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The Canary Islands: The Ideal Place to Live with Your Family
For Italian or European citizens residing in the Canary Islands, ensuring that non-EU family members can live together is essential. Royal Decree 240/2007 is the primary legal instrument protecting this right, allowing the application for the Tarjeta de Familiar de Ciudadano de la Unión, a document that legally recognises family members’ residency and enables them to fully integrate into island life.
What is the Tarjeta de Familiar de Ciudadano de la Unión?
The Tarjeta de Familiar is more than just a document, it is a legal recognition that allows non-EU family members to change their stay from a short tourist visit to full legal residence. When an Italian citizen moves to Spain, they bring with them the European right to free movement. Thanks to RD 240/2007, this right can be extended to non-EU family members, granting them permission to live, work, and study in the Canary Islands legally.
This procedure applies exclusively to non-EU family members. For example, if your child is Italian, they will use the so-called green NIE; however, your non-EU partner must follow this procedure to obtain legal residency.
Who can apply for the Tarjeta, and are same-sex couples protected?
The decree broadly defines the family unit: spouse, registered partner (pareja de hecho), children up to 21 years old (or older if dependent), and dependent parents.
A key point is full equality of rights: same-sex couples have the same rights as heterosexual couples. If you are married or in a civil union with a non-European partner, your relationship is fully protected under RD 240/2007. What matters is the family bond and the intention to live together in Spain.
Financial and health requirements
The Spanish government requires the family to be financially self-sufficient. Working citizens demonstrate this through social security contributions; retirees or non-working family members must prove sufficient financial resources for all family members.
Additionally, full health coverage is mandatory. If you are not registered in the public system through work, you must take out a private insurance policy without co-payments that guarantees comprehensive coverage and automatic renewal. Partial or temporary insurance is not accepted by the Foreigners’ Offices in the Canary Islands.
Duration of the permit and work rights
The Tarjeta de Familiar is valid for five years and allows the non-EU family member to work immediately, either as an employee or self-employed. After the first five years, if the family bond and cohabitation continue, the family member can apply for permanent residence, valid for ten years, without repeated renewals.
It is important to note that the family member’s rights depend on the duration and continuity of the relationship with the EU citizen. In case of separation, the right persists only if the marriage or civil partnership lasts at least three years, of which at least one must have been in Spain.
Practical steps and common mistakes to avoid
The first essential step is Empadronamiento, the registration at the local Town Hall to demonstrate cohabitation. Without this, the residency application cannot be initiated. The process must begin within 90 days of the family member’s arrival.
Moreover, all foreign documents must be apostilled or legalised and translated by a sworn translator. Many citizens submit unrecognised translations, causing delays or refusals. Engaging an experienced lawyer from the start is key to completing the procedure smoothly.
RD 240/2007 safeguards the right to family unity in the Canary Islands, providing stability and security for Italian citizens and their non-EU family members. Properly preparing documents, meeting financial and health requirements, and following the procedure carefully allows families to enjoy a serene life under the Canary sun.