Family reunification in Spain: who you can bring, requirements and appointments

What it is

Family reunification (reagrupación familiar) is the right of a foreign national living in Spain to bring their closest family to live with them. The application is made by the person who is already here, the sponsor, at the extranjería office of their province. Once the authorisation is granted, the family member applies for the visa at the consulate and enters Spain.

It is a route for residents from third countries. Family members of Spanish citizens and of European Union citizens have their own authorisations, with different rules.

Who you can bring

Spain's immigration regulation (article 66 of Real Decreto 1155/2024) lets you bring:

Your spouse, over 18, if you are not separated. Only one, even if your country's law allows more.
Your partner, over 18 and not married, if the relationship is recorded in a public register or you can prove at least twelve months of living together. If you have children together, that period is not required.
Your children and those of your spouse or partner, under 18 when the application is filed, or older if they have a disability that requires support or cannot look after themselves because of their health.
The people you legally represent, under the same age conditions.
Your parents or those of your spouse or partner, if they are dependent on you, are over 65 and there are reasons that justify their living in Spain. People under 65 can be admitted on humanitarian grounds.
An adult child who is going to care for you, if you have a recognised degree of dependency.

When you can apply

Once you have lived in Spain for at least one year and have applied for authorisation to live here for at least one more. To bring your parents you need, as a rule, to hold larga duración (long-term) residence.

The sponsor's requirements

Sufficient and regular means. For a family of two, you and one family member, 150% of the IPREM (the public income index Spain uses as a reference); for each additional member, 50% more. With the 2026 IPREM, which is €600 a month, that is €900 a month for two and €300 more for each person. If the person you are bringing is a minor, the amount can be lowered in view of the child's interests.
Adequate housing. It is proved with a report from the social services of your autonomous community or your town hall, which they have to issue within a month. If it does not arrive in time, you can prove it by other means.
Health insurance for you and your family.

The steps

You gather the documents: your passport, proof of your income, the housing report, the insurance, and your family member's passport with the documents that prove the relationship.
You file the application in person at the extranjería office of your province.
The office decides within a maximum of two months. If there is no answer in that time, the application is deemed rejected.
Your family member applies for the visa at the consulate, within two months of the notification. The consulate has one month to decide.
They enter Spain with the visa, within a maximum of one month.
They apply for their card. They have one month from entry to apply for the TIE, with a fingerprint appointment and then a pickup appointment.

The authorisation for your spouse, your partner or your children lets them work, employed or self-employed, in any sector and anywhere in Spain, with no further paperwork.

The appointments you will need

The filing appointment, at the extranjería office. On the official cita previa portal it appears as reagrupación familiar, though not under that name in every province.
Your family member's fingerprint appointment, once in Spain: how to get it and what to bring.
The card pickup appointment:how it works.
Later on, the renewal appointment, which you apply for in the two months before expiry or the three months after.

If any of them does not appear in your province, you can create an alert and you will get a notification by email or Telegram as soon as our checks find available appointments. You book it yourself on the official portal, free: Cita Ping does not book for you and cannot guarantee you an appointment.