How to get permanent residence in Spain in 2026
After 5 years of lawful residence, with no language exam. Fees come to about $50 per person, the status is indefinite, and before filing you may not be away for more than 6 months in a row.
| Key facts | 2026 |
|---|---|
| How long | 5 years of lawful continuous residence in Spain |
| Faster | with a Spanish pension, former citizens and refugees: immediately; people born in Spain: after 3 years |
| Language and exam | not required |
| Income | not checked for the national status; for the EU status from $1,100 a month for two people |
| Fees | ~$50 per person for the decision and the card |
| Duration | indefinite; the card is replaced every 5 years, and every 10 years after the age of 30 |
| To citizenship | 10 years of residence, so another 5 years after permanent residence |
Data checked: 07.10.2026
Permanent residence in Spain is granted after 5 years of lawful continuous residence. The law calls this status long-term residence: it gives the right to live and work in Spain indefinitely on the same terms as Spanish citizens. There is no language exam, and government fees come to about $50 per person.
A new regulation under the immigration law has applied since 20 May 2025: it kept the five-year period but changed the rules for replacing the card and for counting work-related absences. Below: which grounds count, how long you may be away, how the two types of permanent residence differ, what documents you need, why applications are refused and how the rules differ by nationality.
We will work out online the investment or income your family needs and what the permit costs for each member.
How many years until permanent residence in Spain
| Residence ground | Years to permanent residence | Special conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Employment, self-employment, digital nomad visa, non-lucrative residence, family reunification | 5 years | lawful residence with no gap between cards; absences of up to 6 months in a row and 10 months in total |
| Marriage to a Spanish citizen | 5 years | no shortcut to permanent residence, but citizenship can be applied for after one year of residence in marriage |
| EU Blue Card | 5 years in EU countries, the last 2 of them in Spain | for EU long-term resident status |
| Studies | half of the study period, and only for EU long-term resident status | on the filing date you need a residence permit, not a study authorisation |
| Property purchase and investment | do not lead to permanent residence on their own | the investor programme closed on 3 April 2025; the five years are built on another ground |
| Spanish retirement pension or pension for total permanent incapacity | immediately | the pension is paid by the Spanish social security system |
| People born in Spain | 3 years in a row before filing | after coming of age |
| Former Spanish citizens by origin, refugees and stateless persons | immediately | with documents on former citizenship or recognition of status |
Any lawful residence on a residence permit counts, and the ground can change over the five years: for example, you can start with a digital nomad visa and then move to employment. What matters is that there is no gap between cards. All routes to a first permit are on our Spain residency page.
The settlement route gives a temporary residence permit to those who have lived in the country for at least two years without papers. Those two years do not count towards permanent residence, while the years on the settlement permit itself count in full.
Study years are treated separately. They do not count at all for the national status; for the EU status half of the study period counts, and only if on the filing date you already hold a residence permit rather than a study authorisation.
Who can apply for permanent residence in Spain
You can apply if you are a citizen of a country outside the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland and have lived lawfully in Spain for 5 years in a row. The ground may change over those years, and family members count their own time: a spouse and children who arrived later wait for their own five years.
Besides the five years, the law requires:
- no criminal record in Spain or in the countries where you lived over the past 5 years;
- no entry ban for the Schengen area;
- school attendance for school-age children living with you;
- for the EU status: stable income and health insurance.
There are two statuses, and the choice depends on your goal. The national one gives the right to live and work in Spain indefinitely, with no check of income, insurance or housing. EU long-term resident status requires stable income from $1,100 a month for a family of two and about $340 for each additional member, plus health insurance. In return it makes a move to another EU country easier.
The application goes to the provincial immigration office in person or online with an electronic signature during the last 2 months of your permit. If you have already completed five years, you can file earlier without waiting for the card to expire. The law allows a delay of up to 3 months, but it is fined.
Your current permit is extended until the decision, so you stay in the country lawfully and keep working while the case is processed.
How residence time and absences are counted
The five years are counted as lawful residence without interruption. Absences do not break the period if each trip lasts no more than 6 months in a row and the total over five years is no more than 10 months. If you were away for work, the total limit is higher, up to 18 months, but each trip still may not exceed 6 months.
A gap between cards and departures in breach of the rules break the period. For the national status, force majeure and work abroad in humanitarian cooperation projects are considered separately: the immigration office assesses such absences case by case and they do not reset the clock.
After permanent residence is granted the rules are looser. The status ends if you live for 12 months in a row outside the European Union, obtain the same status in another EU country or obtained it by fraud. The EU status has one more condition: it is lost after 6 years of absence from Spain itself.
A lost status is recovered through a simplified procedure for a fee of about $25, without a new five years. If you do not replace the card on time, the status itself is not lost, but the delay is fined.
Documents for permanent residence in Spain
- application on the official form, in person or online with an electronic signature;
- copy of all pages of your valid passport;
- receipt for the processing fee;
- criminal record certificate from the countries where you lived over the past 5 years, with an apostille and a sworn translation;
- school certificate for school-age children;
- for the EU status: documents on stable income, such as an employment contract, bank statements and a tax return;
- for the EU status: public or private health insurance;
- for special cases: documents for your ground, such as a pension decision, a certificate of birth in Spain or a document on former citizenship.
The immigration office requests the Spanish criminal record certificate itself. Within a month of approval you order the foreigner identity card from the police in person: application, passport, photo, receipt and fingerprints.
If documents are missing, the office sets a deadline to fix it. For the school certificate, for example, you get a month, and without it permanent residence is refused.
Language and exams
Permanent residence in Spain requires neither a Spanish language exam nor a test on knowledge of the country. The application and documents are filed in Spanish, so foreign certificates are translated by a sworn translator.
Exams appear at the next step, citizenship: Spanish at level A2 and a test on the Constitution and culture of the country. Citizens of countries where Spanish is an official language do not take the language exam.
How much permanent residence in Spain costs and how long it takes
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Fee for processing the permanent residence application | ~$25 |
| Foreigner identity card with permanent residence | ~$25 |
| Card replacement every 5 or 10 years | ~$25 |
| Recovery of a lost status | ~$25 |
| Our support | a manager will calculate it in the chat |
The permanent residence stage itself costs one applicant about $50: about $25 for processing the application and about $25 for the card. The temporary permit and its renewals over the previous five years are paid separately: government fees there are no more than $125 per adult.
The decision is made within 3 months of filing. If there is no answer in that time, the application is deemed approved. After notification you have a month to order the card from the police in person.
The status itself is indefinite; only the card is replaced: first after 5 years, then every 5 years until you turn 30 and every 10 years after that. Replacement needs a passport, a photo and a receipt, and is filed 2 months before the card expires.
Translations, apostilles and insurance for the EU status are paid separately: their cost depends on the number of documents and the country that issued them. Dollar amounts use the European Central Bank rate of 6 October 2026.
Government fees for the permanent residence stage for a family of three: from $150. We will calculate the exact amount for your family in the chat.
One long trip wipes out five years in Spain
The law does not prevent you from applying for permanent residence on your own. But mistakes cost more than the fees: a trip longer than 6 months breaks the five-year period, study years do not count towards the national status, and an application filed late ends in a fine or a refusal. Murblz support removes these risks: we count your absences from the passport, choose between the national status and the EU status, check the file before the fees are paid and prepare the next step towards citizenship. We guarantee professional work and a transparent process, and in most cases a result on the first filing.
The support fee depends on your residence ground and family size; a manager will calculate it in the chat.
Why permanent residence is refused in Spain
- a gap between cards, a trip longer than 6 months in a row or more than 10 months of absence in total;
- study years counted towards the period, although they do not count for the national status;
- a criminal record or a finding of a threat to public order and security;
- school-age children not attending school;
- for the EU status: stable income not proven or no insurance;
- a Schengen entry ban, an unpaid fee or filing more than 3 months after the card expired.
In July 2026 the Supreme Court of Spain barred automatic refusals based only on a criminal record entry or a police report: the immigration office must assess the seriousness of the offence, the length of residence and ties to the country. That is why documents on work, family and taxes paid are attached to the application.
A refusal can be appealed, but time runs and the card meanwhile expires. That is why the file is checked before filing: absences from the passport, the dates of all cards and which years count.
What permanent residence in Spain gives and how it differs from citizenship
| Question | Permanent residence | Citizenship |
|---|---|---|
| Duration | indefinite unless you live 12 months in a row outside the European Union | for life |
| Work and business | no permits needed, on the same terms as citizens | no restrictions |
| Living in other EU countries | with the EU status, a simplified residence permit in another country | freely, as an EU citizen |
| Travel | Schengen area up to 90 days in 180 with your own passport and the card | Spanish passport, free movement across the EU |
| Elections | no vote in national elections | full vote |
| Previous citizenship | kept | must be renounced, except for citizens of Latin American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal |
| Fees | ~$50 | ~$120 for the application and ~$260 for the exams |
Permanent residence suits those who want to live and work in Spain without renewals but are not ready to give up their own passport: citizenship is not needed to live in the country.
You can apply for citizenship after 10 years of lawful residence in Spain, that is 5 years after permanent residence. Citizens of Latin American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal need 2 years, and spouses of Spanish citizens 1 year. Details are on our Spanish citizenship page.
Restrictions for specific nationalities
The law does not divide permanent residence applicants by nationality: five years and the same documents for everyone, with no quotas. The difference lies in how you enter the country and how fast you reach a passport.
Citizens of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan need a visa to enter. The EU visa facilitation agreement with Russia has been suspended since September 2022, and since November 2025 Russian citizens are, as a rule, issued only single-entry Schengen visas. Citizens of Ukraine with a biometric passport and citizens of the United States enter visa-free for up to 90 days in 180. Such trips do not count towards the five years: the period starts with a national visa and a residence permit.
Citizens of the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland are not issued this status: they register as EU citizens and gain the right of permanent residence after 5 years under their own rules.
Citizens of Latin American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal usually get a passport before permanent residence: 2 years of residence in Spain are enough for them, and they do not have to give up their previous citizenship.
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About this country:
- How to get residency in Spain: all routes
- Spanish citizenship
- Spain digital nomad visa
- Retiring in Spain
- Taxes in Spain
- Madrid: districts and prices
- Company registration in Spain
- Cost of living in Spain
FAQ
How many years until permanent residence in Spain?
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What do I need for permanent residence in Spain?
Does buying property in Spain give permanent residence?
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Do I need to pass a Spanish exam for permanent residence?
How much does permanent residence in Spain cost?
When is Spanish permanent residence lost?
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