Residence Permit for a Child in Spain: Born in Spain or Living Here With a Parent

Residencia del hijo o tutelado de residente

~14 min read · Published 6 August 2026 Updated and checked against official sources 18 October 2026

The child of a foreign national living legally in Spain receives a residence permit under one of two articles of the regulation: art. 159 RD 1155/2024 for a child born in Spain, and art. 160 for a child born abroad who has lived in Spain for at least two years. Both permits are issued without a visa, for five years at once, and allow work from age 16. A child born in Spain does not need to show funds or housing if the application is filed within six months. After one year of legal residence that child can apply for Spanish citizenship.

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What this permit is

The child of a foreign national living legally in Spain receives a residence permit of their own under one of two articles of the Immigration Regulation (RD 1155/2024). Art. 159 covers a child born in Spain, and art. 160 a child born abroad who already lives in Spain with a parent. Both permits are issued without a visa, for five years from the date of the resolution (art. 159.1 and 160.7).

The permit is granted by the Oficina de Extranjería (Extranjería), the provincial immigration office where the child lives. The child has their own application, their own resolution and their own TIE card, and the term of the child’s permit is not tied to the term of the parent’s permit. Under the previous regulation, a child born in Spain received a permit of the same type as the parent (art. 185 RD 557/2011).

A child living abroad joins the parent through family reunification: with a visa, after the parent has lived in Spain for a year, and with income and housing requirements. The child of a Spanish citizen is a Spanish citizen by origin (art. 17.1.a Código Civil) and needs no permit. If a child falls seriously ill in Spain, a permit under art. 128.3 goes to the child, both parents and the minor siblings who lived with the child in Spain (humanitarian residence).

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Pros and cons

Pros

  • The permit is issued without a visa, and the application is filed in Spain (art. 159.1 and 160.7).
  • The permit runs for five years from the date of the resolution, with no interim renewals.
  • A child born in Spain does not need to show funds or housing if the application is filed within six months (art. 159).
  • The parent does not need a year of residence in Spain. Under art. 160 the application can be filed while the parent's own application is pending (art. 160.1).
  • From age 16 the child may work as an employee or self-employed with no separate procedure (art. 159.6 and 160.8).
  • A child born in Spain can apply for citizenship after one year of legal residence (art. 22.2.a Código Civil).

Cons

  • Under art. 159 the filing deadline is six months. After that the application is examined under family reunification rules unless the delay has a justified cause.
  • Silence means refusal: if there is no decision within a month, the application is deemed rejected (art. 159.4 and 160.5).
  • Art. 160 requires two years of continuous stay in Spain, and the parents prove funds and housing under the family reunification requirements (art. 160.1).
  • Art. 159 does not apply to children of Ley 14/2013 permit holders or to children of students, who have their own procedure.
  • A child of only one of the parents is processed with the other parent's consent, documents proving sole custody, or a court order (art. 160.1).
  • A child aged 6 to 16 must be enrolled in school, and the certificate is filed with the application (art. 159.2 and 160.3).

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Who applies and for which child

The application is filed by the child’s father or mother (art. 159.1), and under art. 160 also by a guardian (art. 160.2). The filing parent must hold a residence permit, and one of those “previstas en este reglamento,” that is, provided for by the regulation itself (art. 159.1). One parent’s permit is enough, and the other parent’s situation does not matter (Hoja 41, the information sheet of the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration).

Art. 159 does not apply in three cases:

The child of a parent under temporary protection receives a permit under art. 159 and 160 on special terms (Instrucciones SEM 2/2026, third instruction). Under art. 159 the application can be filed at any time: the six months start running only when the parent obtains another permit. Under art. 160 the two years in Spain, funds and housing are not required. The application can be filed even if both parents remain under protection.

Under art. 160 the permit goes to (art. 160.1 and 160.2):

A child under art. 160 must not have a family of their own: the rule says “no hayan constituido su propia unidad familiar.” The condition of being unmarried (“solteras” in art. 159.1, “solteros” in art. 160.1) was declared void by the Supreme Court, as was the condition in art. 160.2 that guardianship be established under Spanish law (ruling 868/2026 of July 8, 2026, published in the BOE on September 22, 2026 and in force from that date).

If the child belongs to only one of the spouses or partners, that parent must exercise parental authority alone and hold sole custody, and the child’s move to Spain must be authorized by a court or by the other parent. With joint custody, the other parent’s consent to the child living in Spain is required (art. 160.1, second paragraph).

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Requirements and documents

For a child born in Spain, the main requirement is the deadline. The application is filed within six months of the date of birth, or, if the parent obtained their permit later, from the day the parent obtained it (art. 159.1). In the second case, under Hoja 41 the period runs from the day after the parent is notified of the resolution. On the filing date the child must be in Spain.

The condition in art. 159.1 that the child has not left Spain since birth was declared void by the Supreme Court (ruling 868/2026). In a correction order of September 1, 2026 the court set out how the rule is to be read: the child must keep “residencia efectiva habitual” in Spain, that is, habitual actual residence. Temporary, justified trips abroad do not by themselves close the art. 159 route.

The six-month deadline stands. Filing later is allowed as an exception when the deadline was missed “por causas debidamente justificadas,” that is, for justified reasons supported by documents (eighth instruction of Instrucciones SEM 1/2025, DGGM criterion of July 1, 2025). If there is no such reason, or the child is outside Spain, the application is examined as family reunification with all its requirements. No visa is needed if the child is in Spain.

If the reunification requirements are not met, the DGGM criterion directs the office to grant the child a permit under art. 159 on the basis of art. 2.2.c LO 1/1996 on the legal protection of minors: “se concederá la residencia temporal del o la menor del artículo 159.” The criterion is an internal ministry document addressed to the immigration offices and was not published in the BOE. This means that, under the criterion, missing the deadline changes how the application is examined, and is not by itself a ground for refusing the child a permit.

The remaining requirements under art. 159 (Hoja 41):

For a child born abroad, the main requirement is two years in Spain. Art. 160.1 requires “permanencia continuada e ininterrumpida en España,” that is, continuous stay in Spain for at least two years before the filing date. The Supreme Court ruling did not touch this condition, so the relaxation for trips abroad that the court introduced for art. 159 does not extend to art. 160.

The second requirement falls on the parents: they prove the funds and housing that the regulation requires for family reunification (art. 160.1 and 160.4.f). The income threshold is €900 a month for a family of two and €300 for each additional family membercurrent for 2026 (art. 67.1). For children the threshold may be lowered in the child’s best interests, at the discretion of the immigration office (art. 67.1, second paragraph). Housing is proved by a housing report from the autonomous community or the town hall (art. 67.2). The calculation and the documents are covered in the article on family reunification.

Documents under art. 160 (art. 160.4 and Hoja 42):

Foreign documents are filed with an apostille and a sworn translation (traductor jurado). A Spanish birth certificate needs neither an apostille nor a translation.

Not required at filing:

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Documents from the US, the UK, Canada and Australia

A child born in Spain receives a passport from the parents’ consulate in Spain on the basis of the Spanish birth certificate. The six-month period under art. 159 keeps running while the passport is being issued. If a passport cannot be obtained, the rule accepts a travel document or a cédula de inscripción (art. 159.3.a).

The United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and Australia are parties to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention. Their birth certificates, custody documents and the other parent’s consent are filed with an apostille and a sworn translation into Spanish. In the US the apostille is issued by the Secretary of State of the state that issued the document, in the UK by the FCDO Legalisation Office, in Canada by Global Affairs Canada or the provincial authority, in Australia by DFAT. Which documents need an apostille and a translation we determine when the service is ordered.

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Can the child work

Yes, from age 16. A permit under art. 159 allows employed and self-employed work “automáticamente, sin necesidad de ningún otro trámite administrativo adicional,” that is, with no separate procedure, once the child reaches the minimum working age (art. 159.6). The same rule appears in art. 160.8. The minimum age in Spain is 16 (art. 6.1 Estatuto de los Trabajadores).

This does not mean that the permit lifts the limits of employment law: under 18 the child may not work at night or in jobs restricted by the occupational risk prevention law (art. 6.2 Estatuto de los Trabajadores). The permit type does not change when the child starts working, and the child stays on it until the five years end.

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How the procedure runs

The application is filed with the immigration office of the province where the child lives, in person or electronically (Hojas 41 and 42). Electronic filing is done by a parent with a digital certificate or by a professional representative.

If documents are missing, the office issues a request for correction (requerimiento) and allows 10 days to answer. Without a correction the application is treated as withdrawn and the file is closed (art. 159.4 and 160.5).

The decision is issued within a month of receipt of the application, and silence means refusal (art. 159.4 and 160.5). This means that after a month without an answer the application is deemed rejected and can be appealed, and the procedure is covered in the article on administrative silence.

The permit term starts from the resolution granting it: the five years run from its date, not from the date the card is issued (art. 159.1 and 160.7). A child was born on January 15, 2026, the mother obtained her first residence permit later, and she was notified of the approval on April 7, 2026. The six months for the child’s application run from the following day and end on October 7, 2026 (art. 30.4 Ley 39/2015). The application was filed on September 18, 2026, the resolution on the child was issued on October 14, 2026, and the permit runs for five years, until October 2031.

Within a month of notification of the approval, the child and the parent apply in person for the TIE at the police station for their place of residence (art. 159.5). Under art. 160 the card application is also accepted by the immigration office (art. 160.6).

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Refusal and appeal

Resolutions of the immigration office exhaust the administrative route (DA 9ª RD 1155/2024). A refusal is challenged by a recurso de reposición, an appeal to the same office, within a month of notification (art. 124 Ley 39/2015), or directly by a recurso contencioso-administrativo, a claim before the Juzgado de lo Contencioso-Administrativo, the first-instance administrative court, within two months (art. 8.4 and 46.1 LJCA, the administrative court procedure act, Ley 29/1998). Against a refusal by silence, the reposición may be filed at any time.

Instead of an appeal, a new application can be filed if the circumstances behind the refusal have changed. A repeat of a rejected application with nothing changed is not admitted for examination (DA 4ª.1.c LO 4/2000).

The appeal to the immigration office we prepare and file ourselves. The court claim requires an abogado and a procurador: we prepare the case, and a partner Spanish lawyer represents the client in court.

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Renewal

A permit under art. 159 has no separate renewal. When the five years end, an application for long-term residence is filed (art. 159.7), and Hoja 41 refers “renovaciones” directly to the long-term residence procedure.

For art. 160, neither the rule nor Hoja 42 sets a renewal procedure. Five years on an art. 160 permit give the five years of legal residence that long-term residence requires (art. 183.1). The application is filed as soon as the five years are complete.

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Long-term residence and citizenship

Five years on a permit under art. 159 or 160 open long-term residence. The limits on absences are the same for a child as for adults: no more than 6 months in a row and 10 months in total over the five years (art. 183.2). A child born in Spain is granted long-term residence earlier if, on reaching adulthood, they have lived in Spain legally and continuously for at least the three years immediately before filing (art. 183.3).

Citizenship opens to a child born in Spain after one year of legal residence. Art. 22.2.a of the Código Civil shortens the period to one year for a person “que haya nacido en territorio español.” The residence must be legal, continuous and immediately before the application (art. 22.3), that is, the year runs from the resolution on the child’s permit. A child born abroad applies under the general rule of art. 22.1: for citizens of the US, the UK, Canada and Australia that is 10 years. The procedure is covered in the article on Spanish citizenship.

Birth in Spain does not by itself confer citizenship. The child of foreign parents is a Spanish citizen by origin either if one of the parents was also born in Spain (art. 17.1.b Código Civil), or if both parents are stateless or the law of neither parent gives the child a nationality (art. 17.1.c). Whether art. 17.1.c applies depends on the parents’ nationality law, and the Instrucción DGRN of March 28, 2007 lists the countries examined. A child of US, British, Canadian, Australian or Irish parents normally receives the parents’ nationality by descent, so art. 17.1.c does not apply.

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Author Aleksandr Nazarov

Frequently asked questions

The child will turn 18 while the art. 160 application is pending. Do they stay eligible?

Yes. Art. 160.1 RD 1155/2024 sets the age “en el momento de la solicitud,” that is, on the filing date. Reaching adulthood during processing has no effect on the decision. If the child turned 18 before filing, art. 160 covers only an adult with a disability who cannot support themselves.

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The child is in their second year in Spain on a student estancia. Does that time count toward the two years under art. 160?

Yes. Art. 160.1 RD 1155/2024 requires “permanencia continuada e ininterrumpida en España,” that is, continuous stay, and does not specify the basis on which the child was in Spain. Nor does the rule require the child to have lived in Spain without papers. The application is filed once the two years are complete, and the parents prove funds and housing under the reunification rules.

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