Residence

Right of residence. Cases

Citizens of a Member State of the European Union, of another State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area and of Switzerland have the right to reside in Spanish territory for a period of longer than three months in the following cases:

1. They are employees or self-employed persons in Spain.
2. They have sufficient resources for themselves and their family members not to become a burden on Spain’s social assistance system during their period of residence, and have comprehensive, public or private health insurance cover in Spain.
3. They are students enrolled at a private or public establishment, accredited or financed by the competent education authority, for the purpose of following a course of study; have public or private health insurance that provides comprehensive coverage in Spain and guarantee that they have sufficient resources for themselves and their family members.
4. They are family members accompanying or joining a citizen of a Member State of the European Union, of another State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or of Switzerland who satisfies the conditions referred to above.

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Family members

‘Family member’ means:

• In the case of the family member of a student, his/her spouse or registered partner or the dependent children of the student and of his/her spouse or partner.
• In other cases, the spouse or registered partner, the direct descendants and those of the spouse or registered partner who are under the age of 21 or disabled, or over the age of 21 and are dependants, and dependent direct relatives in the ascending line and those of the spouse or registered partner.
   

This right of residence also applies to family members, irrespective of their nationality, who are accompanying or joining a citizen of a Member State of the European Union, of another State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or of Switzerland who satisfies the conditions referred to in sections ‘a’, ‘b’ or ‘c’.

In the case of citizens of the European Union or of another State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or of Switzerland in the circumstances described in section ‘c’, who are students and meet the conditions of residence for students, only the spouse or registered partner and dependent children, regardless of their nationality, are to have the right of residence as family members.

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Retention of the status of worker. Circumstances

Similarly, a citizen of a Member State of the European Union, of another State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or of Switzerland who is no longer a worker or self-employed person is to retain the status of worker or self-employed person in the following circumstances:

1. He/she is temporarily unable to work as the result of an illness or accident.
2. He/she is in duly recorded involuntary unemployment after having been employed for more than one year and has registered as a job-seeker with the relevant employment office.
3. He/she is in duly recorded involuntary unemployment after completing a fixed-term employment contract of less than a year or after having become involuntarily unemployed during the first twelve months and has registered as a job-seeker with the relevant employment office. In this case, the status of worker is to be retained for no less than six months.
4. He/she embarks on vocational training which is to be related to the previous employment, unless he/she is involuntarily unemployed.

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Información por Comunidades Autónomas

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Information from local authorities

You need to be registered with your municipal council in order to be able to apply for residence. The register set up for this purpose is known as the ‘padrón’ (municipal administrative register).

Access to the Local Government Map to select the relevant municipality.

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