Procedure · Reagrupación familiar
Family reunification in Spain (reagrupación familiar)
Bringing your spouse, partner, children or parents to Spain. You need a year of residence behind you, 150% of IPREM in regular income, and a social services report on your housing.
Checked at source ·
- Official fee
- Set by the processing fee for the authorisation
- Official name
- Reagrupación familiar
- Forms
- —
- Steps
- 8
- Documents required
- 7
Source: Boletín Oficial del Estado — Real Decreto 1155/2024, por el que se aprueba el Reglamento de la Ley Orgánica 4/2000 (texto consolidado). Checked .
Who needs one
Foreign nationals legally resident in Spain under the general regime who want a family member to join them. EU citizens and their families use a different route entirely — the EU regime, not this one.
Step by step
Check you have been here long enough
The application can be made once you have resided in Spain for at least one year and have applied for authorisation to reside for at least another. Two exceptions: holders of long-term or EU long-term residence granted in Spain may apply for their ascendants as soon as they have applied for that long-term residence, and so may people residing here on the basis of EU long-term residence held in another member state. In every case, the family member's permit cannot be granted until your own renewal has actually taken effect.
Check the relative is one the rule covers
A spouse over eighteen, not separated in fact or in law, where the marriage was not contracted in fraud of law — and only one spouse, even where your national law permits more. An unmarried partner over eighteen, either registered in a public register in an EU member state or in a stable relationship proven by any means admitted in law, which normally means at least twelve continuous months of cohabitation, waived if you have a child together. Children under eighteen, or over eighteen with a disability requiring support or unable to provide for themselves through ill health. People under your legal guardianship. First-degree ascendants who are dependent on you and over sixty-five. And an adult child who will act as your carer, where you have a recognised degree of dependency.
Work out the income you have to show
Fixed and regular resources amounting to 150% of the IPREM for a household of you plus one reunited relative, and a further 50% of the IPREM for each additional member. Income is counted gross, including the proportional share of extra payments; business income is counted as net yield; pensions and benefits count in full whether contributory or not. Resources of your spouse or partner, and of first-degree relatives resident here and living in the same household, are counted together with yours.
Know what will not count towards it
Three kinds of income are expressly excluded, and this is where applications fail on paper that looked sufficient: grants for study and housing aid, whether for rent or purchase; compensatory and maintenance payments, unless they are in favour of the person you are reuniting; and anything coming from the social assistance system. Stable assets are assessed as the average of the last six months rather than the balance on the day.
If you are reuniting a child, the threshold can come down
For children and for people under your legal guardianship, the amount can be reduced where the best interests of the child justify it, weighing the child's age, physical and emotional development, the relationship with you and the size of the household. Where that applies to a two-person household including a minor, the figure becomes 110% of the annual guaranteed income of the Ingreso Mínimo Vital, plus 10% for each additional minor.
Get the housing report early — it takes a month
Adequate housing is proven by a report from the social services of your place of residence, issued by the autonomous community or, where it has so decided, the local council. It must be issued and notified within one month of your request, and sent electronically to the immigration office. It has to be no more than six months old when you file, and must state the title entitling you to occupy the dwelling, the number of rooms, what each is used for, how many people live there, and its habitability and equipment. If it is not issued in time and you can evidence that, you may prove the housing by any other means admitted in law.
Where: Social services of your municipality or autonomous community
Cover the rest of the conditions
Health insurance for you and for the family members concerned. Any other minor children of yours already in Spain and of compulsory school age must be enrolled in school. You must not be inside a no-return commitment period assumed on a voluntary return to your country. And you must not represent a threat to public order, public security or public health, which is checked against Spanish criminal records and a police report.
Apply in person at the immigration office
You apply personally at the immigration office competent to process it, on the official form, for a temporary residence authorisation in favour of each family member. Note that it is you who applies, not them — the exception being families of EU long-term residents from another member state, who may apply themselves.
Where: Oficina de Extranjería of your province
Documents you need
Official application form
One for each family member you are applying for.
Complete copy of your passport or travel document
In force. A cédula de inscripción is accepted in its place.
Proof of employment or sufficient resources
Evidence meeting the 150% / 50% of IPREM thresholds, remembering what is excluded from the count.
Social services report on the housing
Issued within the last six months, stating the title to occupy, room count and use, occupants, and habitability. Not binding on the authority, but a decision departing from it has to give reasons.
Health insurance
Covering you and the family members being reunited.
Proof of the family relationship
Marriage certificate, registration of the partnership or evidence of twelve months' cohabitation, birth certificates, or the adoption decision — which must be capable of taking effect in Spain.
Custody documentation, where the child is not yours and your partner's
Proof of sole parental authority or exclusive custody, or the other parent's consent to the child moving to Spain, or a court authorisation.
Common questions
How much money do I need for family reunification in Spain?
150% of the IPREM for a household of you plus one reunited family member, and 50% of the IPREM for each additional member. The resources must be fixed and regular, and those of your spouse or partner and of first-degree relatives living with you count towards it.
Does housing benefit count towards the income requirement?
No. Housing aid, whether for rent or purchase, is expressly excluded, as are study grants, income from social assistance, and compensatory or maintenance payments unless they are in favour of the person being reunited.
How long do I have to have lived in Spain first?
At least one year, and you must have applied for authorisation to reside for at least another. Holders of long-term residence granted in Spain can apply for their ascendants as soon as they have applied for that long-term residence.
Can I bring my parents?
First-degree ascendants — yours or your spouse's or partner's — can be reunited when they are dependent on you, over sixty-five, and there are reasons justifying the need for them to live in Spain. Exceptionally, and on humanitarian grounds, ascendants under sixty-five who meet the other conditions.
My partner and I are not married. Does that work?
Yes, if the relationship is analogous to marriage and either registered in a public register in an EU member state, or proven as a stable relationship — which normally means at least twelve continuous months of cohabitation, in or outside Spain. That period is not required if you have a child together and the relationship continues.
What is the housing report and how long does it take?
A report from your local social services confirming the dwelling is adequate. It must be issued and notified within one month of your request. It has to be less than six months old when you file the reunification application, so request it early but not too early.
Which office, in your province
Not every police station handles every procedure, and the assignment differs from province to province — in Alicante the residence card is issued at one address and the NIE at another. Pick your province to see the offices that actually do this one, with addresses and phone numbers.
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from one of these. We do not cite other guides, because a copy gives us no way to notice when the original changes.
- Real Decreto 1155/2024, por el que se aprueba el Reglamento de la Ley Orgánica 4/2000 (texto consolidado)Boletín Oficial del Estado
- Cita previa de extranjeríaMinisterio de Política Territorial y Función Pública
This is information, not advice
Your own case depends on your nationality, your current status and your history with the administration — none of which a web page can see. Confirm anything that matters with the responsible authority or a qualified professional before you act on it.