Disability certificate in Spain for foreigners: who can apply, where and what 33% gives

In short: a disability certificate in Spain for foreigners is not a separate procedure. You ask the region where you are registered (empadronado) and live, with medical reports, and the region recognises a grade as a percentage. With 33% or more you count as a person with a disability for tax, employment and other benefits. The national rules give the procedure to the region where you are registered, but each region applies its own page (Madrid and the Valencian Community ask for legal residence; Castilla-La Mancha, a residence card or an asylum or refugee application). From 23.10.2026 Law 4/2026 changes art. 4.2 of the general law: dependency grade I counts as 33% and grades II and III as 65%, except for taxes.

In person or by representative? You file the application online (with a digital certificate or the signature system your region accepts) or at a registry office, sometimes with an appointment. Another person can file it with your authorisation: Catalonia allows it on its page and Madrid asks for the representation document. The assessment is, as a rule, an in-person examination (RD 888/2022, art. 8.1). In special circumstances the competent body can agree to a remote or online assessment (art. 8.3).

Requirements

• The region where you are registered and actually live decides; in Ceuta and Melilla, Imserso does (RD 888/2022, arts. 5 and 6). The general law says benefits are granted to foreigners under LO 4/2000 and treaties (RDLeg 1/2013, art. 4.5).
• Madrid: anyone who is Spanish or a foreigner with legal residence in Spain, registered in the Community of Madrid and with up-to-date health reports can apply.
• Canary Islands: asks for registration in a Canary municipality. Catalonia: the page is addressed to people with a disability who live in Catalonia.
• Valencian Community: Spanish nationality or legal residence in Spain, and registration in a Valencian municipality (procedure G376). Castilla-La Mancha: live in the region and be registered in a Castilla-La Mancha municipality; foreigners provide a copy of the residence card or, failing that, of the asylum or refugee application (procedure 1000378).
• Galicia, Andalusia and Castile and León: if you are a foreigner, confirm with your region's centre which documents you need before booking.
• No legal residence: Madrid and the Valencian Community require legal residence; Castilla-La Mancha accepts an asylum or refugee application instead of the residence card. In other regions, ask your region's centre first whether you can file the application. If you are not registered yet, see how to register on the padrón.

Documents

• Application on your region's form.
• Up-to-date medical reports proving the impairment, plus psychological or psychiatric reports if relevant. Madrid does not accept the full medical history or reports on CD or USB stick; the Canary Islands and Castilla-La Mancha ask for reports no older than 6 months from the application; Catalonia asks for those of the last 2 years.
• ID and, if you are a foreigner, proof of legal residence and of registration. Madrid checks them itself unless you object; in that case you provide them.
• Health card, if your region asks for it (Madrid does).
• Representation document if another person files (for minors, their parents or legal representatives).
• Each region publishes its list of documents: check your region's page.

Steps

1. Find out which region applies: the one where you are registered and actually live (in Ceuta and Melilla, Imserso).
2. Ask your doctor or specialists for up-to-date reports on your situation, with diagnosis, treatment and limitations.
3. File the application on your region's online office or at a registry, using the table below.
4. Go to the assessment: an examination by a multidisciplinary team, unless a remote assessment is agreed.
5. Receive the resolution with the grade, the review date and, if you reach 33%, the accreditation card.
6. If you need a certificate of the type of impairment, ask for it: the administration must issue it within 15 calendar days (RD 888/2022, first additional provision).

Deadlines

• You can apply all year round.
• The express resolution has a maximum of 6 months from the application (RD 888/2022, art. 9.1). Valencia states 3 months on its page. In Madrid, the Canary Islands and Castilla-La Mancha, if the deadline passes without an answer, it counts as a refusal; in Valencia it may count as a refusal.
• Recognition counts from the date of the application and applies across Spain (art. 9.2).
• The resolution sets a review date (art. 9.3). If you ask for a review yourself, normally 2 years must have passed since the resolution, or less if you document a substantial change (art. 12.2).
• For reasons such as health or life expectancy, urgent processing can be agreed, which halves the deadlines (art. 10).

Cost Madrid, Catalonia and the Canary Islands state on their pages that the procedure has no fees. Check your own region's page.

Where

Other regions: search «reconocimiento del grado de discapacidad» on your region's online office or ask the social services of your town. The region that assesses you is always the one where you are registered.

What recognition gives: with 33% or more you count as a person with a disability (RDLeg 1/2013, art. 4.2). Main benefits:

• IRPF: a disability allowance (mínimo por discapacidad) of €3,000 a year, or €9,000 with 65% or more (on top of the personal allowance), plus €3,000 if you need help from third parties, have reduced mobility or reach 65% (Law 35/2006, art. 60). For a relative with a disability who depends on you, see the disability deduction and Modelo 143.
• Employment: companies with 50 or more workers must reserve at least 2% of staff for people with a disability, with exceptions and alternative measures (RDLeg 1/2013, art. 42).
• Parking: the card is for people with a recognised disability and reduced mobility confirmed by assessment, or visual acuity of 0.1 or less or a visual field of 10 degrees or less (RD 1056/2014, art. 3). It is processed separately and valid across Spain.
• Medicines: there are copayment exemptions for disability in some cases; see pharmacy copayment.
• Non-contributory invalidity pension: it asks for 65% or more and its own legal residence and income requirements. Check them with Social Security; the minimum living income is a different benefit.
• Other advantages (transport, fees, housing) depend on your region or town hall: ask there.
• If you have a respiratory illness and belong to an association in the FENAER federation, there is free legal advice on incapacity, dependency and reduced-mobility cards, through your association. To find out whether your immigration status changes anything, ask your association.

Is a certificate from another country valid? The grade that counts in Spain is recognised by Imserso or your region after the assessment, valid across Spain (RD 888/2022, arts. 5 and 9.2). For IRPF the tax agency (AEAT) asks for a certificate from Imserso or a region (see the Modelo 143 card). The usual route is to ask for an assessment in Spain with medical reports. Ask the centre whether it accepts foreign reports and whether a translation is needed. If you come from Ukraine: there, the MSEK was replaced in 2025 by the EKOPFO (assessment of daily functioning). In Spain the grade is recognised through the Spanish assessment.

From 23.10.2026 (Law 4/2026): Law 4/2026 of 1 October, published in the BOE on 03.10.2026, reforms the general law on the rights of persons with disabilities and the dependency law, and enters into force on 23.10.2026. For recognition of the grade, what matters is the new art. 4.2 of the general law: dependency grade I equals 33% disability and grades II and III equal 65%, only in the areas the law provides for and not for tax purposes. A person with recognised dependency can still ask for an assessment of their actual disability (art. 4.2). How this equivalence will be proven in practice, and whether anything changes in the procedure or the certificate, ask your region. Dependency has its own residence rule (Law 39/2006, art. 5): 5 years in Spain, 2 of them immediately before the application, with exceptions for asylum applicants and beneficiaries of international or temporary protection.

Informational only; check the official source and a professional for your specific case.