecutor must initiate the revocation 
process within 15 years. 
 
Citizenship retention of expatriate Spaniards requires 
maintaining registration with the Spanish Embassy or 
Consulate in the country of residence. 
 
¶8.  Please list the names of major organized crime 
groups operating in the country. 
 
Organized crime groups from many countries have 
footholds in Spain.  For example, English, Russian, 
Ukrainian, Israeli, Italian Mafia, and Colombian crime 
groups are known to have members living in Spain. 
These groups do not always have clearly defined names 
but include:  East Europeans (Slavic and Romanians); 
Chinese (mostly PRC, as opposed to Taiwanese); North 
Africans (Moroccans and Tunisians; some Algerians); 
South Americans (Ecuadorians and Colombians); Sub- 
Saharan Africans (primarily West Africans, e.g., 
Nigeria and Ghana); Cubans (less than in past years; 
mostly but not exclusively surrounding the Canaries). 
We've also heard that there are some areas that have 
been heavily infiltrated by Russian / Former Soviet 
Union organized crime groups. 
 
¶9.  If available, please provide a brochure or pamphlet 
describing each type of national passport that remains 
valid for travel. 
 
Brochures not available.  We have produced a summary of 
information regarding documents provided to the DHS 
forensic document lab and to the Department of State 
Office of Fraud Prevention at CA/FPP. This information 
is being pouched (Appendix B) and provided via email to 
CA/VO. 
 
¶10.  If available, please provide a copy of the 
country's most recent annual Uniform Crime Report.  If 
your country does not produce a Uniform Crime Report or 
something similar, or if the following information is 
not included in the report, please ask the country to 
provide:  the number of people convicted of a crime 
currently in prison; the number of those in prison who 
are nationals of the host country; the rules that apply 
to foreigners convicted of a crime being deported in 
lieu of serving sentences; the numbers of foreigners 
convicted of a crime deported since 2001 in lieu of 
serving a sentence;  the degree of centralization of 
the country's law enforcement records if the country 
has a federal system, and the extent that lack of such 
centralization could affect these requested statistics. 
 
RSO produced memo regarding Crime and Spain also being 
pouched (Appendix C). Copy of RSO cable (03 State 
003091):  Analysis and Trends of Crime in Spain, is 
being pouched (Appendix D). 
 
Uniform Crime Report not available, but a hard copy of 
a report from the Ministry of Interior is functionally 
similar.  Hard copy is being pouched (Appendix E), and 
it is available on the Internet at 
http://www.mir.es/oris/index.htm 
 
¶11.  The IWG will be formulating assessments of the 
level of law enforcement cooperation between the host 
government and the U.S. and the level of law 
enforcement within the country; any information or 
assessment the Embassy can provide at this time on 
either will be useful. 
 
The Consular Section is directly involved in all formal 
Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty Requests (MLAT) and 
Extradition requests made by the US to Spain.  The 
Spanish requests to the US are handled by the Spanish 
Embassy in Washington, which presents them to the 
Department of State and Department of Justice.  In FY 
2002, the Embassy handled 183 MLAT requests and 43 
extradition requests.  In FY 2003, the Embassy handled 
165 MLAT requests and 50 extradition requests.  Many of 
these requests involved requests for sharing of 
information regarding major crime, drug, fraud, and 
terrorist investigations.  Both countries are 
interested in sharing information and there is active 
judicial cooperation between Spain and the US.  Some 
information requested cannot be provided due to 
national security issues or due to the format of 
information or specificity of the request itself. A 
very few extradition requests have not been honored due 
to sentencing guidelines and restrictions intrinsic in 
the treaties and national laws. 
 
 ¶12.  Please provide a copy of the law or regulation, 
if any, which authorizes the country's Government to 
provide the USG with a certified copy of a criminal 
judgment and/or criminal history record of a national 
of the country.  Assume that the information would be 
used in an official immigration investigation (a non- 
criminal investigation to determine whether a non-U.S. 
citizen should be prevented from entering the United 
States or deported from the United States).  Assume 
also that this request would be made through INTERPOL 
channels rather than through a formal Mutual Legal 
Assistance Treaty (MLAT) request.  (Consular sections 
may have this in relation to judicial requests for 
assistance.) 
 
Copy of the Legislation regarding international 
cooperation in law enforcement matters is being pouched 
(Appendix F). 
 
It is available on the Internet at 
http://www.igsap.map.es/cia/dispo/25726.htm 
 
¶13.  The information below is requested in order to 
assist in evaluating U.S. law enforcement and security 
interests in VWP countries, as required by Visa Waiver 
Program legislation. The information is needed in order 
to assist the Department of Justice in obtaining a 
complete picture of law enforcement procedures in the 
VWP countries and how those procedures might affect 
joint investigations and other law enforcement 
cooperation. 
 
13a.Provide a summary of how the country's police may 
use informants, including any restrictions or 
prohibitions on use of informants.  If practical, 
provide a copy of pertinent statute, case law, or 
regulation. 
 
   Use of informants is similar to that in the US. 
Legislation relating to that is included in Appendix F 
or available on the Internet at 
http://www.igsap.map.es/cia/dispo/25726.htm 
 
13b.Provide a summary of legislation and regulations 
regarding the types of investigative techniques the 
country's police can use in conducting undercover 
investigations including any restrictions on such 
activities, such as restrictions on the use of 
subterfuge or on how police officers may represent 
themselves to the targets.  If practical, provide a 
copy of pertinent statute, case law, or regulation. 
 
  Legislation Attached and available on line at: 
  http://www/igsap,map.es/cia/dispo25726.htm 
 
MANZANARES