EU CITIZEN FAMILY MEMBER CARD · RD 240/2007

Married to an EU or Spanish citizen? You qualify for the best card in Spain.

If you’re a non-EU national and your spouse, partner or close family is an EU or Spanish citizen living in Spain, you get a residence card with the lightest requirements, a five-year term, and the right to work from day one. No income gymnastics. No housing report. We handle it in English.

See if you qualify — free How it works

Built for expats from the US, UK & Canada — the non-EU half of a very lucky couple.

PLOT TWIST

You’ve watched friends grind through the hard visas

Income proof for the nomad visa. Housing reports. Year-long reunification queues. Salary thresholds that move like the weather. Meanwhile, you’ve been sitting on the easiest route in the country and nobody told you.

Because your qualification isn’t a payslip or a business plan. It’s a family tie to an EU or Spanish citizen. The EU Citizen Family Member Card (under Royal Decree 240/2007) is a residence card for the non-EU family of an EU, EEA, Swiss or Spanish citizen living in Spain.

Who counts: the spouse or registered partner, children (under 21 or dependent), and dependent parents — of the citizen or of their spouse. The requirements are lighter, the card runs five years, and you can work straight away. It’s basically Spain’s easy mode, and almost nobody frames it as the flex it is.

No income marathon. No housing report. Just proof of the tie, and the right to actually live and work here.

THE 30-SECOND SELF-CHECK

Do you qualify? Read these out loud

Ticked most of these? Good. This is the route people wish they’d found first.

You’re a non-EU national — American, British, Canadian, and so on.
Your spouse, registered partner or close family member is an EU / EEA / Swiss or Spanish citizen living in Spain.
That citizen can show they reside here — as a worker, self-employed, student, or with sufficient means and health insurance.
Your relationship or family tie is documented: marriage, registered partnership, or a proven durable relationship.
Your documents can be apostilled and translated — that circus is ours to manage.
You’d like to work in Spain without a separate permit — because this card already includes it.

Eligibility, the sponsoring citizen’s status and qualifying relationships are set by current Spanish law and confirmed for your case before you rely on them.

TWO VERSIONS OF THE SAME LUCKY CARD

Family of an EU citizen, or of a Spanish one?

Both run under RD 240/2007, and the details differ just enough to matter. Here’s the short version.

ROUTE A

Family of an EU / EEA / Swiss citizen

Your partner or relative is, say, Irish, French, German or Italian, and living in Spain. The classic free-movement route.

Non-EU family of an EU/EEA/Swiss national
Lightest requirements, five-year card
Work included from the start
Straightforward path to permanence

ROUTE B

Family of a Spanish citizen

Married to or partnered with a Spanish national? Spain applies this same regime to family of its own citizens, with its own specifics.

Non-EU family of a Spanish national
Same generous card, particular rules
Work included, five-year term
We handle the specifics so you don’t

Not sure which rules apply to your couple? One short call and we’ll tell you exactly.

WHY THIS IS THE ONE EVERYONE WANTS

Lightest requirements. Biggest rewards

The lightest requirements

No steep income threshold, no housing report to chase.

Work from day one

Employed or self-employed — no separate work permit required.

A five-year card

Real stability, not a nervous annual renewal.

A generous “family”

Spouse or partner, children, and dependent parents can all qualify.

A fast track to permanence

Five years leads to permanent residence — and, in time, nationality.

Everything in English

Proof of the tie, apostilles, translations — every step, in your language.

HOW WE WORK

Four steps. The last one’s a five-year card

Free call

Your nationality, your EU or Spanish family member, and the tie between you. We confirm it flies.

We build the file

Proof of relationship, the citizen’s status, apostilles and sworn translations — the decisive part.

We file & book

Your application and appointment, submitted and chased end to end.

You get the card

Five years, work included. Welcome to Spain’s easy mode.

BEFORE YOU ASK

The questions everyone emails us anyway

My partner is British — does that count as “EU”?

Since Brexit, UK nationals are treated as non-EU, so a British partner does not, by itself, open this card. But there are two important exceptions: British citizens covered by the Withdrawal Agreement follow their own protected regime, and if your British partner is also a dual national of an EU country (or you have another EU/Spanish family tie), the route can still apply. It’s exactly the kind of wrinkle we check on the first call.

We’re not married, just partners. Does that work?

It can. RD 240/2007 recognises a registered partnership and, in many cases, a proven durable relationship — but the evidence bar for an unregistered couple is higher and more discretionary. Frequently the cleanest move is to register a pareja de hecho first and then apply, and we’ll tell you honestly whether that extra step is worth it for your situation.

Can I work straight away?

Yes. The EU family member card includes the right to work — employed or self-employed — from the moment it’s granted, with no separate work permit. That’s one of the things that makes it the most generous residence Spain hands out: you arrive able to actually build a life here, not just wait.

Does my EU or Spanish family member need a job?

The sponsoring citizen needs to show they are lawfully residing in Spain — which they can do as a worker, self-employed, student, or simply with sufficient means and health insurance for the family. So a job is one way to satisfy it, but not the only way. We work out the strongest basis in your case and document it.

How long is the card, and what comes next?

The card is issued for five years. Once you complete five years of continuous legal residence you can apply for permanent residence, and — with the qualifying residence period and requirements — Spanish nationality further down the line. In short: it’s not just the easiest card to get, it’s a genuine on-ramp to permanence.

Reviewed by a lawyer

Reviewed by Alberto García López

Immigration lawyer · ICA Málaga, reg. no. 11.441

We check every page against current Spanish law. This is general information, not advice on your individual case.

YOUR MOVE

Let’s turn “I do” into “I live here.”

One free call. No jargon, no pressure, no 40-page PDF. Just a straight answer on whether you qualify, which rules apply, and what happens next.

Book your free eligibility call

+34 667 77 02 19 · infoglobalextranjeria@gmail.com

P.S. — you didn’t get together for the paperwork. But it would be rude not to enjoy the upgrade. Bring the certificate; we’ll bring the paperwork.