Residency in Spain for long-term EU residents from another country

This route is designed for a very specific situation: you are already a long-term EU resident in another European Union Member State (Germany, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, etc.) and you want to move your life to Spain. Article 179 of RD 1155/2024 allows you to apply to reside in Spain without being required to obtain a visa.

The basis is Directive 2003/109/EC, which creates a right of mobility to a second Member State. That is why you are not asked for the prior period of residency in Spain that other figures do require: the time you are proving has already been recognised by the first Member State. What Spain checks is that your status is valid and that you meet the conditions for the reason you are coming.

The general requirements published in information sheet 51 of the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration are: not being a citizen of the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland, not appearing as rejectable in the territorial space of countries with which Spain has an agreement, holding the long-term EU authorisation in another Member State, having financial means and accommodation (or meeting the requirements for employment, self-employment or exemption from work authorisation) and paying the tasa (official fee).

It is worth noting an important nuance: what Spain grants at this initial stage is a long-term residency authorisation. The Spanish long-term EU status comes later, via Article 181, and it is then that you lose the right to keep the status in the previous European country.

The documentation changes depending on the motivation for the application. In all cases, you must provide the signed EX-11 form, a complete copy of your valid passport, the documentation proving your status as a long-term EU resident in the other Member State and proof of payment of the tasa.

If you come with an employment contract or job offer, the company is identified (NIF or NIE (foreigner identity number) if it is an individual entrepreneur, registered deed of incorporation and power of attorney if it is a legal entity), the signed contract is provided and the employer's solvency is proven with personal income tax, VAT or Corporate Tax returns, or with the Company's Working Life report (VILE), in addition to a descriptive memorandum of the occupation.

If you come as an autónomo (self-employed worker), the project is proven: licences or authorisations required for the activity, responsible declaration or prior communication in the case of retail trade, qualification or homologation if the profession requires it, and sufficiency of the planned investment. The information sheet also admits, as an alternative, a valuation report issued by ATA, UPTA, CIAE, OPA or UATAE.

If you come without carrying out a lucrative activity, what is examined are your financial means and your healthcare coverage: the official reference of information sheet 51 is 400% of the monthly IPREM for you, plus 100% of the IPREM for each dependent family member, along with public or private health insurance that covers the risks covered by the system for Spanish nationals. If your family is going to apply for their own authorisation via Article 180, the scale applied to them is that of information sheet 52, which is explained below and is not the same.

Documents issued outside Spain must be translated into Spanish (or the co-official language of the territory) by a sworn translator and legalised through diplomatic channels or by apostille of the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961. This is the point where most files are delayed, and it is precisely what Managora reviews before submitting.

The application is addressed to the Immigration Office of the province where you are going to reside or, if you are going to work, of the province where the labour, professional or educational activity will begin.

You can submit it at the Spanish consular office corresponding to your previous place of residence in the European Union, if you are still abroad, or directly in Spain: in person at the competent Immigration Office, or electronically through Mercurio, the electronic headquarters of the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, which requires a digital certificate or action through an accredited representative.

The submission deadline is the critical point of this procedure: at any time prior to entering Spanish territory or, at the latest, within 3 months following entry. Once that deadline has passed, the Article 179 route is no longer available and the case must be redirected through another figure, almost always slower and with more requirements.

The tasa accrues at the time of admission for processing and must be paid within 10 working days: form 790, code 052, section 2.6, whose amount verified at the electronic headquarters on 4 August 2026 is €21.87. The resolution period is 2 months from the day following the entry of the application into the registry of the competent body to process it, and silence is negative.

Once the authorisation is granted, if you applied from the consulate, you have 3 months from the notification to enter Spain. The authorisation begins to take effect from registration with the Seguridad Social (Spanish social security system) when you come to work, and from the notification or entry in all other cases. After that, it is time for the TIE (foreigner identity card).

The essential difference with arraigo (residency based on exceptional circumstances) is the starting point. Arraigo requires having stayed in Spain for a specific time and proving ties here. The Article 179 route does not ask for any of that: it asks for a European status that you already have. They are paths that do not compete, because whoever has the long-term EU status from another Member State does not need to build arraigo in Spain.

It also differs from the intra-European mobility of other figures. The EU Blue Card, intra-corporate transferees and researchers have their own mobility rules, linked to the company or the project and with shorter validity periods. Here, mobility is personal and leads to a long-term residency, not a temporary authorisation tied to an employer.

And it differs from ordinary temporary residency in its effect: you do not enter the renewal circuit every 1 or 2 years. Long-term documentation is issued with a renewable validity of 5 years, which in practice means much less management and much less exposure to an administrative stumble.

A practical warning: the granting of long-term EU status in Spain (Article 181) means the loss of the right to keep that status in the previous Member State, and Spain communicates this to that country. If your plan involves keeping both doors open for a while, it is advisable to plan the calendar before taking the step, not after.

Yes. Article 180 of RD 1155/2024 allows your family members to apply to reside in Spain, also without a visa, provided they formed part of the family unit constituted in the previous Member State of residence. This is the filter that knocks down the most applications: the family must come from there, not be formed afterwards.

Family members are considered those defined as regroupable in Article 17 of Ley Orgánica 4/2000: spouse or partner in a relationship of affection analogous to marriage, underage children or adult children with disabilities who cannot provide for their own needs, minors or people with disabilities for whom you are the legal representative, and dependent ascendants over 65 years of age (or under that age when humanitarian reasons apply).

The family application is also submitted on form EX-11, can be simultaneous or subsequent to yours, and is governed by the same deadlines: at any time before entry or within the following 3 months. The resolution period is equally 2 months with negative silence, and the tasa is the same for form 790 code 052, section 2.6.

For the family, information sheet 52 sets the financial means reference at 150% of the IPREM for a family unit of 2 members, plus 50% of the IPREM for each additional member, and requires health insurance when they are not going to carry out a lucrative activity. It is a different scale from the one sheet 51 applies to the main applicant without lucrative activity (400% of the IPREM plus 100% per dependent family member), and the information sheets do not explain how they are combined when both applications are submitted at the same time. That is why Managora prepares your file and your family's in the same block, checking with the competent Immigration Office what calculation it requires, which is how inconsistencies between applications are avoided.

Article 181 of the Regulation establishes that whoever resides in Spain based on their previous status as a long-term EU resident in another Member State can access the long-term EU status in Spain, under the general terms of the Regulation itself.

Those general terms are those of information sheet 50: 5 years of legal and continuous residency in Spain immediately prior to the application, with the assessed absences that the rule allows (up to 6 consecutive months, without exceeding 10 months in total within the 5 years, and up to 18 months when the absence is due to work reasons), proof of fixed and regular resources and public or private health insurance.

The procedure is also initiated with the EX-11 form and the tasa 790 code 052, section 2.6. The relevant difference compared to the entry application is the resolution period, of 3 months, and the meaning of silence, which in this case is positive according to the Ministry's information sheet.

Meanwhile, your long-term documentation is renewed every 5 years. There is also a specific procedure for recovering the ownership of the long-term EU authorisation (information sheet 54) for those who lose it due to prolonged absences, so a temporary move outside Spain does not have to be irreversible.

Managora takes care of the complete administrative journey: the initial Article 179 application, your family's application, managing the appointment and preparing the TIE application, and later the leap to the Spanish long-term EU status. The appearance for fingerprinting and collecting the card are personal and non-delegable: you have to go there, with the file already prepared and the appointment booked. You can see the updated amount of our fees on the procedure's page.