If your parents are in their country of origin and you would like to bring them to Spain with you, keep on reading. In this article we analyze the 5 main ways available to achieve it. We will explore the different paths you available depending on your situation in Spain in order to regroup your ascendants, the requirements that must be met in each case, and how the legal process works step by step.
Regrouping your parents and bringing them legally into Spanish territory is entirely possible, and there are several ways to do so.
However, it is important to make it clear from the beginning that none of them is simple, and that the requirements can often be difficult to meet.
However, in this post you will find all the details you need to know to make this journey as stress-free as possible.
Below we analyze these 5 available paths, which will depend mainly on whether you are an EU citizen or not:
Bring your parents through a tourist visa
The first option (and also the easiest one) is to bring your parents with a tourist visa.
Under this option, they will be able to visit Spain for a maximum period of 90 days, and the requirements are quite easy to meet.
The first thing to take into account is whether or not your country of origin requires a visa to enter Spain, because if it does, they will have to complete this procedure before traveling to the Spanish territory.
Here is a complete list of all the countries that require a visa to enter Spain.
In addition, the most common situation is that parents stay at the foreigner living in Spain house’s (their son/daughter), which requires you to request a letter of invitation to prove that they will be staying at your home for the duration of their tourist stay.
In this other article you will find all the requirements to enter Spanish territory as a tourist.
Family member of an EU citizen visa
Let’s move on to the cases in which you can bring your parents so that they can stay in Spain for the long run.
The first of these cases is that done through the family member of an EU citizen card, the one you must pursue if you are a Spanish citizen (either by origin or because you have obtained the Spanish nationality) or if you are a citizen of the European Union.
In these cases, your parents will be able to apply for the community card.
But here we find a key requirement, which sometimes generates many problems: you must demonstrate economic dependency.
That is, you must demonstrate that during the last 2 years your parents have been economically dependent on you (and on no other family member), and that therefore they do not work or receive any type of economic aid, income, or rent from the government (such as a pension).
It must be clearly demonstrated that their only means of living is the money you send them month after month, something you must have done consistently during this period.
On the other hand, there is no age requirement: you can bring your parents even if they are not 65 years old yet.
In the case of bringing your parents under the EU regime, they will initiate the legal process themselves. Where? It depends:
- If the ascendant (father or mother) is a citizen of a country that requires a visa to enter Spain, she must first apply for a visa as a family member of an EU citizen at the Spanish consulate located in the country of origin.
There she will have to demonstrate that she has a Spanish or EU citizen son/daughter legally living in Spain who wants to regroup her, that the kinship bond between both actually exists, and finally she will have to prove the situation of economic dependency.
- On the other hand, if this country has an agreement with Spain and does not require a visa for entry purposes, the parent will initiate the procedure directly from the Spanish territory. She will have to prove all these requirements seen now just after the entry, so carrying all the required documentation is necessary.
Do you have any doubts? Keep on reading for more information or get in touch:
Bringing your parents through family arraigo
After the big update of the Immigration Law, Spanish citizens now have it much easier to bring their foreign parents to the country.
In addition to the option of the EU family member card, now they can also bring them through the family arraigo.
Among the advantages of doing it through the figure of “arraigo”, the following stand out:
- If the parent is over 65 years of age, it will not be necessary to prove that she is a dependant
- The card they will be granted will be for 5 years and will allow them to work
- They will not have to hire medical insurance
- It is not necessary to provide proof of sufficient economic means
As you can see, it is undoubtedly a much more favorable and advantageous procedure for parents, who will be the ones to initiate the application directly from the Spanish territory.
Family reunification process
On the other hand, there is the reunification process under the general regime, which will be the option used in those cases in which the son or daughter in Spain has a residence authorization for 5 years (long term) and is a national from outside the European Union.
The negative aspect, in this case, is that this procedure is only reserved for parents over 65 years old (although there are exceptions, for example, if your father is 65 and your mother is younger, you could still regroup them both).
But, on the other hand, the positive thing is that the requirements are much clearer and well defined.
Thus, the main requirement is again to show economic dependency, in this case, demonstrated with montly money transfers that must be greater than 50% of the country of origin’s per capita income of the country (according to the National Institute of Statistics).
In addition, we also find a series of general requirements:
- You will have to provide a suitable housing report (showing how your parents will have their own room in your house)
- Demonstrate that you have a stable income (as the applicant). That is to say, you earn at least 150% of the IPREM to regroup a single ascendant, and 50% extra if you also bring a second one. You can find the updated IPREM here.
- In addition, your parents must have private health insurance or be insured by social security (basically, if they work in Spain).
And how does the legal process work?
- First of all, the process is initiated at the immigration office of the city where you live (i.e., you will initiate it as the applicant), where you will have to present all the documentation proving the above requirements
- After analyzing the documents submitted (and if everything is correct), the immigration office will issue a favorable response
- With this response, your parents will be able to apply for a visa at the Spanish consulate in the country where they are located
- And, with this visa, they will be able to travel and enter Spain, where they will apply for their physical residency card
Residency under the entrepreneur's law
On the other hand, it is also possible to regroup your parents if you hold a visa under the Entrepreneurs Law.
That is, if you are in the country with a golden visa, research residency, or a highly qualified working visa, you can bring your ascendants through a quite straightforward procedure.
You will have to request an authorization for a dependent relative (proving this dependence is again the fundamental requirement) online to the UGE (Large Business Unit), which will issue a response fast.
In case of receiving a positive resolution, your relative (parent) will be able to apply for a visa from her country of origin.
Non-lucrative visa
It is possible that after understanding the above cases, none of them fit 100%, and most likely that is because of the inability to prove financial dependency.
Nevertheless, if your parents have sufficient funds, there is a last option that may be the most appropriate one.
We are talking about the non-lucrative residency visa, an authorization that allows residing in Spain without working and that is granted to those who are able to demonstrate the possession of, at least, 26,000€ in their bank account, as well as having contracted private medical insurance.
Furthermore, by simply demonstrating these requirements in the application of one of your ascendants, it is also possible to include his or her spouse simply by marginally increasing the funds to be demonstrated (through a joint application).
Hence, this turns out to be one of the most direct paths for your parents to move to Spain (as long as they meet the funds requirement).
How to bring relatives different from your parents
So far we have seen the 5 ways to reunite your parents and bring them with you to Spain.
But the immigration regulations go further, and also allow you to regroup and bring your partner or spouse; in addition to other types of relatives.
And, if you have any other questions, our immigration lawyers are at your complete disposal. Get in touch and we will help with personalized legal advice!
Get in touch with our lawyers and let us guide you step by step:
