Family reunification for foreign residents: requirements, financial means, housing and deadlines

If you are a foreign resident and want to bring your spouse, your children or your parents to Spain, or you have already received a request for further documents or a refusal on financial means or housing, the first thing is to know which regime you are in. This guide covers family reunification under the general regime, exercised by a foreign national who is a resident (Immigration Regulations, Royal Decree 1155/2024, articles 65 to 71). It is not residence as a family member of a Spanish national, which is a different regime with different requirements and which we explain in our guide to family members of Spanish nationals.

Who can bring whom

Article 66 lists the family members you can bring. The list is closed.

Three points that deserve care:

• Marriage, a registered partnership and a proven stable relationship are mutually incompatible. If you remarried, you must show that the earlier dissolution settled the home, maintenance for the former spouse and child maintenance.
• If the child is the child of only one member of the couple, sole parental authority or custody is needed, plus a court authorisation or the other parent's consent for the move.
• Adult children without a disability and other relatives, such as siblings, are not on the list.

Prior residence and other requirements for the sponsor

Article 68.1 allows the application to be filed once you have lived in Spain for at least one year and have applied for authorisation to reside for at least one further year. For parents there is a specific route if you are a long-term resident. And the family member's authorisation is not granted until yours has actually been renewed or you have been granted long-term residence.

In addition, article 67 requires:

• Stable and regular resources that are sufficient and adequate housing, both explained below.
• Health insurance for you and your family, and school enrolment of your other minor children already in Spain who are of compulsory school age.
• You must not be within a non-return commitment period and must not pose a threat to public order, public security or public health. Criminal records in Spain are checked and the police report is assessed; having a record does not in itself lead to automatic refusal (article 68.4).
• Payment of the fee for the procedure.

Financial means: the IPREM calculation

The Regulations require periodic income, rent or earnings equivalent to 150% of the IPREM where the family unit includes the sponsor and one family member being brought, and 50% of the IPREM for each additional member. According to the Ministry's information sheet, the amount is monthly. With the 2026 IPREM (€600 a month, carried over), the indicative calculation is:

How income is counted:

• At its gross value, including the proportional part of extra payments; for business activity, at net profit. Stable assets are the average of the last six months.
• The following do not count: study and housing grants, compensatory and maintenance payments (unless in favour of the person being brought) and income from social assistance.
• The resources of you, your spouse or partner and other first-degree direct-line relatives are added together, if they are resident in Spain and live in the same household.

If you bring children or people you represent, and there are documented circumstances in the best interests of the child, the amount can be reduced: with two members, one a minor, it becomes 110% of the guaranteed income under the Minimum Living Income (Ingreso Mínimo Vital) on an annual basis, plus 10% for each additional minor.

Adequate housing and the report

Adequate housing is housing that meets article 3(c) of Law 12/2023 on housing, unless the rules of the competent authority prevail. It is proved with a social services report from your place of residence, which must be issued within one month of your request.

• If it does not arrive in time and you can show that, the requirement can be proved by any means admitted in law.
• The report, or its substitute, must be less than six months old when you file and show the occupation title, the number of rooms, the use of each one, how many people live there and the living conditions and equipment.
• It is not binding: if the foreigners' office departs from it, it must give reasons. The occupation title can be yours or that of another member of your household.

Two stages: the foreigners' office and the consulate

Stage 1, in Spain. You file the application in person at the foreigners' office on the official form, with proof of means, housing and insurance, a statement that no other spouse or partner lives with you and, for the family member, the passport and the documents proving the relationship. The office obtains the criminal record and police report of its own motion. It has two months to decide and, if it does not, the application is deemed refused. It is dealt with as a priority.

Stage 2, the visa. The authorisation has no effect until your family member obtains the visa and enters Spain. They must apply at the consulate within two months of the grant being notified, with the original documents proving the relationship. Among other things, they need a passport valid for one year, no criminal record in the countries where they have lived over the last five years (if of criminal age), a medical certificate and payment of the visa fee. The consulate decides within one month at most, and entry into Spain must take place within a maximum of one month.

The authorisation lasts until yours expires when the family member enters, with a minimum of one year, and allows employed or self-employed work without further formalities. Fees are set by Order PJC/617/2025 and updated every year: check the current form before paying.

Afterwards: renewal and independent residence

• Renewal: from two months before expiry up to three months after. It lasts four years and depends on your authorisation being maintained. The office checks that both are in force, the family tie continues, minors are enrolled in school and the fee is paid. After three months without a reply it is deemed granted.
• Independent residence for a spouse or partner (article 69): after one year, if they have means of their own or meet the requirements to work as self-employed or employed, the latter without the national employment situation (we explain it in our article on hiring). Also if the relationship breaks down after three years and one year of cohabitation in Spain, if they are a victim of violence or trafficking, or on the sponsor's death, with six months to apply.
• Bringing family in turn (article 70): only with a residence and work authorisation independent of the sponsor; parents brought to Spain, only after becoming long-term residents.

The BOE consolidated text records no amendments to articles 65 to 71 since the Regulations came into force on 20 May 2025. The 2026 changes in other areas are summarised in this article.

Why these applications are refused

The most common grounds, drawn from the requirements of the Regulations:

• Insufficient or unstable means: income below the percentage for your family unit, not countable or not sustained over time.
• Housing: an unfavourable report, no occupation title, or rooms and occupants that do not fit.
• Relationship not proved: foreign documents without legalisation or apostille and translation, or a stable partnership without proof of 12 months.
• Children of one parent only without custody, parental authority or the other parent's consent, and a former spouse without a dissolution that settles their position.
• Your authorisation not renewed, an unfavourable criminal record or police report, or not applying for the visa in time.

If you are refused, or silence counts as a refusal, check the appeal information in the decision: the deadlines are short.

How to approach it

If you are going to bring someone to Spain, or you already have a request for further documents or a refusal, you can book an immigration consultation and we will review means, housing and the family tie before you file or appeal. The final decision always rests with the authorities.

Legislation and sources

• Immigration Regulations, Royal Decree 1155/2024 (consolidated text, BOE)
• Organic Law 4/2000 on the rights and freedoms of foreign nationals (BOE)
• Law 12/2023 on the right to housing (BOE)
• Order PJC/617/2025 on immigration fees (BOE)
• Annual amounts, including the 2026 IPREM (SEPE)
• Sheet 8: temporary residence by family reunification (Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration)