Skip to content
Spain PaperworkSpanish administrative procedures · English reference edition

Procedure · Residencia de carácter permanente

Permanent residence in Spain under the EU regime

After five years of legal residence, EU citizens get a permanent registration certificate and their non-EU family get a permanent residence card that renews automatically every ten years.

Checked at source ·

Official fee
€12.00 for the certificate
Official name
Residencia de carácter permanente
Forms
EX-18 · EX-19 · 790-012
Steps
7
Documents required
6

Source: Ministerio del Interior — Tasas — Extranjería. Checked .

Every immigration fee, with the official Spanish wording

Who needs one

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens who have completed the period of legal residence in Spain set by article 10 of Royal Decree 240/2007, and their family members who are not nationals of one of those states.

Step by step

  1. Check you have completed the qualifying period

    The right to reside permanently belongs to EU and EEA citizens, and to their family members who are not nationals of one of those states, once they have legally resided in Spain for the periods set out in article 10 of Royal Decree 240/2007. Legally is the operative word: time spent here without meeting the conditions for residence does not count towards it.

  2. If you are an EU citizen: apply in person on form EX-18

    You must go personally to the Immigration Office of the province where you intend to stay or settle, or failing that to the corresponding police station, to apply for registration in the Central Register of Foreign Nationals. Not by post, and not through a representative.

    Where: Oficina de Extranjería of your province, or the corresponding Comisaría de Policía

  3. Bring the evidence that you met the conditions all along

    Alongside form EX-18: a valid passport or national identity document, plus documentation showing you satisfied the requirements in article 7 of Royal Decree 240/2007 — the conditions for residing here in the first place. If your document has expired, bring a copy of it together with your renewal application.

  4. Pay, and collect it the same day

    The fee is paid on tax form 790, code 012. Once it is paid the registration certificate is issued immediately, showing your name, nationality, address, foreigner identity number and the date of registration. There is no waiting period for this one.

  5. If you are a non-EU family member: form EX-19, and mind the window

    The application is made on form EX-19 during the month before your residence card expires. It can also be submitted within the three months after that expiry date, but doing so leaves you open to an administrative penalty. Three recent colour photographs on a white background are required, not one.

  6. Expect three months, not the same day

    The permanent residence card for a family member is issued within three months of the application entering the register of the body competent to process it. That is a different situation from the EU citizen's certificate, which is handed over immediately, and the difference catches families out when they plan around one date for both.

  7. Then it renews itself every ten years

    The permanent residence card is automatically renewable every ten years. And interruptions of residence of up to two consecutive years do not affect its validity — so a long stretch spent abroad, within that limit, does not undo what you have built up.

Documents you need

  • Form EX-18, for the EU citizen's certificate

    EX-18

    Registration in the Central Register of Foreign Nationals, submitted in person.

  • Form EX-19, for a family member's card

    EX-19

    Submitted in the month before the current card expires, or within three months after, accepting the penalty.

  • Valid passport or national identity document

    If expired, a copy of it together with the application for its renewal.

  • Evidence that the residence conditions were met

    Documentation showing you satisfied the requirements of article 7 of Royal Decree 240/2007 throughout the qualifying period.

  • Three recent colour photographs

    Passport size, white background. Required for the family member's card. Three, not one.

  • Proof of payment of fee 790/012

    790-012

    The certificate is €12.00. The card carries its own fee.

Common questions

How long do I have to live in Spain before permanent residence?

The qualifying periods are set by article 10 of Royal Decree 240/2007, and the residence has to have been legal throughout. Time here that did not meet the conditions for residence does not count towards it.

Does the permanent residence card expire?

It is automatically renewable every ten years. The right itself does not lapse with the card — the card is the document evidencing it.

I want to spend a year abroad. Will I lose it?

Interruptions of residence of up to two consecutive years do not affect the validity of the permanent residence card. Beyond two consecutive years, it does.

How long does it take?

For an EU citizen, the registration certificate is issued immediately once the fee is paid. For a non-EU family member, the permanent residence card is issued within three months of the application being registered.

My card expired last month. Am I too late?

No. The application should be made in the month before expiry, but it can also be submitted within the three months following it. Doing so does leave you exposed to an administrative penalty, so it is not a free extension.

Can someone else submit it for me?

The EU citizen's registration must be applied for personally at the immigration office or police station. This is the same rule as for the initial registration certificate.

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.

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.