Family reunification visa for Spain: requirements and steps

Who can you bring to Spain?

With an unregistered partner, you do not need the 12 months of living together if you have a child together. You can also bring minors, or adults with a disability, for whom you are the legal representative. If a child is only yours or only your partner's, that parent needs custody or the other parent's consent. Parents under 65 can only come on humanitarian grounds.

If you are Spanish or an EU citizen, this guide is not for you: your family applies for the EU family member card (form EX-19).

When can you apply?

• With temporary residence: once you have lived in Spain for one year and have applied to renew your permit. Your family member gets the permit when your renewal takes effect.
• With long-term residence: at any time.
• To bring your parents: only with long-term residence, which usually comes after five years. You can apply as soon as you have applied for it, but approval comes once you have it.

Requirements for family reunification in Spain

You need stable and regular income. In 2026 these are the monthly amounts (150 % of the IPREM, the public income index, for two people and 50 % more for each extra person):

Your partner's income and that of close relatives living with you in Spain also count. Social assistance does not.

• Suitable housing: an informe de vivienda (housing report) from your regional or town hall social services, less than six months old.
• Health insurance for you and your family.
• School: any school-age children already living with you in Spain must be enrolled in school.
• No criminal record in Spain: the office checks this itself.
• Fee 790 code 052: 10,94 euros in 2026. How to pay it.

How to apply for the family reunification visa, step by step

1. Ask for the housing report. From your regional or town hall social services. They have one month to issue it.
2. Gather the documents and pay the 052 fee. Use the list below.
3. File the application with an appointment. You file it yourself at the Oficina de Extranjería (immigration office) in your province. If there are no appointments, see our guide to immigration appointments.

   Official immigration appointments

4. Wait for the decision. Two months at most. You can check your application status.
5. Your family member applies for the visa at the Spanish consulate in their country (for a husband or wife, often called a spouse visa) and enters Spain within one month of getting it.
6. Your family member applies for the TIE (foreign resident card) with form EX-17 within one month of arriving. How to apply for the TIE.

Documents you need

Prepare these documents before the appointment.

• Official application form EX-02.
• Your passport and your family member's passport.
• Proof of your income.
• Housing report.
• Health insurance.
• Proof of the family link, with an apostille or legalisation and a sworn translation (traducción jurada).
• A statement that you do not live in Spain with another spouse or partner, if you are bringing your spouse or partner.
• Receipt for the 052 fee.

How long it takes and what happens next

The office decides within two months at most; if it does not reply, the application counts as refused. Then come the visa and the TIE. Once in Spain, your spouse, partner and children of working age can work without another permit. The authorisation lasts as long as yours, for at least one year, and is renewed in the two months before it expires (or in the three months after, with a possible fine): how to renew it. After one year, your partner can apply for their own permit if they have their own means or work.

Common problems and how to fix them

My income is not enough

Add your partner's income and that of close relatives who live with you. If you are bringing children under 18, the office can accept less: 110 % of the guaranteed income of the Ingreso Mínimo Vital (minimum income benefit) for two people, plus 10 % for each extra child.

The housing report does not arrive

If a month passes without it, keep proof that you asked for it and prove your housing with other documents showing the same details: rental contract or deed, rooms, who lives there and its condition.

My application was refused

Read the end of the decision: it says which appeal you can make and by when. Get free advice from a migrant support organisation or the legal aid service.