Procedure · Autorización de residencia de larga duración nacional
Long-term residence in Spain (residencia de larga duración)
Indefinite residence and work in Spain on the same terms as a Spaniard, after five years of legal continuous residence — with precise limits on how much time abroad breaks the count, and seven routes that skip the five years entirely.
Checked at source ·
- Official fee
- Set by the processing fee for the authorisation
- Official name
- Autorización de residencia de larga duración nacional
- Forms
- —
- Steps
- 12
- Documents required
- 6
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
Non-EU nationals who have completed five years of legal residence in Spain, and those who reach the status by one of the special routes without them.
Step by step
What the status actually is
Long-term residence authorises you to reside and work in Spain indefinitely, under the same conditions as Spaniards. It is not the EU-regime permanent residence that European citizens and their family members obtain, which is a different status under different rules, and it is not nationality. It is the end point of the general immigration regime.
The five years, and what counts as legal
The right arises for anyone who has resided legally and continuously in Spain for the five years before the application. Legally is doing real work in that sentence: time in Spain without authorisation does not count towards it, however long it lasted.
How much time abroad you can afford — the exact numbers
Continuity is not broken by absences of up to six months at a time, provided they add up to no more than ten months across the five years, unless the departures were made irregularly. Where the absences were for work reasons, the total allowance rises to eighteen months, with the same six-month cap on each individual absence. Absences due to duly justified force majeure do not break it either, and the deciding body assesses individually whether the situation was exceptional enough.
If you work for an NGO abroad, the clock does not stop
Continuity is also unaffected where you are employed by a non-governmental organisation, foundation or association entered in the relevant register and officially recognised as being of public utility, as a cooperante, carrying out research, development cooperation or humanitarian action projects abroad for them. This exemption is separate from the work-absence allowance and is rarely mentioned anywhere.
Seven routes that do not need the five years
The status is also granted to residents receiving a contributory retirement pension within the Spanish Social Security system; residents receiving a contributory pension for absolute permanent incapacity or gran invalidez, or an analogous benefit obtained in Spain consisting of a non-capitalisable life annuity sufficient to support them; people born in Spain who, on reaching majority, have lived here legally and continuously for at least the three consecutive years immediately before the application; people who were Spanish by origin and lost that nationality; residents who on reaching majority had been under the guardianship of a Spanish public entity for the five consecutive years before the application; and stateless people, refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection in Spain or another EU member state.
And an eighth that you do not apply for
People who have contributed notably to Spain's economic, scientific or cultural progress, or to its projection abroad, can be granted the status by the Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, after a report from the Interior Ministry. This one is not applied for by the person concerned: it is started by the Directorate-General for Migration on a proposal from a public authority with competence related to the merit in question, with the evidence of that merit attached.
Apply in the two months before your current permit expires
Filing in that window extends your current residence permit until the decision. Filing within the three months after expiry also extends it, though it opens a penalty procedure for the infringement. Neither of those applies if you already hold a valid residence permit and already meet the conditions — in that case you are not up against the expiry date at all.
Where: Oficina de Extranjería of the province where you live, or the consulate where you reside if you are outside Spain
What the office checks by itself
It verifies your previous periods of residence and obtains the Spanish criminal record certificate and the police report of its own motion, along with any other report it considers relevant — including, where applicable, the reports confirming you receive one of the qualifying pensions. It may refuse the status if it concludes you represent a threat on grounds of public order or public security.
Children's schooling can stop the application
Where the application rests on previous periods of residence, it must include a report from the competent authorities showing that dependent children of compulsory school age are enrolled. If the file does not prove it, the office notifies the education authorities and warns you expressly and in writing that unless the enrolment happens and the report is filed within a month, the authorisation will not be granted.
Three months, and silence means granted
The decision is due within three months of the application being received, and if that passes with nothing, the application is deemed granted. This is the opposite of the default on most first applications in this Regulation, and it is worth being certain about before assuming the worst. Once granted, you apply in person for the foreigner identity card within a month.
The card renews on a schedule that changes with your age
The first renewal of the identity card falls at five years. The second and subsequent ones are every five years until you turn thirty, and every ten years after that. Each renewal is applied for in the two months before the card expires, with the same three-month grace period afterwards.
Missing a card renewal does not cost you the status
Failing to apply for the card renewal within those periods does not in any case extinguish the long-term residence authorisation. The office will check that the conditions that gave you the status still hold, but the status itself survives an expired card — which is exactly the fear that sends people into a panic when they notice the date has passed.
Documents you need
Complete copy of a valid passport, travel document or cédula de inscripción
Current at the time of the application.
Proof of the processing fee
The stamped form evidencing payment.
Report on dependent children's schooling
From the competent authorities, where the application rests on previous residence and you have children of compulsory school age.
Evidence of the special route, where one applies
For those born in Spain, former Spaniards by origin, people who were under public guardianship, and stateless people, refugees or beneficiaries of subsidiary protection.
Foreign criminal record certificate, where required
From the country of origin or the countries you lived in during the five years before the application, showing no convictions for conduct that is an offence under Spanish law.
For a card renewal: passport, fee and one photograph
The photograph must meet the requirements set for the Spanish national identity document.
Common questions
How long do I need to live in Spain to get long-term residence?
Five years of legal, continuous residence before the application. Time spent in Spain without authorisation does not count, no matter how long it was.
How much time can I spend outside Spain?
Absences of up to six months at a time do not break continuity, as long as they total no more than ten months across the five years. If the absences were for work reasons, the total rises to eighteen months, with the same six-month limit on each. Duly justified force majeure does not break it either, assessed case by case.
Is this the same as permanent residence?
No. Permanent residence under the EU regime is for EU citizens and their family members and follows different rules. Long-term residence is the general-regime status, and it authorises you to live and work in Spain indefinitely on the same terms as a Spaniard.
Can I get it without the five years?
Yes, on seven grounds: a contributory retirement pension; a contributory pension for absolute permanent incapacity or gran invalidez, or an equivalent life annuity; being born in Spain and reaching majority with three consecutive years of legal residence; having been Spanish by origin; having been under a Spanish public entity's guardianship for the five years before majority; and being stateless, a refugee or a beneficiary of subsidiary protection recognised in Spain or another EU state.
What happens if nobody answers me?
Three months of silence means the application has been granted. Long-term residence is one of the few procedures in the Regulation where silence works in your favour on a first application.
My card expired and I did not renew it. Have I lost my residence?
No. Failing to apply for the card renewal in time does not extinguish the long-term residence authorisation in any case. The office will check the conditions still hold, but the status is not lost with the card.
How often do I renew the card?
The first renewal at five years, then every five years until you turn thirty, and every ten years afterwards. Apply in the two months before it expires.
Can my application be refused for a criminal record?
The status can be refused where the office concludes, having assessed it, that you represent a threat on grounds of public order or public security. The foreign criminal record certificate is what that assessment is based on, and a refusal on this ground has to be reasoned.
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.