Arraigo Familiar (Family-Based Residence)
Residence authorisation via arraigo familiar. Since RD 1155/2024 it covers parents, mothers or guardians of a minor from the EU, the EEA or Switzerland, and those who support a person with a disability of those nationalities. Five years, no minimum stay. If your tie is with a SPANIARD, your route is a different — and better — one.
General requirements
Here is the change almost nobody has reported. The arraigo familiar of RD 1155/2024 is no longer the route for family members of Spaniards — art. 127.e) reserves it for two cases, both about nationals of ANOTHER Member State. 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 at the time of applying you show that you reside 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 provides support to a person with a disability who is a national of another Member State of the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland, in the exercise of their legal capacity, provided that the applicant is a relative, has that person in their care and lives with them".
The father, mother or guardian of a minor of Spanish nationality now has their own and better figure — the residence authorisation for family members of a Spanish national under art. 94.1.f), "provided that the applicant has the minor in their care and lives with them or is up to date with their obligations towards them", with one condition worth noting — "this relationship must have been established in accordance with Spanish law". The regulation's own preamble explains why it was split off — as an arraigo "it is not possible to speak properly of a complete statute of family member of a Spanish citizen". And that authorisation allows you to live and work, employed or self-employed, "without any additional administrative formality" (art. 95.1), and later to bring your own family (art. 95.2).
No criminal record in Spain or in your country of origin.
You must not be subject to an active return order, expulsion order, or entry ban.
Complete valid passport.
Birth certificate of the Spanish child (registered with the Registro Civil — Spain's Civil Registry) proving parentage, or your own birth certificate showing that you are the child of a Spanish parent.
Step-by-step process
Mistakes that get applications refused
⚠️ Applying for arraigo familiar when the tie is with a Spaniard
What happens: This is the costliest confusion on this page, because the regulation changed in 2024 and almost nobody has reported it. The arraigo familiar of art. 127.e) is for minors from the EU, the EEA or Switzerland; the father, mother or guardian of a SPANISH minor goes through art. 94.1.f) — provided they have the minor in their care and live with them or are up to date with their obligations — and sons and daughters "whose father or mother is or was Spanish by origin" through art. 94.1.h) — the latter with no age limit.
What to do: Check the minor's nationality before choosing the route. And if it is Spanish, be glad — the family-member-of-a-Spanish-national authorisation lets you live and work with no additional formality, provided you are above the minimum working age (art. 95.1) and lets you bring your own family later (art. 95.2).
⚠️ Assuming that the child turning 18 closes every door
What happens: Arraigo familiar does require a MINOR — but the family-member-of-a-Spanish-national route often does not. Letters d) and h) of art. 94.1 reach much further than the arraigo.
What to do: Look at both. Children of the Spanish person under TWENTY-SIX come under art. 94.1.d) — provided they live with them or intend to, and are not married nor have formed their own family unit —, and with no age limit at all, sons and daughters "whose father or mother is or was Spanish by origin" (art. 94.1.h). There are also letters for first-degree ascendants (94.1.e) and for the relative caring for a Spanish person in a recognised situation of dependency (94.1.g). Mind the condition that heads the whole article — art. 94.1 requires, for every one of its letters, that they live together.
⚠️ Confusing arraigo familiar with reagrupación familiar (family reunification)
What happens: They are three different procedures, not two. Arraigo familiar — parent or guardian of a minor from the EU, the EEA or Switzerland. Family member of a Spanish national — the tie with a Spaniard, arts. 94 to 96. Reagrupación — relative of a foreign legal resident.
What to do: Arraigo familiar requires no prior stay and lasts five years (arts. 126.b and 125.2). The family-of-a-Spaniard route lets you live and work with no extra formality. Choose by the tie you actually have, not by which one sounds better.
Official sources
Última actualización: 2026-09-01