Family reunification in Spain: reagrupación familiar

What reagrupación is

Reagrupación familiar — bringing family members to a legal (non-EU) resident of Spain.

Check which path fits

The reagrupante (sponsor) requests the authorisation at the Oficina de Extranjería; once granted, the relative applies for the visado de reagrupación at the consulate.

The sponsor must have resided legally in Spain for at least a year and have applied to renew their permit; the reagrupación application can be filed together with the renewal, but the family permit is granted only once the renewal is granted.

EU/EEA citizens (including Romanians) bring family under the régimen comunitario (tarjeta de familiar de ciudadano de la UE) — a different, more favourable route.

Relatives of Spanish citizens use a separate regime. Since RD 316/2026, in force from 16 April 2026, adult children and first-degree parents can also apply within Spain if both the relative and the Spanish citizen are here and their category conditions are met. Admission for processing provisionally allows residence and, for those of working age, employed or self-employed work until the decision, except where an equivalent application was previously rejected or not admitted on substantially the same facts. A refusal ends provisional work permission.

Who you can bring

• A spouse over 18 or an adult registered or unregistered partner. An unregistered stable partnership requires evidence of at least 12 continuous months living together; this period is waived if you have a child together and the relationship continues. Marriage and partnership routes cannot be combined, and only one spouse or partner can be reunited. Spouses must not be separated in fact or in law, and the marriage must not have been entered into in circumvention of the law. Partners must be unmarried; a registered partnership must be recorded in a public register of an EU state and the registration must not have been cancelled.
• Your children or those of your spouse or partner: under 18 when applying, or adults with a disability requiring support or unable to meet their own needs because of their health. Children from an earlier relationship require the appropriate parental-authority, custody and relocation authorisation or other-parent consent documents.
• Dependent first-degree parents of you, your spouse or partner over 65, where their residence in Spain is justified. Humanitarian grounds can allow parents under 65. The sponsor must obtain larga duración or larga duración-UE status in Spain before the family permit is granted; filing is possible when that status has been requested.
• People legally represented by the sponsor: minors or adults with a disability requiring support or unable to meet their own needs because of their health, provided the legal representation is compatible with Spanish law.
• An adult child of the sponsor, spouse or partner who will care for the sponsor, where the sponsor has an officially recognised degree of dependency under Ley 39/2006.
• This is for non-EU residents; family of EU citizens follows the régimen comunitario.

Requirements for the sponsor

• Fixed, regular means: 150% of IPREM for a two-person household, including the sponsor and one reunited relative, plus 50% for each additional person. A reduction for children and legally represented people may be assessed on the circumstances and the best interests of the child. Where that reduction applies to a two-person household with one minor, the threshold is 110% of the annual guaranteed IMV amount, plus 10% for each additional minor.
• Adequate housing is evidenced by an informe de adecuación de vivienda from the competent comunidad autónoma or ayuntamiento. If the report is not issued and notified within one month, other admissible evidence may be submitted with proof that it was requested. The report or substitute documents must be no more than six months old when filing.
• Health insurance for you and the family members joining you.
• You can request renewal together with family reunification; the family permit is granted once renewal is effective. Parents require the larga duración/larga duración-UE conditions described above.
• The right to appeal a refusal and re-apply once the reasons for refusal have been addressed.

Order and timing

• Authorisation in Spain first (the reagrupante), then the visa at the consulate — the order matters.
• Apply for the visa within 2 months of notification to the sponsor of the reunification approval. The statutory visa decision period is one month from filing: a separate deadline, not a guarantee of actual waiting time.
• Enter Spain within the applicable period after obtaining the visa: under the general RD 1155/2024 procedure, at most one month. Apply for the TIE within one month of entry; check the dates in the decision and visa.
• The first family permit normally ends with the sponsor’s permit, with a minimum of one year; for a larga duración/larga duración-UE sponsor, it runs to the sponsor’s TIE expiry, also with a one-year minimum. The next status and renewal depend on the basis.

Documents

• Application form EX-02, full copies of valid passports, the sponsor’s residence permit/TIE and proof of the renewal or long-term-status application.
• The informe de vivienda adecuada and the tenancy/ownership deed.
• Proof of income (nóminas, employment contract, tax return) showing that you meet the IPREM-based requirement.
• Proof of the family relationship (marriage/birth certificates), legalised and translated; health insurance.
• For the visa stage: the reunification approval, valid passport, original relationship documents, medical certificate and, for applicants of criminal-responsibility age, criminal-record certificates covering countries of residence during the previous five years. Foreign documents require translation and legalisation or apostille unless an exemption applies.

How to apply

• Make sure you have resided legally for at least a year, your permit is renewed or its renewal requested, and you meet the income requirement.
• Request the housing report; if it is not issued and notified within one month, prepare admissible substitute evidence and proof of the request.
• File EX-02 with the Oficina de Extranjería. The statutory authorisation decision period is 2 months; no response within that period allows the application to be treated as refused by administrative silence.
• After notification of approval, the relative applies for the reunification visa at the consulate within 2 months; the statutory visa decision period is one month.
• Enter Spain within the applicable period after obtaining the visa: under the general RD 1155/2024 procedure, at most one month. Apply for the TIE within one month of entry; check the dates in the decision and visa.

A real case: the reunification permit was granted, the visa was not

Common mistakes

• Applying before you have a year of legal residence and have requested renewal of your own permit.
• Failing to prove that you meet the IPREM-based income requirement or to provide the required housing report.
• Applying for parents without meeting the sponsor’s long-term-status requirement, dependency and reasons for the move or the humanitarian exception.
• Missing the two-month visa application deadline after notification of approval, or confusing it with the one-month decision period.
• EU citizens going the general reagrupación route instead of the more favourable régimen comunitario.

Refusal and appeal

• A refusal can be appealed through a recurso de reposición or contencioso-administrativo within the applicable deadline.
• Common grounds: insufficient income/housing, incomplete documents — these can be fixed and re-filed.
• If the visa decision is delayed, ask the consulate about the application status, any additional-document requests and the appeal procedure. Reapplying is not an automatic next step for a delayed decision.
• Keep proof of filing, income documents and the housing report.

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Frequently asked questions

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