Arraigo Familiar — Residency Through Family Ties to Spanish Citizens

Arraigo Familiar is one of Spain’s most important immigration pathways, allowing non-EU nationals with close family ties to a Spanish citizen to obtain residency — even if they are currently in Spain without legal status. Following the 2022 and 2024 immigration reforms, this pathway has become the primary route for many relatives of Spanish citizens.

Unlike the tarjeta comunitaria (EU Family Member) pathway, Arraigo Familiar is rooted in Spanish immigration law (not EU free movement law) and is specifically designed for regularization — meaning it’s available to people already present in Spain.

Key Benefits

• 5-year residency authorization in a single grant (not the usual 1-year initial + renewals)
• Immediate, unrestricted work rights — employment and self-employment
• No income requirement — unlike most visa pathways, there is no IPREM or SMI-based financial threshold
• No minimum time in Spain — unlike Arraigo Social (which requires 2 years of continuous residence), Arraigo Familiar has no minimum presence requirement
• Applied from within Spain — no consulate process, no need to leave the country
• Path to permanent residency and citizenship — counts toward the 10-year residency requirement (or 1-2 years for nationals of certain Latin American countries)

Who Qualifies?

You can apply for Arraigo Familiar if you are a non-EU national present in Spain and meet one of these family relationships:

Primary Qualifying Relationships

Relationship	Requirements
Parent of a Spanish minor	Your child is a Spanish citizen and a minor (under 18), or a dependent adult with a disability. You must demonstrate the parent-child relationship.
Child of a Spanish citizen	You are the minor child (under 18) or dependent adult child of a Spanish national resident in Spain.
Spouse or registered partner	You are married to or in a pareja de hecho (registered partnership) with a Spanish citizen. The relationship must be genuine and current.

Important Distinctions

• Spanish citizen, not just EU citizen — Arraigo Familiar applies specifically to family of Spanish nationals. Family of other EU citizens should pursue the tarjeta comunitaria route.
• The Spanish family member must be in Spain — the Spanish citizen relative should be registered as a resident in Spain (empadronado).
• No criminal record disqualification — prior irregular status in Spain does not automatically disqualify you. However, you must not have a criminal record in Spain or your countries of previous residence (within the past 5 years).

Required Documents

• Completed application form (EX-10 or the standard arraigo application form)
• Valid passport (original + copy of all pages)
• Proof of family relationship — birth certificate (apostilled and sworn-translated), marriage certificate or certificado de pareja de hecho, and Spanish family member’s DNI or passport proving Spanish nationality
• Criminal record certificate — from your country of origin and any country where you’ve lived 6+ months in the past 5 years, apostilled and sworn-translated
• Empadronamiento certificate (proof of address registration in Spain)
• Passport-size photographs (3, white background)
• Application fee (Tasa 790, code 052 — approximately €16)

Application Process

Arraigo Familiar vs. Other Family Pathways

Feature	Arraigo Familiar	Tarjeta Comunitaria	General Regime (Reagrupación)
Legal basis	Immigration law (Organic Law 4/2000)	EU free movement (RD 240/2007)	Immigration law (Organic Law 4/2000)
Family member must be	Spanish citizen	EU/EEA citizen (or Spanish who exercised EU mobility)	Non-EU resident in Spain
Applied from	Within Spain	Within Spain or consulate	Within Spain (by sponsor)
Income requirement	None	”Sufficient resources” (flexible)	150% IPREM + 50% per dependent
Time in Spain required	None	None	Sponsor: 1+ year legal residence
Permit duration	5 years	5 years	1 year (renewable)
Work rights	Immediate, unrestricted	Immediate, unrestricted	Depends on permit type
Available if irregular	Yes	No (must have legal entry/status)	No

Processing Time Reality

The official processing timeframe is 45 days, but actual experience varies significantly by province.

Provincial Variations & Administrative Silence

Important

Provincial variations matter. Applications processed in Madrid or Barcelona regularly take 2-3x the official timeframe due to high volume. The Oficinas de Extranjería in these cities handle the largest share of immigration applications in Spain. Smaller provinces like Alicante, Zaragoza, Bilbao, or Sevilla often process within or close to the stated timeline.

Administrative Silence (Silencio Administrativo)

If the administration fails to respond within the statutory 45-day processing period, Spanish law provides for administrative silence (silencio administrativo). For Arraigo Familiar applications, silence is considered positive — meaning your application is deemed approved.

In practice:

• Do not assume approval without confirmation. Request a written certificate of silence (certificado de acto presunto) from the Oficina de Extranjería.
• You can begin working once the 45-day period expires with no response, but carry documentation of your application date (your resguardo).
• Proceed to your TIE application with the certificate of silence as proof of authorization.

After Approval: Next Steps

1. Apply for your TIE within 30 days of the favorable resolution
2. Register with Social Security if you plan to work — see our Social Security & SIP guide
3. Complete your empadronamiento if not already done — see our Empadronamiento guide
4. Open a bank account with your NIE/TIE — see our Bank Accounts guide
5. Start the citizenship clock — your 5-year residency counts toward citizenship (10 years for most nationalities, 2 years for nationals of Latin American countries, Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Portugal, and Andorra)

Frequently Asked Questions