Procedure · Residencia temporal y trabajo por circunstancias excepcionales de víctimas de violencia de género o violencia sexual
Residence for victims of gender-based or sexual violence in Spain
Reporting does not expose you to expulsion: the immigration penalty procedure is suspended, a provisional permit to live and work is granted automatically when you apply, and your identity card does not record that you are a victim.
Checked at source ·
- Official fee
- No visa is required, and the provisional authorisation is granted by the administration of its own motion once the application is filed
- Official name
- Residencia temporal y trabajo por circunstancias excepcionales de víctimas de violencia de género o violencia sexual
- Forms
- —
- Steps
- 13
- Documents required
- 5
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 victims of gender-based violence or sexual violence in Spain, whatever their nationality or administrative situation, and their children and dependent relatives.
Step by step
Your rights do not depend on your papers
A foreign woman who is a victim of gender-based violence holds the rights recognised by Organic Law 1/2004 regardless of her nationality and of her administrative situation in Spain. A victim of sexual violence holds the rights recognised by Organic Law 10/2022 on the same terms. Being in Spain without authorisation does not remove them, and the Regulation says so before it says anything else.
Reporting suspends the immigration penalty procedure
This is the question that stops people reporting, and the two chapters answer it slightly differently. For gender-based violence: if reporting or proving the situation reveals that you are here irregularly, any penalty procedure already opened for unlawful presence is immediately suspended by the case officer until the criminal proceedings end, and if none had been opened, the decision on whether to open one is postponed until then. For sexual violence the protection is wider: no penalty procedure is opened at all, any procedure opened before the report is suspended, and so is the execution of any expulsion or removal order already agreed.
They have to tell you this themselves
The authority the report is made to, or the authority competent to issue the accreditation under the violence rules, must immediately inform you of the possibilities open to you under these articles and of the rights you hold under the relevant Organic Law. If that did not happen, the rights existed anyway.
Apply at the Immigration Office of the province where you live
The application may be filed by you or by a representative. What proves the situation is not limited to a conviction: a protection order, a report from the Public Prosecutor, or the accreditation document provided for in the gender-violence rules will do. For sexual violence the list also includes a judicial decision finding evidence of sexual violence, and the accreditation document under the sexual-freedom law.
Where: Oficina de Extranjería of the province where you live
The provisional permit is granted automatically, and works at once
Once the application is filed with that documentation, the competent authority grants a provisional residence and work authorisation of its own motion, in your favour and, where applicable, in favour of your children. It takes effect from the moment it is granted, and it allows you to live and to work in Spain, employed or self-employed, in any occupation or sector. Its life is tied to whether the final authorisation is granted or refused.
Your identity card does not say why you have it
Within a month of the grant you apply in person for the foreigner identity card. The card is valid for a year and records that you are authorised to reside and work in Spain — but not that the authorisation is provisional, and not that you are a victim of violence. The same applies to the cards issued to your family members.
Your children and dependent relatives are covered too
You may apply at the same time, at any point during the criminal proceedings, or afterwards, for permits for your minor children, minors under your guardianship, adult children with a disability requiring support or who cannot objectively provide for themselves because of their state of health, and your first-degree direct ascendants, who are issued residence on humanitarian grounds. The condition is that they were in Spain when the report was made. Children over sixteen get the right to work, employed or self-employed, in any occupation or sector, subject to employment law.
These files are handled ahead of others
The Regulation states expressly that the authorisations in both chapters are processed on a preferential basis. It is a small provision with a real effect on how long you wait.
If the case ends in a conviction: five years
Where a conviction or a judicial decision establishes that you were a victim, a residence and work permit for exceptional circumstances is issued, valid for five years, along with the permits for your children and ascendants. If you already held the provisional permit, the Government Delegate or Sub-delegate grants and notifies the final one within a maximum of twenty days from the Immigration Office learning of the judgment. Granting it closes any penalty procedure that may have been open against you.
The time on the provisional permit counts
During those five years you may apply for long-term residence, and the time you held the provisional authorisation is counted for that purpose. The waiting does not go to waste.
If you had not applied yet, you have six months from the judgment
Where the proceedings end favourably and you had not applied, the Public Prosecutor must inform you that you can apply for a permit for yourself and for the children and ascendants covered by these chapters — and that you have six months from the date the judgment was notified to you to do it. The application is then handled in the ordinary way.
What happens if the case does not end in a conviction
This is the part to know before you decide, and it is stated plainly in the text. Where the proceedings end without a conviction, or with a judicial decision from which it does not follow that you were a victim, a pending application is refused, along with those for your family members; any provisional authorisation granted automatically loses effect, and holding it cannot afterwards be relied on to obtain long-term residence or nationality; and the penalty procedure that was suspended or not opened begins or resumes.
Where the victim is a child
For a victim of sexual violence found to be a minor, everything done under this chapter must protect the child's best interests. A residence permit is issued to the child, and extended to the responsible adults with them in Spain — unless there are indications that those adults inflicted the violence, were involved in it, consented to it, or failed to show the diligence required to prevent it. The public institution holding legal guardianship, or the Public Prosecutor, may propose referral to specific protection or specialised assistance resources, which must in every case keep minors and adults separate.
Documents you need
Complete copy of a valid passport, travel document or cédula de inscripción
For you and, where they are included, for your family members.
Proof of your situation
A protection order, a report from the Public Prosecutor, or the accreditation document under the violence rules. For sexual violence, also a judicial decision finding evidence of sexual violence. A conviction is not required to apply.
Document granting representation
Where someone other than you files the application.
Proof of the family relationship
For the children, guarded minors, dependent adult children and first-degree ascendants included in the application.
For the first TIE renewal, in some cases: a copy of the report
Where the provisional permit was granted on the strength of the accreditation document, the court hearing the criminal case is informed at the point of that first renewal, and a copy of the report is attached then.
Common questions
Will I be expelled if I report while I have no papers?
The Regulation is designed to prevent that. For gender-based violence, any penalty procedure for unlawful presence is immediately suspended until the criminal proceedings end, and if none was open the decision to open one is postponed. For sexual violence no penalty procedure is opened at all, one already open is suspended, and the execution of any expulsion or removal order already agreed is suspended too.
Do I need a conviction to apply?
No. A protection order, a report from the Public Prosecutor, or the accreditation document provided for in the violence rules is enough to apply — and for sexual violence, also a judicial decision finding evidence of it. The conviction matters later, for the five-year permit.
Can I work while my case is going on?
Yes. Once you file the application the authority grants a provisional residence and work authorisation of its own motion. It takes effect from the moment it is granted and allows employed and self-employed work in any occupation or sector.
Will my residence card show that I am a victim?
No. The card records that you are authorised to reside and work in Spain. It does not record that the authorisation is provisional, and it does not record that you are a victim of violence. The same applies to your family members' cards.
What about my children?
You can apply for them at the same time, during the proceedings, or afterwards, provided they were in Spain when the report was made. It covers minor children, minors under your guardianship, adult children with a disability requiring support or unable to provide for themselves because of their health, and your first-degree ascendants. Children over sixteen also get the right to work.
How long does the permit last if the case succeeds?
Five years, notified within twenty days of the Immigration Office learning of the judgment if you already held the provisional permit. The time you spent on the provisional authorisation counts towards long-term residence.
What if the case does not end in a conviction?
The application is refused, any provisional authorisation loses effect automatically, and holding it cannot be relied on later for long-term residence or nationality. The immigration penalty procedure that was suspended or postponed then begins or resumes.
I did not apply during the proceedings. Is it too late?
Not if the case ended favourably. The Public Prosecutor must tell you that you can apply, for yourself and for your children and ascendants, and you have six months from the date the judgment was notified to you.
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.