Spain Residence as the Family of an EU Citizen
If your spouse holds EU citizenship you are not applying for a visa at all. The residence card route, its three-month deadline, and the exclusion that catches people married to Spaniards.
Reviewed September 2026. This is the route most Americans never check, and the one that makes every other page on this site unnecessary if it applies to you. If your spouse holds citizenship of an EU member state, you are not applying for a visa at all. You are applying for a residence card under free-movement rules, in Spain, after you arrive.
Irish, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and German descent are common in the United States, and several of those countries recognise citizenship by descent. Before assembling a non-lucrative file, check the family tree. It is the cheapest hour of research in the whole move.
One exclusion to read before anything else
This regime covers family members of a citizen of another EU member state. Real Decreto 240/2007 applies, in its own words, to family of a citizen “de otro Estado miembro”. By its terms it does not cover family members of Spanish nationals.
So an American married to an Irish citizen and an American married to a Spanish citizen are not in the same position under this decree, however counter-intuitive that sounds. If your spouse is Spanish, take advice on which regime applies to you rather than assuming this page describes it.
Who counts as a family member
| Relationship | Condition |
|---|---|
| Spouse | No age or dependency condition |
| Registered partner | A registered civil union, not an informal relationship |
| Descendants | Under 21, or older if dependent or incapacitated |
| Ascendants | Dependent |
Two words in that table do heavy work. Registered partner means a formally registered union; living together does not qualify you. Dependent is a factual condition you have to evidence, not a description of a relationship.
How it differs from a visa route
| Non-lucrative or teleworking | Family of an EU citizen | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you apply | At a Spanish consulate, before travelling | In Spain, after arriving |
| What you apply for | A national visa | A residence card |
| Form | Consular application | EX-19 |
| Income test | 400% of the IPREM, or a multiple of the minimum wage | No equivalent threshold in the decree; proof of support may be required |
| Deadline | Set by the visa | Three months from entry |
| Decision time | Not published | Maximum three months to resolve and notify |
Notice the deadline difference. A third-country national arriving on a national visa has a short window to apply for the TIE, commonly stated as one month. A family member of an EU citizen has three months from entry under Article 8. Do not carry the assumption from one route into the other.
Can you work?
Article 3 of the decree grants family members access to activity in Spain, employed or self-employed. That is the practical difference that makes this route matter: the non-lucrative visa forbids work outright, and this one does not.
The article sets out conditions that differ between categories, and adult dependent descendants and dependent ascendants are treated separately from spouses. We have not resolved that sub-clause to a standard we are willing to publish, so confirm your own category against the article text and the Oficina de Extranjería rather than relying on a summary.
What the application needs
- Form EX-19 and proof of payment of the tasa modelo 790, código 012.
- A valid passport.
- Proof of the family relationship, apostilled or legalised and translated. A US marriage or birth certificate needs the same apostille and sworn-translation treatment as any other document.
- The EU citizen’s documentation: their DNI, or their EU citizen registration certificate for Spain.
- Three passport-style photographs.
- Proof of financial support where it applies to your category.
Present it at an Oficina de Extranjería, a Jefatura Superior or a Comisaría de Policía in the place where you intend to live. The administration then has a maximum of three months to resolve and notify.
What to do before you rule this out
- Check both family trees, not just yours. Citizenship by descent rules vary by country and some reach back several generations.
- If a claim exists, price the timeline. Acquiring citizenship by descent can take longer than a visa application. It is a parallel track, not a shortcut, until the passport exists.
- Order the civil-status documents early. Marriage and birth certificates need apostilles and sworn translations exactly like the criminal record certificate, and the same chain applies.
- Do not start a non-lucrative file in parallel without advice. The two routes ask for different things and mixing them wastes money.
The decree and the procedure page
Both consulted 29 September 2026. Free-movement rules and the Spanish decree implementing them both change, so read them rather than this summary of them.
- Real Decreto 240/2007: who counts as a family member, the three-month application deadline in Article 8, the right of access to activity in Article 3, and the scope limited to citizens of another Member State.
- Policía Nacional — residence card for a family member of an EU citizen: form EX-19, the tasa 790/012, where to present it, the documents required and the three-month resolution period.
This page describes a published regime and where its rules live. It does not assess whether you qualify, it does not cover family members of Spanish nationals, and it is not a substitute for advice on your own circumstances.
If this route does not apply to you, compare the others in which visa route fits your move. If it does, the document chain in the apostille and translation guide still applies to your civil-status records, and the arrival steps are in your first 30 days.
Common questions
Can I live in Spain if my spouse is an EU citizen?
Yes, through a residence card for a family member of an EU citizen under Real Decreto 240/2007, applied for in Spain rather than at a consulate before travelling.
Does this apply if my spouse is Spanish?
No. The decree applies to family members of a citizen of another EU member state. By its own terms it does not cover family members of Spanish nationals, so take advice on which regime applies.
Which form is the EU family member residence card?
Form EX-19, with the tasa modelo 790 codigo 012, presented at an Oficina de Extranjeria, Jefatura Superior or Comisaria de Policia where you intend to live.
How long do I have to apply after arriving in Spain?
Three months from the date of entry, under Article 8. That is different from the shorter window that applies to third-country nationals arriving on a national visa.
Can the family member of an EU citizen work in Spain?
Article 3 grants access to activity, employed or self-employed, which is the practical difference from the non-lucrative visa. Conditions differ between categories, so confirm yours.
Do my children qualify?
Descendants under 21 qualify, and older descendants qualify if they are dependent or incapacitated.
Official sources
Sources recorded for this page. Check the linked authority for current requirements; review dates are shown for each source.