Arraigo familiar

The two cases, literally

Article 127.e) of the Regulation covers two situations and admits no analogies:

First. Being the father, mother or guardian of a minor who is a national of another Member State of the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland, provided that when applying you prove you live in Spain, have the minor in your care and live with them, or are up to date with your parental obligations.

Second. Being the person who supports a person with a disability who is a national of another EU, EEA or Swiss state in exercising their legal capacity, provided the applicant is their relative, has them in their care and lives with them.

Note the detail that decides most cases: the minor or the person with a disability must be a national of another EU, EEA or Swiss state. If the minor has Spanish nationality, the route is not this one but the permit for a family member of a Spanish national, which follows a different regime.

The alternative between living together and parental obligations is deliberate and very useful: a separated parent who does not live with the minor but is up to date with their obligations can meet the requirement.

How each piece is proved

The tie: the minor's birth certificate showing parentage, or guardianship document, legalised or apostilled and translated where required.

The nationality of the minor or person with a disability: valid passport or identity document from the EU, EEA or Swiss state.

Living together: collective padrón certificate for the address. Where there is no cohabitation, being up to date with parental obligations is proved with the settlement agreement or judgment, plus proof of maintenance payments.

Having in your care: proof of actual financial support, built from transfers and school, health and housing expenses.

The disability and the support, in the second case: the decision recognising the disability and the court ruling or document establishing the support measure for exercising legal capacity.

If you also need to bring a relative from abroad, that is a different route: family reunification.

How the procedure works

A permit for exceptional circumstances requires no visa and is applied for in person before the competent body, except for minors or people who need support to exercise their legal capacity, where their legal representative may file it.

With the application you provide a full copy of your valid passport, registration card or travel document valid in Spain; the signed employment contract where required; and the documents proving the specific situation claimed. For arraigo you also provide the criminal record certificate from the country or countries where you lived during the five years before entering Spain. The immigration office requests the Central Criminal Records report and the police report ex officio.

There are two cases where third-country records need not be proved: having stayed continuously in Spain for the five years immediately before the application, or having proved it in a previous application within those five years without having left since.

If the documents are incomplete, the administration requests correction with a deadline that cannot exceed fifteen days. If it is not corrected, the file is closed as withdrawn. That is by far the most frequent reason for the lost files that reach this gestoría.

Tracking the file needs no phone calls: see how to check the status of an immigration file. Once the permit is granted, there is one month from notification to apply in person for the foreigner identity card.