Spain permanent residence (long-term residence)

You need five years of legal, continuous residence immediately before applying and no criminal record in Spain or in countries where you lived during those years. No single absence may exceed six months, and absences may total ten months at most, or eighteen months when work-related.

Shorter routes exist for holders of a contributory Spanish retirement or permanent incapacity pension, people born in Spain who lived there legally for three years after turning 18, former Spaniards by origin, refugees, stateless people and subsidiary protection holders.

One form, EX-11, covers both versions. The EU long-term permit also requires regular resources for you and your family plus health insurance, and in return helps you settle in another EU state.

File EX-11 at the Oficina de Extranjería of your province or online through Mercurio; from abroad, the Spanish consulate forwards it. Apply in the two months before your permit expires, which keeps it valid until the decision. Pay EUR 21.87 with form 790 code 052 within ten working days of admission. Foreign documents such as a criminal record certificate need an apostille or legalisation and a sworn Spanish translation.

The office has three months to decide; silence means approval. Within one month of the grant, apply in person at the police for the long-term TIE, which costs another EUR 21.87.

EU long-term status ends after twelve consecutive months outside the EU (24 months for former Blue Card holders); either version ends after six years away from Spain. A recovery procedure costs EUR 21.87 and gives a five-year card, and Spanish consulates abroad issue a national visa for returning to recover it.

Long-term residents work as employees or self-employed without any further permit and are treated like Spaniards for residence and work. An EU long-term resident of another member state can in turn ask for residence in Spain within three months of arriving; the decision takes two months.