Visa and entry after your family's reunification is approved

Key rules

• Visa application: Your family must apply at the consulate within two months of the approval being notified.
• Entry: The visa is valid for 3 months, so your family must enter Spain within that time.
• Consulate: Where there is no Spanish consulate, your family applies at the designated one, normally in a neighbouring country.
• Next step: After arrival, your family must apply for the TIE within one month.

Apply for the visa within two months

Note the date of the approval notice and work back from it. If the approval was silent, the two months run from day 45 after registration, and the certificate of silent approval you requested from the immigration office replaces the approval notice. Start gathering papers straight away, because legalising and translating foreign documents takes time. If your family does not apply within two months of the approval, the approval lapses and you must file a new application.

Enter Spain within 3 months

Check the dates stamped on the visa when it is collected. Those dates, not the date of approval, are what count. Do not book non-refundable travel until you have seen them.

Which consulate to use

Your family applies at the Spanish consulate that covers the country where they live.

What happens at the consulate

Each relative who applies needs a file with the original approval notice (or the certificate of silent approval) and a passport valid for the whole visa period. For a child travelling without one parent, expect to be asked for proof of custody or consent.

The long-stay visa fee is 80 EUR for each relative. The consulate decides within one month of the application, and if it does not answer, treat that as a refusal. If the consulate refuses the visa, you can appeal against the refusal; the written refusal states where and how.

After your family arrives

The visa lets your family enter Spain. It is not the final permit. After arriving, they must apply for the foreigner card (TIE). They book an appointment at the police or immigration office, give fingerprints and pay the TIE fee of 16.00 EUR on modelo 790 code 012.

Legalising and translating documents

• Issued in another EU country: no apostille, and, where a multilingual standard form exists for the document, it replaces the translation.
• Issued in a non-EU country that is a Hague Convention member: an apostille, and a sworn translation into Spanish unless the document is already in Spanish.
• Issued in a non-EU country that is not a Hague member: full legalisation through that country's foreign ministry and the Spanish consulate, and a sworn translation into Spanish unless the document is already in Spanish.

Consular visa to foreigner card timeline

If your answer to “When was the reunification approval notified?” is 10 Nov 2026, your steps fall on these dates:

Documents you need

• Visa application form, completed for each relative applying.

• Valid passport, valid for the full period of the visa.

• Original notice of approval (resolution) from the immigration office, or the certificate of silent approval.

• Proof of family tie, legalised and translated by issuing country, as set out above; the proof for each relationship is listed in What family reunification requires.

• Criminal record certificate for each adult, covering the last 5 years in the countries where they lived, legalised and translated in the same way.

• Medical certificate stating that the person has no disease affecting public health.

• Proof of payment of the visa fee.

• Proof of custody or consent for a child, where one parent is not travelling and the consulate asks for it.