With most Spanish immigration procedures, if months go by and the administration hasn’t responded, the silence works against you: it counts as denied. With long-term residence, it’s the exact opposite — and it’s a fact very few sources explain clearly.
Here, silence works in your favor
The legal resolution deadline is 3 months. If that deadline passes with no response, your application is treated as approved, not denied. It’s the exception, not the rule: with the initial work authorization, for example, the exact same silence means exactly the opposite.
National or EU: two modalities, one shared core requirement
Both modalities require 5 years of continuous legal residence immediately before the request. The difference is what you get in exchange for one extra requirement:
- National: just the 5-year requirement (plus the standard documentation).
- EU: on top of the 5 years, it requires proof of financial means (150% of IPREM, a Spanish income indicator, for you, +50% per additional family member — the same index used by family reunification) and health insurance. In exchange, it grants a right the national modality doesn’t: the ability to request residence or a work authorization in another EU country later on.
Time spent outside Spain does count, against two different thresholds
The law tolerates absences of up to 6 consecutive months, as long as the total across the 5 years doesn’t exceed 10 months — or 18 months if those absences were work-related. Force-majeure absences are assessed case by case.
Documents and fee
The form is EX-11. You’ll need your full passport, proof of the fee payment, and an apostilled criminal record certificate — from your home country and any other country you’ve lived in over the last 5 years. The fee is the same for both modalities: €21.87 for processing plus €21.87 more for the card.
Verified directly against Hoja 49 (national modality) and Hoja 50 (EU modality) from the Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones (inclusion.gob.es).