• The general route requires five years of continuous legal residence in Spain.
• Absences may total up to ten months in five years, or 18 months for work reasons, without exceeding six consecutive months.
• National long-term residence does not generally require proof of financial resources or health insurance.
• The authority has three months to decide, and positive administrative silence may apply.
• Residence is indefinite, although the TIE must be renewed every five or ten years depending on age.

Long-Term Residence in Spain: Requirements and Application

National long-term residence allows indefinite residence and work in Spain. The status itself does not expire, although the TIE proving it must be renewed periodically.

General requirement: five years of residence

The general rule requires five years of continuous legal residence in Spain immediately before applying. Different residence authorisations may be combined if continuity is maintained.

Permitted absences

Absences do not interrupt continuity if no single absence exceeds six consecutive months and the total does not exceed ten months over five years. For work-related absences, the total may reach 18 months, while the six-consecutive-month limit remains. Longer absences may be accepted for proven force majeure, and special rules apply to certain aid workers.

Does time as a student count?

For national long-term residence, the law requires legal residence and does not provide for 50% of study-stay periods to count. For EU long-term residence, 50% of certain periods for study, training, mobility or volunteering may count, provided the applicant holds residence status when applying.

Other qualifying routes

Other eligible groups include residents receiving a contributory retirement pension; people receiving permanent total incapacity, severe-disability or equivalent benefits; people born in Spain who have legally resided there for the three years before turning 18; people who were Spanish by origin and lost nationality; adults who were under the guardianship of a Spanish public body during the previous five years; stateless people, refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection; and people who made a significant contribution to Spain's economic, scientific or cultural progress or international profile.

General conditions

Applicants must meet the applicable conditions, including no relevant criminal record, no entry ban in states linked to Spain by relevant agreements, no applicable no-return undertaking, no threat to public order, security or public health, and payment of the fee. National long-term residence does not generally require financial resources or health insurance.

Documents

Applications normally include:

• form EX-11;
• a complete copy of a valid passport, travel document or cédula de inscripción;
• proof of payment of form 790, code 052;
• evidence of any special qualifying ground;
• a foreign criminal-record certificate where required;
• proof of schooling for dependent children of compulsory school age, where applicable.

The authority checks previous residence, Spanish criminal records and police reports of its own motion. Foreign documents may require translation, legalisation or apostille.

When and where to apply

When applying at the end of temporary residence, the application may be filed during the two months before expiry or the three months afterwards, although late filing may lead to a sanction. Filing within these periods extends the previous authorisation until a decision is made. A person who already meets the requirements and has valid residence need not wait until the final two months.

From Spain, apply through the competent Oficina de Extranjería or the official online platform. Where an application from abroad is permitted, it is filed with the relevant Spanish consulate.

Decision period

The authority has three months to decide. If no decision is notified within that period, an application for national long-term residence may be considered approved by positive administrative silence.

After approval

Apply in person for the TIE within one month of notification. The residence status is indefinite; only the physical card expires.

National and EU long-term residence

National long-term residence allows indefinite residence and employed or self-employed work in Spain, including changing jobs without renewing the authorisation.

EU long-term residence also permits indefinite residence and work in Spain and facilitates applications for residence or work in other EU Member States under their own laws. It does not grant an automatic right to work anywhere in the EU. It additionally requires fixed and regular sufficient resources and health insurance, and may count 50% of certain study or training periods.

Renewing the TIE

The status is not renewed like temporary residence, but the card is. The first renewal is after five years; thereafter every five years until age 30, and every ten years from age 30. Renewal may be requested in the two months before or three months after expiry, although late filing may be sanctioned. Expiry of the TIE alone does not end long-term residence.

When can the status be lost?

Grounds include fraudulent acquisition, a lawful expulsion order, 12 consecutive months outside the EU, acquisition of EU long-term residence in another Member State, and certain criminal convictions. EU long-term residence also has a specific ground of six years outside Spain, subject to exceptions. In certain cases, lost status may be recovered without repeating the ordinary five-year period.

• Confusing national and EU long-term residence and incorrectly applying the 50% calculation for certain study periods.
• Exceeding the absence limits during the preceding five years without checking the effect on continuity.
• Assuming that expiry of the TIE automatically ends long-term residence.