How to get a Spanish residence permit

I am living in Spain with my boyfriend who is here illegally he is from Senegal. How does he become legal? Any advice would be appriciated

Hello Natalie,

There are various ways to acquire legal residency in Spain, depending on your boyfriend´s personal circumstances and plans. For instance:

- Salaried Work and residence permit: We do not recommend due to the current high unemployment rate, and the fact that there is a limited list of professions that will allow the applicant have access to the application.
- Self employed work and residence permit: It allows living and working in Spain by investing in a business and being a self-employed individual; a business plan and a minimum investment of 80.000 Euros will be required.
- Residency as being a relative to an EU citizen, in the event the applicant has a family relationship with a EU citizen living in Spain ( spouse, children and/or parents )
- Family reunion for legal residents in an EU country ( spouse, children and/or parents )
- Residency by work or by settlement ( if the applicant has lived in Spain during 2-3 years in an irregular situation )

Please feel free to contact me by email by clicking on my profile if you wish to discuss your boyfriend´s particular case.

Regards,

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Originally Posted by Patricia

Hello Natalie,

There are various ways to acquire legal residency in Spain, depending on your boyfriend´s personal circumstances and plans. For instance:

- Salaried Work and residence permit: We do not recommend due to the current high unemployment rate, and the fact that there is a limited list of professions that will allow the applicant have access to the application.
- Self employed work and residence permit: It allows living and working in Spain by investing in a business and being a self-employed individual; a business plan and a minimum investment of 80.000 Euros will be required.
- Residency as being a relative to an EU citizen, in the event the applicant has a family relationship with a EU citizen living in Spain ( spouse, children and/or parents )
- Family reunion for legal residents in an EU country ( spouse, children and/or parents )
- Residency by work or by settlement ( if the applicant has lived in Spain during 2-3 years in an irregular situation )

Please feel free to contact me by email by clicking on my profile if you wish to discuss your boyfriend´s particular case.

Regards,

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My boyfriend has been here for 6 years and we have been together for 4 years. We are now getting serious and want to get married and start a family.
But we have no idea where to start...does he have to become legal first? And if so how? Or can we get married with him being illegal? Would this help him become legal?

Hello Natalie,

I believe you are an EU citizen holding residency in Spain - correct me if mistaken. In that case, you are free to get married in Spain and your boyfriend can still get married even if he is in an irregular situation. I recommend you to contact the Civil Registry of the town where you reside and prepare the list of documens being required ( passports, birth certificates duly translated and legalized, empadronamiento, etc ) and then you will have to wait for a couple of months for the judge to authorize the wedding after checking your documentation. Once you are married your boyfriend will be able to apply for the Residence card as a relative to an EU citizen, that will authorize him to live and work in Spain for 5 years. After that period of time, he will be eligible for permanent/Long stay residency.

If you wish to disucss you case in detail, you can e-miai me. You will find my details after clicking on my profile.

Regards,