Family reunification in Spain: bringing family on a work permit

Ordinary reunification is designed for a foreign national who already holds legal residence in Spain. The standard timing rule is one year of residence plus an application to remain for at least another year. Approval for the family member cannot normally take effect until the person in Spain has received the required renewal or long-term status.

The person in Spain—not the relative abroad—starts the process with the Foreigners' Office for their province, in person or electronically through Mercurio. The official decision period is two months; no answer by then is treated as a refusal, not approval. If approved, the relative applies personally for a visa at the correct Spanish consulate and then completes the TIE steps after arrival.

Long-term residents have particular rules, especially for parents and parents-in-law. A person who previously obtained EU long-term residence in another member state may also have different timing rules. Read the permit held by the person in Spain and the current Ministry information sheet rather than assuming the ordinary waiting rule always applies.

If the person in Spain is approaching long-term status, read our Spain permanent residence guide.

The route covers one spouse or a partner over 18 in an equivalent relationship. A registered partnership must remain valid. An unregistered stable partnership normally requires evidence of at least 12 continuous months of cohabitation; that prior period is not required where the couple have a child together and the relationship continues. Marriage and an equivalent partnership cannot be used simultaneously, and Spain does not admit more than one spouse or partner.

Children of the person in Spain or their spouse or partner qualify if under 18 when the residence application is filed. Certain adult children can qualify when a disability requires support or their health makes them objectively unable to provide for themselves. Similar conditions apply to people legally represented by the person in Spain. Where only one parent applies for a minor, the evidence must match the actual parental-responsibility and custody arrangement. When required, it must also show that the child is genuinely in that parent's care and include the other holder's consent or court authorisation for residence in Spain.

Parents and parents-in-law face a much higher bar. The person in Spain must hold national long-term residence or EU long-term residence granted by Spain. The family filing may accompany that person's application for long-term status but cannot be granted first. The parent must normally be dependent, over 65, and have reasons that justify residence in Spain. Dependency must be real, stable, and already exist in the country of origin. Documented support or paid expenses reaching 51% of the origin country's annual GDP per person for at least the previous year creates a rebuttable presumption of dependency, using World Bank data, but it is not the only way to prove dependency. A younger parent may qualify exceptionally for humanitarian reasons. The rules also cover a specific adult child who will care for a person in Spain with an officially recognised level of dependency. These categories require substantial evidence and are not automatic rights.

The person in Spain must show stable, regular resources that are sufficient for the whole household. The ordinary baseline for two people is 150% of IPREM; each additional member adds 50%. With the official monthly IPREM still €600 in 2026, that means €900 for two, €1,200 for three and €1,500 for four. These are reference minimums, not a promise that every form of savings or income will be accepted.

There are protective reduction rules for applications involving minors or represented persons. The Ministry describes an SMI-based safeguard and a separate annual minimum tied to the guaranteed Minimum Living Income amount where a two-person household includes a minor. Because those figures and the family composition matter, do not simply substitute the €900 calculation when asking for a reduction.

The person in Spain also needs evidence of suitable housing, usually a report from the autonomous community or an authorised municipality. If the authority has not issued and delivered it within one month, alternative evidence may be accepted together with proof that the report was requested. The report or substitute evidence can be no more than six months old when filed. Health coverage for the person in Spain and their relatives must also be documented as required for their circumstances.

The usual core is form EX-02, the passport and residence evidence of the person in Spain, proof of employment or other resources, housing and health coverage, plus the relative's complete valid passport and documents proving the family relationship. Depending on the case, add custody or consent documents, proof of dependency, transfers and paid expenses, medical evidence, or proof that a parent needs to move.

Foreign public documents normally need an apostille or legalisation unless an exemption or treaty applies. Documents not in Spanish—or the co-official language accepted by the filing authority—need a sworn translation. Transliteration, previous surnames, dates, marital history and parentage should agree across passports, certificates and application forms.

For a later marriage or partnership, the person in Spain may need evidence that a previous relationship ended and information about arrangements for the former spouse and children. A person applying to bring a spouse or partner must also declare that no other spouse or partner lives with them in Spain.

A principal applicant under the entrepreneurs and internationalisation law—such as an EU Blue Card or national highly qualified professional holder, intra-company transferee, researcher, entrepreneur or international teleworker—should not default to ordinary EX-02 reunification. Law 14/2013 allows qualifying family members to seek visas or residence authorisations jointly and simultaneously, or successively later, through the UGE-CE system.

The Law 14 family definition includes a spouse or equivalent partner, children who are minors or financially dependent and have not formed their own family unit, and dependent ascendants. The evidence must establish both the relationship and any required dependency. The principal and family files also need the resources, insurance and other general conditions applicable to that route.

The principal permit's route determines the family's procedure; it does not make every relative eligible. Avoid mixing an ordinary IPREM formula, an international-teleworker funds calculation and a consular checklist. Use the current UGE-CE instructions and the consulate responsible for the family's place of residence.

Compare the main high-skill permits in our EU Blue Card vs highly qualified professional guide.

Under ordinary reunification, the spouse or partner and children who reach working age may work anywhere in Spain as employees or self-employed people without a separate work-permit application. The underlying family status must still be valid, and a regulated profession can still require recognition or professional registration.

After the visa and legal entry, a family member whose authorisation exceeds six months normally applies personally for the TIE. Municipal registration, school enrolment, a Social Security number and healthcare access are separate practical steps; none replaces the residence authorisation.

Family authorisations under Law 14/2013 also permit employed and self-employed work throughout Spain without restriction, although regulated professions still have their own entry rules. An employer should inspect the decision and card, and a relative must not start work on the strength of a pending application or visitor stamp.

Plan the registrations with our NIE, TIE and first steps in Spain guide.

Start with the decision or permit held by the person in Spain: ordinary immigration rules, EU free movement, Spanish-family rules, or Law 14/2013. Then match each relative to the exact eligible category and evidence requirement before spending money on translations.

For an ordinary case, verify these points as a connected file:

• the person in Spain has reached the permitted filing point and any required renewal or long-term decision is coordinated
• income evidence is stable, regular and calculated for everyone in the household
• the housing report was requested early enough and will still be less than six months old
• insurance coverage matches the status and intended start date
• civil records, custody consent and dependency evidence cover the exact legal category
• apostilles, legalisation and sworn translations are complete and consistent

Ordinary reunification is a chain: eligibility of the person in Spain, the residence filing in Spain, a decision, the consular visa application, collection, travel, and the TIE. Law 14/2013 can allow joint processing, but family documents and consular steps still take time. Appointment availability is practical rather than legal and should never be treated as guaranteed.

Keep passports valid, monitor electronic notifications and do not book irreversible travel around a statutory maximum. If a child is close to an age threshold or a housing report is close to expiring, obtain case-specific advice before filing; the relevant date can be decisive.

A parent is not eligible merely because the person in Spain sends money occasionally; dependency, age, and the reasons for residence must be proved. An adult child does not qualify simply because they live at home. An unregistered partner needs strong evidence of the relationship, and being in Spain as a visitor does not turn an overseas family process into an automatic in-country application.

The safest application is conservative about labels and generous about evidence. If a relationship, custody order or dependency pattern does not fit the standard category, resolve that issue before choosing the procedure.