EU family member residence card in Spain (EX-19)

EU family card or another permit?

Your EU family member registers separately and gets the certificado de registro (EU registration certificate, form EX-18), as the NIE guide explains.

Who counts as a family member

For the EU citizen, these count:

• Their spouse or registered partner.
• Their children or their partner's children, under 21, or older if dependent or living with a disability.
• Their parents or their partner's parents, if dependent.
• Other relatives who are dependent or lived with them in the country of origin, and an unregistered stable partner, with their own requirements.

Your EU family member must also have the right to live in Spain: through a job, self-employment, enough income plus health insurance, or studies (in that case only the spouse, registered partner and dependent children count).

How to apply for the EU family card

1. Apply within three months. Submit the application within three months of entering Spain. You apply yourself, not your EU family member.
2. Gather the documents. The EX-19 form, your passport, proof of the family link (legalised or apostilled and translated by a sworn translator), your EU family member's registration certificate and three colour photos on a white background.
3. Pay the fee. The tasa modelo 790 código 012 (the police fee form 790, code 012) costs 12 euros. Fill in the police fee form and add the proof of payment to your application.
4. Submit the application.

   In person, with an appointment, at the Oficina de Extranjería (immigration office) in your province or, where there is none, at the police station. Or online through Mercurio (the government online filing platform), with a digital certificate or Spanish electronic ID card (DNIe).

   Official Police Portal

5. Keep the receipt. You get the resguardo (receipt) when you apply. It proves you are legally in Spain until you have the card.

How long it takes and how long it lasts

It takes up to three months from the application. According to the National Police, without an answer in that time the application counts as refused (silencio negativo, refusal by silence) and you can appeal.

The card lasts five years, or less if your EU family member plans to live in Spain for a shorter time. To renew the EU family card or switch to the permanent card you use the same EX-19. You can apply for the permanent card after five years of continuous legal residence, and it is valid for ten years. The five-year card can expire if you spend more than six months a year outside Spain, with some exceptions. With it you can work as an employee or self-employed.

Divorce, separation or death

Report the divorce, annulment or end of the registered partnership; legal separation without divorce does not count here. You keep your residence in any of these cases:

• The relationship lasted at least three years until the court case started, one of them in Spain.
• You have custody of the EU citizen's children.
• You have suffered gender-based violence.
• You have visiting rights to a minor child who lives in Spain.

If your family member dies, you keep your residence if you already lived in Spain as their family member.

In both cases, until you have the permanent card, the authorities also require a job, self-employment, studies or income plus insurance. If not, you can switch to an ordinary residence permit.

Do you need a lawyer or gestor for the EU family card?

No. You submit the EX-19 yourself, with a free appointment at the immigration office or police station or in Mercurio, and only pay fee 790 code 012. A professional is worth it when:

• It is unclear whether you count as family, for example as an unregistered partner.
• Your card is refused or you lose the right after a divorce.
• You take the case to court (contencioso-administrativo): a lawyer is compulsory there.

If you cannot afford a lawyer, ask the bar association for free legal aid (justicia gratuita). Fees are set freely: get a written quote and distrust anyone who guarantees the result or sells appointments.

Common problems and how to fix them

I missed the three-month deadline

Royal Decree 240/2007 sets no specific fine for a first card applied for late. Apply as soon as possible, with the same documents.

I cannot get an immigration appointment

Follow the tips in the Extranjería appointment guide. With a digital certificate you can file the EX-19 on Mercurio without an appointment.

I am married to a Spaniard and they ask for EX-24

That is the rule under the 2024 Immigration Regulation if your partner has not exercised free movement in another EU country. Apply for the permit for family members of Spanish nationals with the EX-24.

Updated 29 October 2026