There are several types of Spanish residence, keeping in mind the purpose in each case senario and the characteristics that need to be guaranteed in order to proceed.

The law regulations concerning the rights of foreigners and consequently the minimum requirements to apply for each residence is the Organic Law 4/2000, 11th of January, concerning Rights and Freedom of Foreigners in Spain and their social Integration. This law is developed in its entirety by Regulation of the Organic Law 4/2000, approved by Royal Decree 557/2011, 20th of April, regulation attributes to necessary formalities and competencies.

All residences as a whole meet a basic structure that applies:

  1. Basic requirements
  2. Required documentation
  3. Procedure

The basic requirements relate to items that must be met by the applicant abroad entitled to apply for residency, such as “not being an EU citizen”, “being an EU citizen”, “not found illegally in Spanish territory”, “to not be banned from Spain “, “not appear as reprehensible in the territorial space of countries with which Spain has signed an agreement to that effect. The requirements depend on the type of residency that is requested, so there is no predefined list for all.

As for the required documentation, it refers to the written evidence that can demonstrate compliance with the elements necessary to establish standing abroad in relation to the residency that is being applied, such as “documents proving the financial means “, “documents showing no criminal record”, “documents that demonstrate the required job skills for the employee”, etc.

Also, regarding the procedure, depending on the type of residency, there are two ways to distinguish residence; one is the procedure that starts in Spain, in the foreign office of the province in question, and the other, which is a process that starts at the Spanish diplomatic mission or Consular post in whose district resides abroad – i.e. in the country of origin of the petitioner-.

Generally, the residencies must be resolved by the competent body, within a period that cannot exceed three months, without prejudice to administrative silence which could be understood as admission or dismissal of the application for residency accordingly. This period begins to run from the day following the date that the residency application has been registered in the administrations competent body.

As for the types of residency, that exist up to this day, more than thirty, including:

  • EU Certificate of residence
  • Residence for relatives of European Union citizen
  • Residence for minors
  • Residence for reunification
  • Residence for students
  • Residence in exceptional rooting circumstances
  • Temporary residence without an occupation or economic means
  • Long-term Residence
  • Residence for research or training
  • Residence by volunteering
  • Golden Visa / Residence for investment and for entrepreneurs