Family of EU and Spanish citizensArticle 3 of 8 · 2 min read
Entering Spain as family of an EU citizen: visa or visa-free
Explains whether family members of an EU citizen need an entry visa for Spain, how the free family visa works, and when to apply for the residence card after arriving. For non-EU relatives planning their trip.
Key rules
- Visa need: You need a visa only if your nationality requires a Schengen visa, and the family visa is free.
- Another EU state's card: A valid family card from another EU or EEA state replaces the visa, but only when you travel with your EU relative or to join them.
Do you need a visa?
Nationals of visa-exempt countries enter without a visa. Everyone else applies for the family visa, which costs nothing, at the consulate before travelling.
If you hold another EU state's family card
A valid residence card of a family member of an EU citizen, issued by another EU or EEA state, exempts you from the Spanish visa. The card does not work alone. You must travel with it, and either travel with your EU relative or go to join them.
How the free family visa works
- Apply at the Spanish consulate in the country where you live. The visa is based on your relationship to the EU citizen.
- The consulate checks the family relationship and the EU citizen's status. It may pass your file to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It must treat your case as a priority and without excess formalities.
- The decision takes up to two months.
- If you are refused, the consulate must give reasons. You can file a recurso de reposición with the consulate within one month, or go to the courts in Madrid within two months. If the consulate stays silent, that counts as a refusal: the recurso de reposición then has no deadline, and the court appeal is within six months.
After you arrive: the card
After you enter Spain, apply for the family residence card within 3 months. The card is valid for 5 years and lets you live and work in Spain as an employee or self-employed; the office, form, fee and appeal are in The EU family residence card for non-EU relatives. Your stay is legal during those 3 months without a card. If you are already in Spain on another permit, or entered without a visa, you apply for the card in Spain, and it replaces the old permit; the 3 months count from your entry.
If you are moving with an unmarried partner
Your partner has no automatic right: entry is facilitated and decided case by case, and you must prove a durable relationship. The proof is in Extended family of an EU citizen and facilitated entry.
More in Family of EU and Spanish citizens
- Who counts as family of an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen
- What your EU citizen relative must show first in Spain
- Extended family of an EU citizen and facilitated entry
- Residence for the spouse, partner and children of a Spanish citizen
- Applying as family of a Spaniard from abroad or inside Spain
- Returning to Spain as a Spaniard with a foreign spouse and children
- Non-EU parents of a Spanish or EU child: your residence options
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