EU-citizen regime · RD 240/2007

Family member of an EU citizen (familiar de ciudadano de la UE, EX-19)

Residence card for the relative of a citizen of another EU or EEA state who lives in Spain. Who counts as a family member, what the EU citizen must show, the filing deadlines, what the card gives and how permanent residence is reached.

What this card is

This is a separate regime for the relatives of an EU or EEA citizen. It does not depend on the relative's nationality: the rule applies to family members of any nationality who accompany the EU citizen or join them.

The card is called «tarjeta de residencia de familiar de ciudadano de la Unión». A relative who does not hold the nationality of an EU or EEA state must apply for it in order to live in Spain for more than three months. The application is filed on form EX-19.

Who counts as a family member

Art. 2 lists four groups. They all hold as long as there is no agreement or declaration of nullity of the marriage, divorce or legal separation and, for a couple, the registration has not been cancelled.

Other relatives and unregistered partner (art. 2 bis)

You can ask for this regime to apply also to people not listed in art. 2 if they accompany the EU citizen or join them. At the time of applying the person must show, in a reliable way, one of two things: that in the country of origin they were dependent on the citizen or lived with them; or that, for serious health reasons or disability, it is strictly necessary for the citizen to provide their personal care.

The de facto partner in a stable relationship is named separately. The rule treats it as stable if a lasting bond is proven: in any case a year of continuous marital cohabitation is enough, unless the couple have children in common, in which case properly proven stable cohabitation is enough. Cohabitation in the country of origin counts as proven when 24 continuous months are reliably shown.

Here the decision is an individual assessment and must give reasons: the degree of financial or physical dependence, the degree of kinship, the seriousness of the illness or disability and the earlier time of cohabitation are taken into account.

Rights and work

Family members have the right to enter, leave, move freely and reside in Spain, complying with the formalities and the limits of the rule itself. The right to take up any activity as an employee or self-employed, provide services or study on the same terms as Spaniards belongs to everyone except two categories: descendants over twenty-one who live at the citizen's expense and dependent ascendants under art. 2.d).

Working does not change the status of a dependent relative if the income is not a resource needed for their support, nor in full-time contracts of up to three months a year without continuity as an occupation in the labour market, nor part-time where the pay is not needed for support.

Entry and the first three months

• Passport. A relative without EU or EEA nationality enters with a valid passport, and with a visa if Regulation (EC) 539/2001 requires it. The visa is free and processed as a priority when the person accompanies the EU citizen or joins them.
• Card from another state. A valid residence card of a family member of a Union citizen issued by another state party to the EEA Agreement exempts the person from the visa.
• Under three months. For a stay of less than three months, the passport you entered with is enough. That time does not count towards residence.
• A refusal of a visa or of entry must give reasons, and if travel documents are missing the border authorities must give every facility to obtain them before returning the person.

What the EU citizen must show

The family's right to reside beyond three months is derived: it exists if the EU or EEA citizen meets one of the conditions in art. 7.1:

• works in Spain as an employee or self-employed;
• has, for themselves and their family, enough resources not to become a burden on social assistance, and health insurance covering all risks in Spain;
• is enrolled at a recognised or publicly funded centre with the main purpose of studying and has health insurance, and states they have enough resources for themselves and their family;
• is a family member of a Union citizen who meets one of these conditions.

If the EU citizen is studying (third condition), only the spouse or registered partner and dependent children have the right to reside as family members. No fixed amount of resources is set: personal circumstances count, but it cannot exceed the level below which Spaniards are granted social assistance or the minimum Social Security pension.

The EU citizen must personally apply to be entered in the Central Register of Foreigners at the provincial foreigners' office or police station within three months of entering Spain. A registration certificate (certificado de registro) is issued immediately. That certificate is then attached to the relative's application.

How to apply for the card

Under art. 12, filing and processing the application does not prevent you from staying provisionally in Spain or carrying on your activities. Exceptionally, information on criminal records can be requested from the state of origin and, for public health reasons, a medical certificate.

After you have the card

Renewing the card

If the card has to be renewed before the right to permanent residence is acquired, the renewal is processed under the same RD 240/2007. For ascendants and descendants the documents proving the family link do not have to be provided again.

If the EU citizen dies, leaves or the relationship ends

Art. 9 lets you keep the right of residence in your own name. On form EX-19 it is a separate section: «Mantenimiento a título personal del derecho de residencia».

Permanent residence

Family members who have lived legally in Spain for a continuous period of five years are entitled to permanent residence. This right is not subject to the conditions of chapter III, that is, the check that the EU citizen works or has resources. At the person's request, the office issues as soon as possible, after verifying the length of residence, a certificate of the right of permanent residence.

For family members who are not nationals of another EU or EEA state, a permanent residence card is issued within three months from the date the application entered the register of the competent body. The application is filed on the official form during the month before the residence card expires and can also be filed within three months after that date, without prejudice to any administrative penalty. The card renews automatically every ten years.

Documents: valid passport (if expired, a copy and the renewal application), documents proving the ground that gives the right, and three recent colour photographs on a white background, ID size. Interruptions of residence of no more than two consecutive years do not affect the validity of the permanent card; the right of permanent residence is lost by absence from Spain for more than two consecutive years.

Before five years, permanent residence is available in the cases in art. 10.2 and 10.5: a worker who reaches retirement age, a worker who stops because of permanent incapacity, a worker who works in another member state and returns to Spain at least once a week, and family members of a deceased Union citizen under the conditions the rule sets.

Limits and expulsion

The rights are not absolute: for reasons of public order, public security or public health, entry can be refused, registration or the issue or renewal of the card can be denied, or expulsion can be ordered (art. 15.1). The measure must rest exclusively on personal conduct, which must be a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat to a fundamental interest of society. Earlier criminal convictions are not enough on their own. It cannot be adopted for economic ends.

• For those who have acquired permanent residence, expulsion is possible only on serious public-order or public-security grounds (art. 15.1).
• An EU citizen who has lived in Spain for ten years, or a minor, cannot be expelled except on imperative grounds of public security (art. 15.6).
• The expiry of an ID document, passport or card cannot be a ground for expulsion (art. 15.7). Failing to apply for the card carries financial penalties equivalent to those for Spaniards regarding the DNI (art. 15.8).
• The expulsion decision is issued by the sub-delegate or delegate of the Government; it must give reasons and information on appeals. Barring justified urgency, the time to leave Spain cannot be less than one month (art. 18).

Document checklist for the first card

Tick as you have them. The final list is set by your office; this one follows arts. 8.3 and 14.1.

• Form EX-19 completed and signed (original and copy)
• Valid passport of the applicant. If expired: a copy and the renewal application
• Document proving the family link, marriage or registered union, where needed translated and apostilled or legalised
• Registration certificate (certificado de registro) of the EU or EEA citizen you accompany or are joining
• Where art. 2 requires it: documents proving that you live at the expense of the EU or EEA citizen
• Three recent colour photographs on a white background, ID size
• Proof of payment of the fee
• If you ask for the regime to apply to another relative or an unregistered partner (art. 2 bis): documents on dependence, kinship, serious health or disability grounds, or on the stable relationship and time living together

Common mistakes

• Missing the three months. The application is filed within three months of entry (art. 8.2); not doing so carries a penalty (art. 15.8).
• Not registering the EU citizen. The application needs their registration certificate (art. 8.3.c), and they must register within three months (art. 7.5).
• Not proving dependence. Descendants over 21 and ascendants need documents showing they live at the citizen's expense (art. 8.3.d).
• A marriage document with no apostille or translation. It must, where needed, be translated and apostilled or legalised (art. 8.3.b).
• Long absences. More than six months in a year without the exceptions in art. 14.3 makes the card lapse, and more than two consecutive years loses permanent residence (art. 10.7).

Rule: Real Decreto 240/2007 of 16 February (BOE-A-2007-4184), arts. 1 to 18, consolidated text. Fees: see art. 14.1.