Express family reunification: talent visas (Ley 14/2013)

Article 61.1 of Ley 14/2013 lists the categories that open this route: entrepreneurs, highly qualified professionals (including the EU Blue Card), researchers, workers making intra-corporate transfers and international teleworkers, known as the digital nomad visa. Investors were on that list, but their regime was repealed on 3 April 2025 and articles 63 to 67 appear today without content in the consolidated text.

Article 62.4 defines the family circle, and it is broader than that of the general regime: the spouse or person with an analogous affective relationship, underage children and adult children who, being economically dependent on the holder, have not formed a family unit themselves, and dependent parents. The law does not set an age limit for adult children nor does it require them to prove a disability: what is assessed is economic dependency and that they have not formed their own family unit. The application criteria of the Directorate General for Migration specify that children of the spouse or partner, minors under guardianship, and first-degree parents are also included.

Each family member must also meet the general requirements of article 62.3: not be irregularly in Spain, lack a criminal record for crimes foreseen in the Spanish legal system in the countries where they have resided for the last 2 years, have public or private health insurance, have sufficient economic resources and pay the processing tasa (official fee).

The first difference is that you do not have to wait. Article 68 of RD 1155/2024 requires the sponsor of the general regime to have resided in Spain for at least 1 year and to have applied for authorisation to reside for another 1 year. Ley 14/2013 does not impose this wait: the family can request their authorisation on the same day as the holder, even before they have set foot in Spain.

The second is that neither the adequate housing report nor the proof of housing required by the general regime are demanded. The UGE-CE assesses the economic resources of the holder and the family bond, not the number of rooms or a regional or municipal report.

The third is the deadline and the meaning of silence. Article 76.1 sets a maximum resolution period of 20 days from the electronic submission and states that, if it is not resolved within that period, the authorisation will be understood as approved by administrative silence. As the law does not state otherwise, those 20 days are counted as working days by application of article 30.2 of Ley 39/2015. In general regime reunification, silence means rejection.

There is a fourth, less known advantage: submitting the application extends the validity of the residence or stay situation that the applicant already had until the procedure is resolved, so that nobody is left in an irregular situation while it is being processed.

Article 62.4 expressly admits both routes: joint and simultaneous, or successive. If the applications are submitted at the same time, the law itself requires that the authorisation and, where appropriate, the visa are also resolved simultaneously, meaning the family obtains their resolution on the same day as the holder.

The practical difference lies in the proof of economic resources. If the application is simultaneous, it is enough for the holder to prove they have sufficient resources based on the number of family members travelling with them. If it is submitted later, the UGE-CE asks for the holder's employment contract, invoices or payslips from the 3 months prior to the family member's application and bank certificates in their name, stamped and signed by the entity, with the movements proving those payments highlighted one by one.

For EU Blue Card holders there is a specific rule: article 71.5 states that, when the applications of family members are not submitted simultaneously with that of the holder, they must be submitted within a maximum period of 1 month from the family members' entry into Spain.

If the holder is an international teleworker and their family entered with the corresponding visa, the residence authorisation is requested within the 60 calendar days prior to the expiration of that visa, provided that the conditions that generated the right are maintained.

Yes. In matters not covered by Ley 14/2013, Ley Orgánica 4/2000 and its regulation, RD 1155/2024, apply. The official information on family reunification authorisation establishes that the authorisation held by the spouse, unmarried partner and children of working age allows them to work as an employee or as an autónomo (freelancer) anywhere in the national territory, in any occupation and sector, without the need for an additional administrative procedure. Your spouse therefore does not need a separate work permit.

The duration goes hand in hand with that of the holder. Authorisations in the international mobility section are valid for up to 3 years: entrepreneur (article 69), highly qualified professional (article 71.3), research (article 72.3), intra-corporate transfer (article 73) and international telework (article 74 quinquies.2). The family member's authorisation is granted linked to that validity.

Renewal is also joint in practice. Article 76.3 allows renewal for periods of 2 years as long as the conditions that generated the right are maintained, and the application is submitted in the 60 days prior to the end of validity. Submitting it extends the validity of the authorisation until it is resolved, and it also has this effect if submitted within 90 days after expiration, without prejudice to a possible sanctioning file.

Once the authorisation is granted, if its validity exceeds 6 months, the TIE (foreigner identity card) must be processed using the MI-TIE form. While the residence visa is valid, it already authorises residing in Spain by itself according to article 75.4.

Public documents issued by a foreign authority must be presented legalised or apostilled. For countries in the 1961 Hague Convention, the apostille is sufficient; for the rest, legalisation through diplomatic or consular channels is required.

If the public document is not written in Spanish, a translation made by a sworn translator authorised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation must be provided alongside the original. Failing this, only translations made or reviewed by Spanish diplomatic missions or consular offices abroad (with a collation stamp and subsequent legalisation by the Legalisation Section), or by those of the document's country of origin in Spain, apostilled or legalised by that same Ministry, are valid. For all other documentation, a sworn translation is sufficient.

The documents that usually require this double step are the marriage certificate, the birth certificate of children and parents, the criminal record certificate, the documentation proving the civil status and dependency of adult children and the negative certificates of income or benefits. The passport is provided in full, with all pages, without the need for translation.

The UGE-CE reserves the right to request at any time any additional documents it considers necessary if those presented do not sufficiently prove the requirements of Ley 14/2013.

Requests for correction are always repeated for the same reasons. A bond proven with a certificate without an apostille or with a translation that is not sworn. Health insurance that is actually travel insurance, or that includes co-payments, waiting periods or simple reimbursement of expenses: none are accepted. An unmarried partner not registered in a public registry who does not provide their own private insurance, because without registration they do not acquire the right to be a beneficiary of the holder in the Seguridad Social (the Spanish social security system).

For children: a minor who is the child of only 1 of the members of the couple and who is presented without the notarised authorisation of the other parent expressly consenting to their residence in Spain. An adult child whose economic dependency is claimed without proving it, that is, without negative certificates of income and benefits or documentation showing they are still dependent on the holder, or for whom it is not proven that they have not formed their own family unit. It is not necessary to prove any disability nor is there an age limit, but the older the child, the more demanding the UGE-CE is with the proof of that dependency.

For parents: dependency claimed but not proven. A real, stable situation prior to the application is required, with proven cohabitation for at least the previous 1 year or with proof of money transfers during that same period, plus proof that the parent does not receive income from work or public benefits. It is presumed, in any case, that parents over 80 years of age are dependents.

In economic documentation: bank certificates without the entity's stamp and signature, or with the movements not highlighted. Also calculating the threshold with the wrong reference, because not all categories of article 61.1 are measured the same: some are referenced to the IPREM and others to the minimum interprofessional wage. In criminal records: providing those of only 1 country when you have resided in 2 during the last 2 years, or forgetting the responsible declaration of the absence of a criminal record for the last 5 years. And a mistake that can no longer be fixed: requesting the investor family member route after 3 April 2025, because it will be rejected.

Managora reviews the bond, legalisation and translation before submitting, calculates the tasa (official fee) corresponding to your case and submits the file to the UGE-CE for you. You can see the updated amount on the procedure's page.