Choosing your family routeArticle 4 of 11 · 3 min read
Bring your family now or reunify them later
Helps you decide whether your family applies together with you or you reunify them after you have settled in Spain. For non-EU newcomers planning a move with a partner, children or a baby on the way.
Routes where family applies with you
The non-lucrative, digital nomad, student, highly qualified professional and entrepreneur routes let your spouse, your registered or stable partner and your children apply in your own file or at the same time. Their permit is linked to yours. The funds you show grow with each family member: amounts by route. Applying together avoids the wait for reunification and is the faster option.
When you reunify later
On any other route, you reunify after you have lived legally in Spain for one year and hold authorisation for at least one more year. Researchers, long-term residents, highly qualified professionals (including the Blue Card) and some entrepreneur routes skip that wait. Who can be reunified is on the route map; the income and housing tests are on the comparison page: bringing 1, 2 or 3 relatives takes EUR 900, EUR 1,200 or EUR 1,500 a month. The procedure from filing to the foreigner card is in the reunification Topic.
Your partner can use their own route
Your partner does not have to be reunified. They can apply on their own file, for example for work, study or non-lucrative residence. They need their own proof of funds, so you may end up showing money twice. In return, they are independent of your status.
A baby born in Spain
Register the birth in the Civil Registry. Within 3 months of the birth, request residence for the baby at the foreigners' office (Oficina de Extranjería) in your province; it is granted to match your status. Get the baby's passport from your consulate, then apply for the foreigner card (TIE).
Together, separately or later
| Together with you | On their own file | Reunify later | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wait | None beyond your own file | None | 1 year of residence plus 1 more year of authorisation, unless your route is exempt |
| Funds | The family amount for your route | Their own proof of funds | Income and housing tests |
| Work | Set by your route; a student's family has no automatic right | Their own permit | From the grant of the permit; the TIE is the proof |
| Suits you if | Your route includes family and you want the fastest arrival | Your partner has their own basis, such as work or study | You must move first and can meet the conditions afterwards |
If your application is refused
After an express refusal, pick one: request reconsideration from the same office within 1 month (recurso de reposición), or go to court within 2 months (contencioso-administrativo). After a silent refusal, reconsideration has no deadline and court is open for 6 months. Under reunification silence means approval after 45 days, so a silent refusal applies to other routes.
Documents you need
- Your residence card.
- The relationship certificate for each relative, and for a baby the Spanish birth certificate: route map.
More in Choosing your family route
- Which Spanish family route applies to each relative
- Reunification versus EU-style family rules: what changes for you
- Can your family come with you on your Spanish visa
- Can your partner or children work or study on a family permit
- Switching family regime after marriage or when your sponsor naturalises
- Family joining a UK national protected by the Withdrawal Agreement
- Family unity for refugees and people under temporary protection
- What the 2025 immigration regulation changed for families
- Moving with a partner: what changes
- Studying in Spain with a partner or children: what changes
Need certainty before you act?
For important relocation decisions, speak with a qualified human specialist.
Always verify important information with the relevant official authority or a qualified adviser before acting. This website uses large language models together with various public data sources, official government documents and other established sources. Due to the amount of data on this website, some information might be wrong. Information may also be incomplete or outdated.