EX-19 Form Spain: Residency for Non EU Family of EU Citizens

What the EX-19 is for

The EX-19 is the official application form for the Tarjeta de Residencia de Familiar de Ciudadano de la Unión, the residency card issued to non EU family members of EU, EEA, or Swiss citizens who are registered as residents in Spain. The card grants legal residency for five years, renewable, and comes with full rights to live, work, and study in Spain from the day it is issued. No separate work permit, no waiting period, no quota to fit into.

This is a completely different process from the standard non EU residency route. Where a regular non EU applicant might go through a visa, a TIE, and a work authorisation, the EX-19 applicant gets a streamlined single application because their right to reside flows from an EU family member's freedom of movement.

Who needs to file the EX-19

The EX-19 covers a specific list of family relationships. You qualify if you are:

• The spouse or registered partner of an EU, EEA, or Swiss citizen who is registered as a resident in Spain (holding the Certificado de Registro de Ciudadano de la Unión, also known as the Green Certificate, obtained via the EX-18)

• A direct descendant under the age of 21, or any age if financially dependent

• A direct descendant of the EU citizen's spouse or partner, under 21 or dependent

• A dependent ascendant (parent or grandparent) of the EU citizen or their spouse or partner

The key word in most of these categories is dependent. You will need to prove the dependency with documents, not just state it. For spouses and registered partners, you will need to prove the relationship is valid and legally recognised.

The EU family member (the sponsor) must already hold a valid Certificado de Registro at the moment of your EX-19 application. You cannot file the EX-19 before the sponsor's own residency is in place, although in practice the sponsor often registers just before or at the same time as your process begins.

Documents required for the EX-19

Every document issued outside Spain will need to be apostilled (or legalised through the relevant Spanish consulate for countries not party to the Hague Convention) and translated into Spanish by a traductor jurado, a sworn translator officially recognised by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Translations by regular certified translators will not be accepted.

Core documents:

• Completed EX-19 form, signed by the non EU applicant

• Valid passport with at least six months of validity, plus photocopies of every printed page

• Three recent colour photographs, passport size, white background

• Marriage certificate, registered partnership certificate, or birth certificate, depending on the relationship

• Identification of the EU sponsor (passport or DNI) and their Certificado de Registro

• Proof of the EU sponsor's financial means: recent nóminas, pension statements, or bank statements

• Proof that the sponsor is covered by the Spanish public healthcare system, or private insurance equivalent to the Spanish public system covering both sponsor and applicant

• Volante de Convivencia or joint Padrón certificate showing both parties at the same address, less than three months old

• Proof of payment of the Modelo 790-012 tax

• For dependent ascendants and descendants over 21, additional documentary proof of the financial dependency

The EX-19 must be submitted within three months of the applicant's arrival in Spain.

Common reasons EX-19 applications get rejected

The EX-19 has a higher rejection rate than most people expect, and the reasons are rarely dramatic. They are almost always paperwork.

Name discrepancies across documents

Spanish administration is strict about exact name matching. If your passport shows one version of your name and your marriage certificate or birth certificate shows another (maiden name versus married name, or a middle name abbreviated on one document and spelled out on another), the application will be paused until you resolve it. This is easier to fix in your country of origin than in Spain, so sort it out before you travel.

Stale Padrón or Volante de Convivencia

The certificate must be less than three months old at the moment of the appointment, not the moment you booked it. If your appointment is pushed back, you may need to request a fresh one. This is one of the most common problems in the final days before an appointment.

Missing apostille or wrong translator

Documents translated by a regular translator, even a certified one, will not be accepted. Only traductores jurados listed on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website are valid. If the document comes from a country that is not party to the Hague Convention, you will need consular legalisation instead of an apostille.

Insufficient proof of financial resources for the EU sponsor

The threshold is not fixed at a single number in law, but the officer will look for resources comfortably above the IPREM (Indicador Público de Renta de Efectos Múltiples) for the sponsor plus each family member. If the sponsor is on salaried work, recent nóminas are straightforward. If the sponsor is retired, self employed, or relying on investment income, be ready with more extensive supporting documents.

Health insurance that does not meet the criteria

Travel insurance will not do. What the Oficina de Extranjería is looking for is either enrolment in the Spanish public healthcare system, or a full private policy with no copayments, no exclusions, no annual cap, and coverage equivalent to the Spanish public system.

Booking the wrong appointment type

The EX-19 is processed at the Oficina de Extranjería or at National Police stations that handle Extranjería, not at the general cita previa portal for NIE appointments. Booking through the wrong portal can cost you weeks.

How the EX-19 differs from the EX-18 and the TIE

These three forms get confused constantly. Here is the clean distinction.

EX-18 is for the EU, EEA, or Swiss citizen themselves. The output is the Certificado de Registro de Ciudadano de la Unión, known as the Green Certificate. A paper document, not a card.

EX-19 is for the non EU family member of that EU citizen. The output is the Tarjeta de Residencia de Familiar de Ciudadano de la Unión. A plastic card, similar in format to the TIE but issued under a different legal regime (the EU family regime, Royal Decree 240/2007).

EX-17 is the form for the TIE, the general non EU residency card issued to non EU nationals who arrived on a visa under the general immigration regime (work visa, non lucrative visa, Digital Nomad Visa, student visa, and so on). It is not connected to an EU family member.

If you are a non EU citizen married to, or otherwise closely related to, an EU citizen, the EX-19 route is almost always faster and more generous than the general regime TIE route. The general regime has stricter requirements around work authorisation, longer waiting periods, and a different path to permanent residency and nationality.

A 2026 note on the online platform

In 2026, Spain rolled out a centralised online platform for EU family member applications, intended to reduce the reliance on in person appointments and shorten processing times. The process is still evolving, so check the current procedure with your local Oficina de Extranjería or in our module before assuming the in person steps are fully optional.