Procedure · Menores extranjeros no acompañados: determinación de la edad, residencia y mayoría de edad
Unaccompanied foreign minors in Spain (menores extranjeros no acompañados)
Age determination, the residence permit that starts automatically after ninety days and backdates to the day of placement, and the two routes open on turning eighteen — with or without a permit already in hand.
Checked at source ·
- Official fee
- The residence procedure is started by the Immigration Office of its own motion, without an application from the minor
- Official name
- Menores extranjeros no acompañados: determinación de la edad, residencia y mayoría de edad
- Forms
- —
- Steps
- 14
- 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
Foreign minors who arrive in Spain without a responsible adult, the protection services and lawyers acting for them, and young people reaching eighteen after being in care.
Step by step
Who this covers
A foreign national under eighteen who arrives in Spain without an adult responsible for them, whether legally or by custom, where a risk of lack of protection is identified, and for as long as no such adult has effectively taken charge of them. It also covers any foreign minor who finds themselves in that situation once in Spain. None of it displaces the possibility of qualifying under the trafficking and collaboration provisions of the immigration statute, or under the international protection rules.
Where the minority of age is not in doubt
Where the security forces find an unaccompanied foreign national whose minority is beyond doubt from their documents or their physical appearance, they are placed at the disposal of the competent child protection services and the Public Prosecutor is informed. Their identifying details are entered in the Register of Unaccompanied Foreign Minors.
Where it cannot be established with certainty
The security forces must inform the regional child protection services as soon as they know, so that immediate care can be given. The matter goes to the Public Prosecutor immediately, who must order the determination of age in the shortest possible time, with health institutions carrying out the necessary tests as a priority and as a matter of urgency. The competent Government Delegate or Sub-delegate is also informed of the location. If the person needs immediate care while all this is happening, the security forces must request it from the regional services.
If the test gives a range, the lower bound decides
This is the provision worth knowing above all the others. Where the age determination is done by establishing a range of years, the person is considered a minor if the lowest age in that range is below eighteen. Medical age tests do not produce a number, they produce a bracket, and the Regulation resolves that bracket in the young person's favour. The Prosecutor's decree fixing the age also decides on placement with protection services, and is entered in the Register.
They must be told about asylum, in a language they understand
Once the minor has been placed at their disposal, the protection service must inform them reliably, and in a language they can understand, of the basic content of the right to international protection and the procedure for applying for it, as well as of the child protection rules in force. That must be recorded in writing.
Repatriation is a decision about the child, not about immigration
The Government Delegation opens a repatriation procedure only where, on the information received, the child's best interests are served by reuniting them with their family or placing them with their country's protection services. It first requests a report from that country's diplomatic representation on the child's family circumstances, and information from the entity holding guardianship and from the regional administration. Where the country replies about its protection services instead of the family, the answer must expressly contain a written undertaking by its competent authority to take responsibility for the child.
The child has a voice, and from twelve it is presumed sufficient
Once the procedure is opened there is a ten-day period for the minor, the entity holding guardianship and the Public Prosecutor to make submissions and propose evidence. From sixteen the young person can act for themselves or through a representative they choose. Below that they are represented by the guardianship entity — but where a minor under sixteen with sufficient judgement expresses a wish contrary to that entity's, the procedure is suspended until a judicial defender is appointed for them. Anyone over twelve is taken to have sufficient judgement, and it can be found at a younger age.
Evidence, hearing, and a six-month limit
Where the facts alleged are decisive, an evidence period of between ten and thirty days is opened. The Public Prosecutor reports. Then comes the hearing, at which the presence of a minor with sufficient judgement is guaranteed so they can say what they think about their own repatriation, with the Prosecutor, the guardian and any judicial defender summoned, and an official record kept. The decision must be taken and notified within a maximum of six months from the opening of the procedure, and it must state whether repatriation is on the basis of family reunification or placement with the country's protection services. It ends the administrative route, and the decision itself must expressly mention the right to apply for free legal aid in order to challenge it in court.
The residence permit starts by itself after ninety days
The Immigration Office of the province where the minor lives opens the residence procedure of its own motion — or on higher instruction, or on request — once repatriation has been shown to be impossible and, in any event, ninety days after the minor was placed with the competent protection services. The decision must be notified within a maximum of one month and communicated to the Public Prosecutor within ten days. The minor's representative then has one month to apply in person for the identity card.
Where: Oficina de Extranjería of the province where the minor lives
Two years, backdated to the day of placement
The permit runs two years, and its effects are backdated to the date the minor was placed at the disposal of the protection service. That backdating is what makes the time in care count. From sixteen it authorises employed and self-employed work in the activities that the protection entity proposes as favouring their social integration. Granting it does not prevent a later repatriation where that favours the child's best interests, and a repatriation actually carried out extinguishes the permit.
Turning eighteen with a permit: renewal against the IMV figure
Apply in the two months before it expires, or up to three months after with a penalty procedure. It is renewed on proof of sufficient means — monthly income above the individual monthly guaranteed income under the Minimum Vital Income law, or proof that support is assured within a public or private programme. Income from employment, from the social system and other amounts received all count, and a qualifying work contract may be presented instead, in which case the renewal takes effect on Social Security registration within a month. Criminal records are weighed rather than applied automatically, taking account of pardons, suspended sentences and completed penalties. Reports on the young person's progress through education or social and employment inclusion programmes are also taken into account.
What the renewal is worth
Two years, renewable for further two-year periods while the requirements hold, unless long-term residence is due instead. The work authorisation it carries is not subject to the labour-market test, and it lasts as long as the residence permit. The identity card must state expressly that it authorises employed and self-employed work.
Turning eighteen without a permit: the route is still open
Minors who were under the protection of a child protection service and reach eighteen without having obtained the permit — though they met the requirements for it, and provided the guardianship was not held under an interim protective measure — may apply for residence for exceptional circumstances. They must have taken part in the training and activities the entity programmed to favour their social integration, certified by it, or otherwise prove their integration into Spanish society.
And the deadline is longer than people think
That application is made in the two months before or the three months after the eighteenth birthday. Exceptionally, it can be made outside that window and up to the day after the young person turns twenty, where duly evidenced reasons outside their control apply — with a report from the autonomous community or the town hall attached. The permit runs two years, renewable in two-year periods, carries work rights with no labour-market test, and the card again states expressly that it authorises employed and self-employed work.
Documents you need
Complete copy of a valid passport or travel document
Recognised as valid in Spain. Failing that, it can be replaced by a cédula de inscripción obtained under the Regulation.
Proof of the protection service representative's authority
Documenting that the individual acting in the procedure is competent to do so on the service's behalf.
Proof of the guardianship relationship
Evidencing the guardianship, custody, provisional protection or care relationship between the minor and the protection service.
On turning eighteen: proof of sufficient means
Income above the individual monthly guaranteed income under the Minimum Vital Income law, or proof that support is assured within a public or private programme. A qualifying work contract may be presented instead.
On turning eighteen: certification of participation
From the protection entity, on the training and activities programmed to favour social integration — or reports evidencing integration into Spanish society.
Report from the autonomous community or town hall
Required for an application made after the ordinary window and up to the day after turning twenty, and to certify continued presence and social integration.
Common questions
What happens if the age test gives a range?
The person is considered a minor if the lowest age in the range is under eighteen. Medical age assessments produce brackets rather than exact ages, and the Regulation resolves the bracket in the young person's favour.
How long before the residence permit is applied for?
It is not applied for — the Immigration Office opens the procedure of its own motion once repatriation has been shown to be impossible and, in any event, ninety days after the minor was placed with the protection services. The decision is due within a month.
Does the time spent in care count?
Yes. The permit runs two years and its effects are backdated to the date the minor was placed at the disposal of the protection service, so the time in care is not lost.
Can a minor work?
From sixteen, the permit authorises employed and self-employed work in the activities the protection entity proposes as favouring the young person's social integration.
Can the child be heard in a repatriation procedure?
Yes. There is a ten-day submissions period and a hearing at which the presence of a minor with sufficient judgement is guaranteed. Anyone over twelve is presumed to have sufficient judgement, and from sixteen the young person can act for themselves. Where a minor under sixteen with sufficient judgement disagrees with their guardian, the procedure is suspended until a judicial defender is appointed.
I turned eighteen in care and never got a permit. Is it too late?
Not necessarily. You can apply for residence on exceptional circumstances in the two months before or the three months after your eighteenth birthday — and exceptionally, for reasons outside your control that are properly evidenced, up to the day after you turn twenty, with a report from your autonomous community or town hall.
What income do I have to show to renew at eighteen?
Monthly income above the individual monthly guaranteed income figure under the Minimum Vital Income law — or proof that your support is assured within a public or private programme. Income from work, from the social system and other amounts received all count, and a qualifying work contract can be presented instead.
Is the renewed permit subject to the labour-market test?
No. The work authorisation carried by these permits does not take the national employment situation into account, and the identity card has to state expressly that it authorises employed and self-employed work.
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.