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Steve Burgess

Temporary Versus Permanent Residency and Permitted Absences

Updated: Nov 26

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We are often asked questions about temporary versus permanent residency and the absences from Spain that are permitted to maintain them. This guide aims to provide the details relative to your personal situation here in Spain.


Types of Residency


  1. Temporary Residency:

    • When you first move to Spain, you’re typically granted the right to temporary residency.

    • To maintain this right, you must continue to meet the conditions, such as having sufficient economic means and valid health insurance.

    • This right can be revoked more easily if you don’t maintain these requirements.


  2. Permanent Residency:

    • After five qualifying years of legal residency, you will usually have the right to permanent residency, which is much harder to lose.

    • Permanent residents gain access public services such as health and social care and are no longer required to prove they meet temporary residency conditions.


Rules About Absences


  • Temporary Residency:

    • The time you can spend outside of Spain each year depends on the reason your residency was granted. See the summary table below

    • You need to limit your absences during five years to ensure each year counts as a “qualifying year” towards permanent residency.


  • Permanent Residency:

    • To obtain permanent residency, you cannot have been absent for more than 10 months total over five qualifying years. (This rule does not apply to UK nationals protected by the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.)

    • The five years qualifying years do not have to be consecutive, but they must total five years of legal residency.


  • Disregarded Absences:

    • Some absences may be disregarded, such as military obligations, childbirth, education or work. 


What Happens If You Exceed Absence Limits?


  • Your right to residency may be revoked and you may need to begin the application process from the beginning.

  • If you frequently leave Spain (e.g., spending three months abroad every year), you won’t qualify for permanent residency. Instead, you can retain temporary residency status as long as you continue to meet the requirements (financial/healthcare). You will be obliged to continue to provide the evidence that you meet these requirements for residency.


Important Notes:


  • Each qualifying year for permanent residency starts from the date you were first granted residency.

  • Locally decision makers can, and often do, interpret the rules differently. Appeals can be costly and time-consuming. The safest way to qualify for permanent residency is to limit absences during temporary residency.

  • The start and end dates on any cards you hold, TIE or EU residence card for example, may not match the dates of your residency status. The most important date is the one held on the national database. You can check this date by obtaining a residency certificate online here


Summary


Residency Basis

Permitted maximum absence per year to maintain temporary residency

Maximum absence to obtain permanent residency - five qualifying years with

Permitted absence, once granted permanent residency

EU Nationals

6 months

6 Months each year plus less than 10 months in total

2 Years

EU Family members

6 months

6 Months each year plus less than 10 months in total

2 Years

Withdrawal agreement protected UK nationals

6 months

6 Months each year 

5 Years

Golden Visa holders

Unlimited - must visit Spain at least once per year

6 Months each year plus less than 10 months in total

1 Year outside EU

6 Years inside EU

Other Visa Holders

Unlimited (see note below)

Less than 10 months in total

1 Year outside EU

6 Years inside EU

There is currently legislation being processed which is likely to require visa holders to be in Spain for a minimum of 183 days each year, and be tax resident in order to maintain their right to residency.


EU Nationals & EU Family members


The EU residence card will be valid for five years from the date of issue. The validity of the residence card will not be affected by temporary absences less than six months a year, nor by absences of a longer duration to fulfil military obligations, nor by an absence of no more than twelve consecutive months for important reasons, such as pregnancy and childbirth, serious illness, studies or vocational training, or transfer for work reasons to another Member State or a third country.


Once permanent right to residency has been granted you can be absent for up to two years before losing your permanent right to residency. You can pick up where you left off if you return to live in Spain during a two year period. Whilst you are living in another country you can still visit as tourists and as EU Nationals will not be subject to the 90/180 day rules. 


If you are absent for more than two years you would need to start again with only temporary right to residency.


Withdrawal agreement protected UK nationals 


You can still keep your residency status even if you are away from Spain for up to six months a year. Longer absences for things like military service or important reasons like pregnancy, illness, education, or work in another country won't break your continuity of residence. After five years with less than six months absence in each year you will be entitled to permanent residency.


Once permanent right to residency has been granted you can be absent from Spain for up to five years continuously. If you move to another country you have to give up your residency card and disengage from Spanish systems. You would then be able to visit Spain as tourists and be subject to Schengen restrictions again. But the right to be a resident is retained and therefore you can move back to the Spain at any point in the following five years, re-register as a permanent resident of Spain. Your permanent right to residency remains in place and any new residency card would state that you were still "Permanente".


If you remain absent for more than five years you lose the right to residency and would need to apply for a visa to return to live in Spain. You will also lose your protections under the Withdrawal Agreement.


Golden Visa holders


Those who are in Spain via an Investors visa have no limit on their absence period - there is no 6 month in Spain rule for them to maintain temporary right to residency. There is a requirement that you visit Spain at least once each year. To be granted permanent residency however the 10 months absence in five years rule applies.


Other Visa Holders (such as Non-Lucrative Visa)


The recent challenge to the law means that visa holders can now be absent for longer than six months per year and still retain their temporary resident status. If you do not obtain permanent residency you will still be required to demonstrate that you continue to meet the requirements of your visa and renew your temporary TIE. 


To obtain permanent residency you need to accumulate five years of temporary residency and in each of these years less than six months absence and with less than 10 months absence in total over the five years. In the case of absences for work reasons, the continuation of the residence will not be affected by absences from Spanish territory of up to six continuous months, provided that the sum of these does not exceed the total of one year within the required five years.


Once you hold a Tarjeta Larga Duración (Long-Term Residence Card) in Spain, you are allowed to be absent from the European Union for up to 12 consecutive months without losing your residency status.

If you become a legal resident in another EU country, you may be absent from Spain for up to six years and still retain your permanent residency rights in Spain.


Under a special regime, if the right to permanent residency expires and you need to start again, you are only required to provide the same evidence as required by an EU citizen when you became a resident here for the first time (i.e. only 100% IPREM, not the 400% IPREM, etc) and you will pick up their permanent right to residency again.



 



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