Up to now, the requirements and documents needed to apply for residency in Spain through family roots were:

  • Passport in appropiate in order.
  • Certificates of criminal records in the country of origin (NBI clearance).
  • Documents proving family ties: documentation proving legalised kinship; otherwise the report of the City Hall.
  • Documents proving that either the father or the mothers were originally Spanish.

But after the recent judgment of our Supreme Court of Law in Madrid, September 3rd of 2014, the second of these requirements changes slightly.

Up to date, negatives were being given to all those who were applying for this type of residency and that were the time immersed in criminal procedures or that had been left with a criminal record. However, it seems that with this new Supreme Court ruling, what is required for such applicants is only proving the degree of dependency or cohabitation with the Spanish relative, and so no other requirements such as accreditation of the so-called good citizenship or lack of criminal history to apply.

This means, the applicant for this type of residency must be the mother or father of a minor that has Spanish nationality, as long that this parent has the responsibility and coexists with the minor and that the minor is economically dependent of his/her parent. Likewise, criminal records cannot be considered alone in these cases and so is not a requirement for being granted the residency.

If you are in a similar case and you would like to apply for this type of residency called “arraigo familiar”  but you still have doubts about this new ruling, our team of professionals at Daemi Zabalza & Asociados will help and advise you and find the best way forward.