Can you switch routes after arriving in Spain?

Key rules

• Visitor status: Entering as a visitor does not let you switch to residence later, except for the UGE routes (digital nomad, highly qualified, Blue Card, entrepreneur and intra-company transfer), which you can file while you are legally present.
• Filed abroad: Non-lucrative, employee and study first applications are filed at a consulate.
• Filed in Spain: The UGE routes (digital nomad, highly qualified, Blue Card, entrepreneur and intra-company transfer) while you are legally in Spain, arraigo, renewals, modifications, study-to-work changes and humanitarian cases can be filed from inside Spain.
• Family reunification: The sponsor requests it in Spain, then the family collects the visa abroad.

Switching from visitor status is generally not possible. If you enter Spain as a tourist or short-stay visitor, you cannot then apply for residence from inside the country, with one exception: the UGE routes, which you can file while your stay is legal, including on a visa-free stay. Some routes can be filed or changed in Spain. Others require you to file at a Spanish consulate abroad, before you move.

Decide your route first (match your situation to a route), then check where it is filed.

Routes filed at a consulate abroad

File these from your country of residence before you travel:

• Non-lucrative residence.
• Employee first applications.
• Studies.

If you arrive as a visitor planning one of these routes, you will have to go back and file abroad.

Routes you can file from inside Spain

These can be started or changed in Spain:

• Arraigo. This means residence based on roots in Spain. It comes in several forms: social, socio-formative, labour, family and second chance. Every type needs 2 years of continuous stay in Spain first, so a visitor cannot go straight to arraigo.
• UGE routes. File them online with the UGE unit while you are legally in Spain, including on a visa-free stay; from abroad you file them at a consulate.
• Family of EU citizens. You register with the Oficina de Extranjería (the immigration office) or the police.
• Renewals and modifications of a permit you already hold.
• Study-to-work changes. If you hold a student permit, you can change to a work status.
• Non-lucrative to work. After your first year of residence you can ask to change a non-lucrative permit to a work authorisation.
• Exceptional circumstances. Humanitarian and other exceptional permits are a separate route, filed in Spain with the Oficina de Extranjería.

Family members of Spanish citizens file the family card in Spain.

Family reunification

Family reunification works in two steps. The sponsor, who is the family member already living legally in Spain, makes the request in Spain. Once it is approved, the family member collects the visa at a consulate abroad.

What to do

1. Pick the route that fits your situation.
2. Check whether it is filed abroad or in Spain.
3. If it is filed abroad, do not rely on arriving as a visitor and switching later.