EU Citizens' Residence in Spain and the Residence Card for a Family Member of an EU Citizen

Tarjeta de familiar de ciudadano de la Unión

~16 min read · Published 6 August 2026 Updated and checked against official sources 19 October 2026

Citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland live in Spain under a separate regime, RD 240/2007, not under the general regulation on foreigners. They do not receive a permit: they already have the right to live in Spain, and after three months from entry they only need to register it. A family member from a non-EU country receives a residence card for a family member of an EU citizen for five years, with the right to work, if the EU citizen works, studies or has resources and health insurance. After five years the right becomes permanent.

Contents

What this regime is

Citizens of EU countries, the European Economic Area (Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein) and Switzerland, and their family members of any nationality, live in Spain under Real Decreto 240/2007, which transposes Directive 2004/38/EC on freedom of movement into Spanish law. The general regulation on foreigners, RD 1155/2024, applies to them only on a supplementary basis or where it is more favorable to them (para. 2 of the single article of RD 1155/2024).

The EU regime does not grant a permit. It registers a right the EU citizen already has. For up to three months the EU citizen lives in Spain with a passport or identity card and no formalities (art. 6). For longer than three months the EU citizen lives in Spain if they work, study or have sufficient resources and health insurance (art. 7.1), and registers within three months of entry. A family member from a non-EU country does not register: they receive a residence card for a family member of an EU citizen, tarjeta de residencia de familiar de ciudadano de la Unión (art. 8).

Other situations have other procedures:

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Pros and cons

Pros

  • The EU citizen registers at the place of residence and receives the registration certificate on filing (art. 7.5).
  • The family member's card is issued for five years, and the decision takes effect from the date of entry into Spain (art. 8.4 and 8.5).
  • The family member works as an employee and self-employed on the same terms as Spanish nationals (art. 3.2).
  • If the family member needs a visa, it is issued free of charge and with priority, and an EU family member residence card issued by another EEA country exempts the holder from the visa (art. 4.2).
  • Permanent residence after five years, with no check of the registration conditions, and the permanent card runs for ten years and renews automatically (art. 10.1 and 11.1).
  • Divorce and the death of the EU citizen do not end the family member's right to live in Spain under the conditions of art. 9.

Cons

  • The family member's right depends on the EU citizen, who must work, study or have resources and health insurance (art. 7.1 and 7.2).
  • The spouse or child of a Spanish citizen applies under this regime only if the Spanish citizen has exercised freedom of movement (Hoja 62).
  • Dependency must exist in the country the relative comes from: for other relatives this is a requirement of art. 2 bis, for parents and children aged 21 and over it is the case law of the EU Court of Justice, which Hoja 62 follows.
  • If the EU citizen only studies, the right of the family is limited to the spouse, the registered partner and dependent children (art. 7.4).
  • The card application is filed in person within three months of entry (art. 8.2).
  • More than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year make the applicant a tax resident who must declare worldwide income.

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Who the regime covers and who counts as family

The regime covers the EU, EEA or Swiss citizen and the members of their family who accompany or join them in Spain. Art. 2 RD 240/2007 counts as family members:

Art. 2 bis extends the circle to other relatives and to an unregistered partner, but with an individual assessment rather than automatically. Another relative qualifies if, in the country they come from, they were dependent on the EU citizen or lived with them, or if, because of serious health conditions or disability, the EU citizen must personally care for them. Living together is considered proved if it lasted continuously for 24 months in the country the relative comes from. An unregistered partner qualifies if the relationship is durable: this is considered proved by a year of continuous cohabitation, and with children in common it is enough to prove stable cohabitation with no minimum term (art. 2 bis.4).

Dependency in this regime means that the EU citizen supports the relative and the relative needs material support for basic needs. Where the dependency must have existed depends on the category of relative.

For other relatives under art. 2 bis, the condition is in the rule itself: dependency or living together must have existed “en el país de procedencia,” that is, in the country the relative comes from. For children aged 21 and over, parents, grandfathers and grandmothers under art. 2, the text of RD 240/2007 contains no such condition. Hoja 62 requires it, and it comes from the case law of the EU Court of Justice on Directive 2004/38/EC: the judgment in case C-1/05 Jia of January 9, 2007, on parents, and the judgment in case C-423/12 Reyes of January 16, 2014, on children aged 21 and over. Under these judgments, the need for material support must exist in the country the relative comes from at the time they join the EU citizen. The condition therefore applies to these relatives too, but its basis is the Court of Justice’s interpretation of the directive, not the text of the Spanish regulation.

On this point the EU regime is stricter than the regime for the family of a Spanish citizen. For the permit under RD 1155/2024 the Supreme Court in 2026 declared the same condition void, and that judgment does not extend to RD 240/2007 or to the case law of the Court of Justice.

If the EU citizen came to Spain to study and relies on studies alone, the right of residence as family members goes only to the spouse, the registered partner and dependent children (art. 7.4). Hoja 62 also lists other relatives for a student’s family, but the regulation limits the circle.

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Registration of the EU citizen

There are three bases for residence longer than three months (art. 7.1). The EU citizen works in Spain as an employee or self-employed. Or they have sufficient resources for themselves and their family so as not to become a burden on Spanish social assistance, and health insurance covering all risks in Spain. Or they study at a recognized educational institution, have health insurance and declare that they have sufficient resources for themselves and their family.

How each basis is proved is set by Orden PRE/1490/2012:

The rule sets no fixed amount of resources. The immigration office (Oficina de Extranjería) assesses the applicant’s personal and family situation, and the amount required cannot be higher than the level below which Spanish nationals receive social assistance, or the minimum Seguridad Social pension (art. 7.7). The order treats as sufficient income or assets above the amount that the budget act sets each year for entitlement to the non-contributory pension, taking family size into account (art. 3.c Orden PRE/1490/2012). Reference figure: Non-contributory retirement and disability pension in 2026: €8,803.20 a yearcurrent for 2026. This is the lower bound at which resources are certainly accepted as sufficient, not a mandatory threshold: a smaller amount requires an assessment of the circumstances. Resources are proved by any admissible evidence: bank statements, property documents, documents on capital income, a bank certificate on the credit limit of a card.

The EU citizen files the registration application in person within three months of entry, at the immigration office of the province where they intend to live or at the police (art. 7.5). The application is accompanied by a valid passport or identity card and the documents on the basis. The registration certificate, certificado de registro, is issued on filing: it shows the name, nationality, address, NIE number and registration date. The fee equals the fee for the Spanish DNI (art. 14.1).

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Residence card for a family member of an EU citizen

A family member from a non-EU country who lives in Spain for longer than three months must apply for and obtain the residence card for a family member of an EU citizen (art. 8.1). The condition for the card is that the EU citizen meets the conditions of art. 7.1, that is, works, studies or has resources and insurance for the whole family (art. 7.2).

Documents (art. 8.3 and Hoja 62):

Foreign documents are filed with an apostille or consular legalization and with a translation by a sworn translator (traductor jurado) into Spanish or another official language of the province where the application is filed. Standard EU forms, for example the S1 health insurance form, need neither translation nor legalization (Hoja 62).

The application is filed in person within three months of entry into Spain, at the immigration office of the province where the applicant intends to live or at the police (art. 8.2). A filing receipt, resguardo, is issued immediately. It proves lawful presence in Spain until the card is issued and cannot be made a condition for other rights or procedures if the applicant proves their situation by other means. While the application is processed, the applicant stays in Spain and carries on their activities (art. 12.2). The fee equals the fee for the Spanish DNI (art. 14.1) and is paid before the card is issued on form 790 code 052, heading 5 (Hoja 62).

The card is issued within three months of filing. The decision has retroactive effect: the right of residence is considered valid from the proved date of entry into Spain as a family member of an EU citizen (art. 8.4). The card is valid for five years from the date of issue, or for the period during which the EU citizen intends to live in Spain if it is shorter than five years (art. 8.5). If the card has to be renewed before the permanent right arises, renewal follows the same procedure, but children, grandchildren, parents, grandfathers and grandmothers do not prove the relationship again (art. 13).

The right continues as long as its conditions are met, and checks are carried out only when there are reasonable doubts and not systematically (art. 9 bis and 9.5). Applying for social assistance does not by itself lead to expulsion (art. 9 bis). A change of nationality, marital status or address is reported to the immigration office or the police (art. 14.2).

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Documents and visas from the US, the UK, Canada and Australia

Citizens of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia enter Spain without a visa for short stays (Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 on visa lists). The family member of an EU citizen from these countries enters as a visitor and files the card application in Spain within three months of entry (art. 8.2). The card itself is not a visa matter, and no separate residence visa is needed for it. A family member who needs a visa, for example a spouse from India or China, receives it free of charge and with priority, and a refusal must be reasoned (art. 4.2 and 4.3 RD 240/2007).

British citizens are not EU citizens. A British citizen who lived in Spain before January 1, 2021, is covered by the Withdrawal Agreement and holds a separate card under that agreement. A British spouse or partner of an EU citizen who moves to Spain now applies under this regime as a non-EU family member. An Irish citizen is an EU citizen and registers as one, so the non-EU spouse of an Irish citizen applies for the family member card.

The United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and Australia are parties to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention. Marriage and birth certificates and court orders on custody and adoption 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.

A US domestic partnership or a UK civil partnership is not a registration in an EU or EEA country, so a couple with such a registration applies under art. 2 bis as unregistered partners: the year of cohabitation is proved with documents from any country. A marriage from any of these countries falls into the first category, the spouse. Which documents need an apostille and a translation we determine when the service is ordered.

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Can you work

Yes. The EU citizen and their family member work as employees and self-employed, provide services and study on the same terms as Spanish nationals (art. 3.2 RD 240/2007). There is no separate work permit and no labor market test.

The right to work extends to all family members, including children aged 21 and over and dependent parents. The exception for them that stood in art. 3.2 was declared void by the Supreme Court together with the paragraph on which work does not change the position of a dependent (Supreme Court judgment of June 1, 2010). The EU citizen’s work is at the same time a basis for the right of the whole family (art. 7.1.a), and worker status is preserved during temporary incapacity for work, unemployment with registration at the employment service, and vocational training (art. 7.3).

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Divorce, death of the EU citizen and absence from Spain

The death of the EU citizen does not end the right of a non-EU family member to live in Spain if they lived in Spain as a family member before the death, and the death must be reported to the authorities (art. 9.2). The departure or death of the EU citizen does not end the right of their children, or of the parent who has actual custody of them, whatever that parent’s nationality, while the children live in Spain and study, until the end of their studies (art. 9.3).

On annulment of the marriage, divorce or cancellation of the partnership registration, a non-EU family member must report it to the authorities and keeps the right under one of the conditions of art. 9.4:

Art. 9.4 sets no deadline for reporting the divorce. The regime for the family of a Spanish citizen has one, six months (art. 99.4 RD 1155/2024).

Art. 14.3 made absence from Spain for more than six months a year a ground for ending the card, except for military service and absence of up to 12 consecutive months for pregnancy and childbirth, serious illness, studies, vocational training or a work posting. The Supreme Court in judgment 564/2026 of May 5, 2026, declared this rule void: such a restriction on freedom of movement can be introduced only by statute, not by regulation. Absence of more than six months does not by itself end the card. The permanent right has its own rule: it is lost after an absence of more than two consecutive years (art. 10.7).

If the right cannot be kept, the family member moves to the general regime by a change of permit type, a procedure covered in the article on change of status.

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Refusal and appeal

Entry, registration or the card can be refused, and a person expelled from Spain, only on grounds of public policy, public security or public health (art. 15). A refusal of entry or of a visa must be reasoned, and the reasons are given to the applicant unless this is contrary to state security (art. 4.3).

A refusal of the card or of registration is challenged under the general rules of administrative law: a recurso de reposición, an appeal to the same authority, within one month of notification (art. 123 and 124 Ley 39/2015), or a recurso contencioso-administrativo, a claim at the Juzgado de lo Contencioso-Administrativo, the first instance administrative court, within two months (art. 46.1 LJCA, the Law on Administrative Jurisdiction, Ley 29/1998).

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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Permanent residence and citizenship

After five years of continuous lawful residence in Spain, the EU citizen and their non-EU family member acquire the right of permanent residence, and the conditions of art. 7 no longer apply to them (art. 10.1). The EU citizen receives, on request, a certificate of the right of permanent residence. The non-EU family member receives a permanent card, tarjeta de residencia permanente de familiar de ciudadano de la Unión, within three months of applying (art. 11.1). The application is filed within the month before the five-year card expires or within three months after, with an administrative penalty for late filing. The permanent card renews automatically every ten years, and breaks in residence of up to two consecutive years do not affect it (art. 11.1 and 11.3).

The permanent right is acquired before five years by a worker who retired after at least 12 months of work in Spain and more than three years of residence, by a worker with permanent incapacity after more than two years of residence, with no minimum term in case of an accident at work or an occupational disease, and by a worker who, after three years of work in Spain, works in another EU country and returns to Spain at least once a week (art. 10.2). If the spouse of such a worker is a Spanish national, the residence requirement for the first two cases does not apply. The members of this worker’s family acquire the permanent right together with them (art. 10.3).

General long-term residence under RD 1155/2024 does not belong to this regime, and its conditions are covered in the article on long-term residence. Spanish citizenship by residence requires 10 years for EU citizens, except Portuguese citizens, for whom the term is two years, and one year for the spouse of a Spanish citizen (art. 22.1 and 22.2.d Código Civil). The procedure is covered in the article on Spanish nationality.

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Author Aleksandr Nazarov

Frequently asked questions

My husband is a German citizen doing a master's degree in Spain. Can my mother come under the EU regime?

No. Art. 7.4 RD 240/2007 limits the right of residence of a student's family to the spouse, the registered partner and dependent children. Parents and other relatives join an EU citizen who works in Spain or has sufficient resources and insurance. Either the husband starts working and applies for the mother as a dependent relative, or the mother obtains a permit of her own under the general regime.

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I hold an EU family member residence card issued in Ireland. Do I need a visa to enter Spain with my husband?

No. Art. 4.2 RD 240/2007 exempts from the visa a family member who holds a valid residence card of a family member of an EU citizen issued by another EEA country, and no entry stamp is placed in the passport. The card works for entry together with the husband or to join him. If the family stays in Spain longer than three months, the application for the Spanish card is filed within three months of entry (art. 8.2).

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My husband is an Italian citizen and lost his job in Spain. Do I keep my right to the card?

Yes, if your husband keeps his worker status. Art. 7.3 RD 240/2007 preserves it during temporary incapacity for work, during unemployment after a year of work with registration at the employment service, during unemployment after a short contract with a term of at least six months, and during vocational training. If the status is lost, the husband can rely on another basis of art. 7.1: sufficient resources and health insurance for the whole family.

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