Residence Routes and Procedures in Spain

The main legal routes and procedures related to residence and documentation.

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How the Spanish immigration system is organised

Before choosing a procedure it helps to know who decides what. Almost every wasted appointment comes from asking the wrong body for the wrong thing.

Three different administrations

• Oficina de Extranjería — decides the paper file: initial authorisations, renewals, extensions, arraigo, family reunification, long-term residence, modifications.
• National Police — everything requiring your physical presence and biometrics: fingerprints, issuing and collecting the TIE, NIE assignment, EU certificates, asylum, travel documents, return authorisations.
• Ministry of Justice — Spanish citizenship. Not an immigration office at all, and filed electronically.

The pattern almost every route follows

• File the application with the Oficina de Extranjería, usually electronically.
• Wait for the decision. The legal reference is three months from a complete file; silence is not refusal.
• With a favourable decision, book the fingerprint appointment with the police within one month of the notification.
• Collect the card at a separate appointment, roughly 30 to 45 days later.

So one authorisation normally means two or three appointments weeks apart. Requesting the fingerprint appointment before the decision has arrived is the single most common wasted booking.

Which route is yours

• Already have an authorisation, need the card: fingerprints, then collection.
• Card expiring: renewal — file from 60 days before, up to 90 days after.
• In Spain irregularly: arraigo, in the modality your evidence supports.
• Relative of an EU or Spanish citizen: the EU family member card (EX-19), not national reunification.
• Relative of a non-EU resident: family reunification, with the housing report first.
• EU citizen: the registration certificate (EX-18) — no card, no fingerprints.
• Five years of legal residence: long-term residence (EX-11), watching your absences.
• Not resident but need a number: NIE assignment (EX-15).

The forms, in one place

• EX-00 residence on exceptional grounds; EX-11 long-term residence; EX-15 NIE.
• EX-17 TIE card; EX-18 EU registration certificate; EX-19 EU family member card.
• All of them are free from the Ministry of the Interior electronic office. Any site charging for the download is not the official source.

What applies to every route

• Foreign documents need an apostille or consular legalisation, and a sworn translation.
• Fee 790 code 012 is paid before the appointment, never at the counter.
• Select the procedure by its exact official wording — similar names are different procedures.
• Notifications go to the address on file, so a change of address must be reported.