How to fill in the EX-02 form (family reunification, Spain)

What the form is for

A family reunification authorisation (autorización de residencia temporal por reagrupación familiar) lets a foreign resident of Spain bring close family members to live with them. The resident (the reagrupante) applies, not the family member. The rules come from the Ley Orgánica 4/2000 (articles 16 to 19) and the Real Decreto 1155/2024 (articles 65 to 68).

You hand in the EX-02 with your documents in person at the Oficina de Extranjería of the province where you live, or online through the electronic office of the Ministerio de Política Territorial y Memoria Democrática. You can also use a representative. The fee is paid with form 790 code 052.

The form also has boxes for renewals, for children under special regimes and for independent residence of a family member who is already in Spain. This guide covers the first request to reunite a family member who is abroad. The ministry says the rules in force on the day you apply are the ones that count.

Who needs it

The ministry's information sheet no. 8 (Hoja 8, last updated May 2025) lists these conditions. Check the sheet itself before you apply:

• Only the person living in Spain (the reagrupante) submits the application, in person or through a representative.
• Family members who can be reunited: your spouse or a partner over 18 in a relationship similar to marriage (only one spouse or partner, and marriage and partnership are not compatible); children of you or of your spouse or partner who are under 18 when you apply, or older with a disability that needs support or unable to provide for themselves because of their health; people you legally represent, under the same conditions; and first-degree ascendants (parents) of you or of your spouse or partner, who depend on you, are over 65 and have reasons to live in Spain (exceptionally under 65 for humanitarian reasons). An adult son or daughter who will care for a reagrupante with a recognised dependency grade can also be reunited.
• A partner counts if the partnership is registered in a public register of an EU state and the registration is not cancelled, or if you can prove a stable relationship by any legal means: at least 12 continuous months living together (not required if you have children together).
• You can apply when you have lived in Spain for at least one year and have applied for a permit to live in Spain for at least another year. There are exceptions, for example if you hold a long-term residence permit granted in Spain (to reunite ascendants of you or of your spouse or partner) or you live in Spain on the basis of long-term EU residence from another EU state.
• You need regular means: every month 150% of the IPREM for a family of two (you and the person to be reunited), plus 50% of the IPREM for each additional member. The IPREM is a public reference income index; use its monthly value. For minors or people you represent, stable income of at least the minimum wage (salario mínimo interprofesional) can be enough; for a family of two where one is a minor, the sheet asks for 110% of the guaranteed Ingreso Mínimo Vital per year, plus 10% for each additional minor.
• You need adequate housing (vivienda adecuada) and health insurance for you and the family members. Other minor children of school age who are already in Spain must be in school.
• The sheet also requires: no criminal record in Spain and in the countries where the person lived in the last five years; no threat to public order, security or health, and no disease with serious impact on public health (International Health Regulations 2005); not being listed as "rechazable" in Schengen countries; not being within a no-return commitment made on a voluntary return; not being in Spain irregularly; and not being an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen or a family member under the EU regime.
• The fee is paid with form 790 code 052 (item 2.1.2, initial temporary residence by family reunification) within ten working days of submitting. The information sheet does not state the amount.
• The decision comes within two months. If you hear nothing by then, the request counts as refused (silencio administrativo negativo). Decisions that cannot be notified are published in the Tablón Edictal Único; an electronic notification counts as delivered after 10 calendar days.
• After approval, the family member has two months from the notification to ask in person for the visa at the Spanish consulate where they live (minors through their representative). The passport must be valid for at least four months. The consulate decides within one month; the visa must be collected in person within one month, and the family member must enter Spain within one month of collecting it.
• Within one month of entering Spain the family member must ask in person for the foreigner identity card (TIE) at the police. A spouse, partner or child of working age can work in Spain without further steps. Note: where this applies, the family member's permit is only granted once your own renewal (or long-term permit) has been granted. The permit is valid until the same date as yours when they enter, with a minimum of one year.

Before you start

• The EX-02, filled in and signed by you (the reagrupante). The form itself is handed in as an original and a copy ("SE PRESENTARÁ ORIGINAL Y COPIA DE ESTE IMPRESO"); for the other documents hand in copies and show the originals.
• A complete copy of your passport or travel document, in force.
• Proof of employment and means. Employees: contract and last 6 payslips, and the last IRPF return if any. Self-employed: proof of the activity and the last IRPF return or last two quarterly IRPF returns. No activity: certified or traveller's cheques, payment letters or credit cards with a bank certificate, or a bank certificate.
• The housing report of the competent body of your Comunidad Autónoma (or local authority where it handles it). If it is not issued and notified within one month of your request, you can use other legal proof: the title to occupy the home, number of rooms, use of each room, number of occupants, habitability and equipment, plus proof that you asked for the report. The report or those documents must be no more than 6 months old when you apply.
• Proof of health insurance for you and the family members.
• For a spouse or partner: a declaración responsable or jurada that no other spouse or partner lives with you in Spain. For a second or later marriage: the court decision on the previous spouse and children.
• For the family member: a complete passport in force, and proof of the family tie or partnership and, where it applies, of legal and economic dependency.
• For children reunited by one parent: sole parental authority, custody or the other parent's authorisation. For adopted children: the adoption decision. For adults unable to provide for themselves: proof of that.
• For ascendants: proof that you sent money or paid expenses for them during your last year living in Spain, proof of the reasons to live in Spain (or humanitarian reasons), and guaranteed healthcare.
• Proof that you paid the fee (form 790 code 052).
• Documents from other countries need a sworn translation into Spanish (or the co-official language) and legalisation by the Spanish consulate or the Foreign Affairs ministry, unless they have an apostille (Hague 1961) or are exempt by treaty.

Section by section

Here is what each part asks, in plain words, in the order it appears.

1. 1

   Espacios para sellos de registro

   The box at the top right is for the registration stamps of the office. Leave it empty.

2. 2

   Datos de la persona extranjera reagrupante (the first block, about you)

   This block is about you, the resident who lives in Spain, not about the family member. Fill in Pasaporte and N.I.E. (the N.I.E. has three boxes: first letter, the 7 digits, last letter), 1er Apellido, 2º Apellido, Nombre, Sexo, Fecha de nacimiento, Lugar, País, Nacionalidad, Estado civil, the father's and mother's names, your address in Spain, mobile phone and e-mail.

3. 3

   Sexo (1)

   Tick one: H (hombre, man), M (mujer, woman) or X (indefinido). The form says X can only be ticked by people who have it recognised in their country of origin.

4. 4

   Fecha de nacimiento (2)

   Date of birth as dd/mm/aaaa: 2 digits for the day, 2 for the month and 4 for the year.

5. 5

   Estado civil (3)

   S = soltero/a (single), C = casado/a (married), V = viudo/a (widowed), D = divorciado/a (divorced), Sp = separado/a (separated). Tick one.

6. 6

   Autorización de la que es titular, Título (4)

   On the line under your address, "Autorización de la que es titular" is the permit you hold: write it in the first box. The DNI/NIE/PAS and Título (4) boxes beside it are unclear: footnote (4) says to give the relationship with the reagrupante, which does not fit your own row. If in doubt, ask the Oficina de Extranjería about those two boxes.

7. 7

   Hijas/os a cargo en edad de escolarización en España

   Tick SÍ or NO: whether you have children in your care who are of school age in Spain.

8. 8

   Representante legal, en su caso (6)

   Only if you have a legal representative: name, DNI/NIE/passport and the title of the representation (footnote 6), for example "Padre" or "Madre del menor", "Administrador Único". Otherwise leave it empty.

9. 9

   1) Datos de la persona extranjera reagrupada o que se pretende reagrupar

   The family member you want to reunite: passport, N.I.E. only if they have one, surnames, name, sex, date and place of birth, country, nationality, civil status and their parents' names. "Domicilio en España" is for an address in Spain; if they live abroad, leave it empty.

10. 10

    2) Datos del representante a efectos de presentación de la solicitud (5)

    Only if someone other than you submits the application (for example an adviser). Otherwise leave the whole section empty.

11. 11

    3) Domicilio a efectos de notificaciones, and Dehú (7)

    Name, ID, address, phone and e-mail of the person who should receive notifications. If you leave it empty, they go to the applicant. The box "CONSIENTO…" agrees to receive notifications electronically in the Dehú (Dirección electrónica habilitada Única). Per footnote (7), a private individual is notified that way only if they tick this box; you then need a valid digital certificate or Cl@ve to read them.

12. 12

    4) Tipo de autorización solicitada (8)

    First tick the vínculo (the family member's relationship to you): cónyuge, pareja registrada, pareja no registrada, ascendiente (over or under 65), hijo/a (under 18, over 18 with a disability), minor or disabled adult legally represented by you, or adult child who is a carer. Then tick REAGRUPACIÓN FAMILIAR INICIAL. Art. 65 for a first request. The other options are for a family member of a long-term EU resident in another EU state (art. 68.2), renewals (art. 71), children under the special regimes of arts. 147 and 155, independent residence (art. 69) and work permission for an ascendant; they are not covered here. If one applies to you, ask the Oficina de Extranjería.

13. 13

    Other reunification applications

    Tick SÍ or NO: whether other family reunification requests are in process or are filed at the same time.

14. 14

    Place, date, signature, Dirigida a

    Town and date ("…, a … de … de …") and the signature of the applicant (or the legal representative, if any). "DIRIGIDA A", "Código DIR3" and "PROVINCIA" name the office the application is addressed to; if you don't know the DIR3 code, ask that office.

Common mistakes

• Putting the family member's data in the first block

  The first block is about you, the reagrupante. The family member abroad goes in section 1).

• Applying before you meet the residence time

  You need at least one year of residence in Spain and an application for a permit to live in Spain for at least another year (with the exceptions in the sheet). Check this before you pay the fee.

• An old housing report

  The housing report, or the documents that replace it, must be no more than 6 months old when you apply.

• Filling in section 2 for yourself

  Section 2 is only for a person other than the applicant who submits the application.

• Ticking the Dehú box without a digital certificate

  Electronic notifications are read with a digital certificate or Cl@ve. Without one, you may miss the answer.

• Foreign documents without translation or legalisation

  Documents from other countries need a sworn translation and legalisation or an apostille, unless exempt. Prepare them before you submit.

• Waiting too long for the visa

  After approval, the family member has only two months to apply for the visa at the consulate. Plan their documents (passport valid at least four months, criminal record certificate, medical certificate) in advance.