Family member of a Spanish citizen on temporary protection: EX-24

In short: if you hold temporary protection from Ukraine and you are a family member of a Spanish citizen, you can apply for residence as a family member of a person with Spanish nationality (form EX-24) without waiting for the protection to end. The SEM Instructions 2/2026 allow it and apply the general regime of chapter VII of RD 1155/2024. The application has no fee, the office has 2 months to decide (no answer counts as a refusal) and the permit lasts 5 years and allows you to work. When it is granted, you renounce temporary protection.

In person or by representative? Mixed. If you and your Spanish relative are both in Spain, either of you can file the application at the Oficina de Extranjería (immigration office) of the province where you live (appointment) or through Mercurio, which Hoja 18 lists as the electronic route. A representative needs a notarial power of attorney (apoderamiento) or apud acta, unless they are a registered immigration collaborator (art. 197.4). The TIE card is requested in person at the police station.

Who can apply. Art. 94.1 of RD 1155/2024 lists the relatives of the Spaniard, provided they live with them:

• Spouse over 18, with no annulment or divorce and no fraud of law. Only one spouse can qualify.
• Registered partner in a public registry of the EU, the EEA or Switzerland, or a proven stable partner: living together as a couple, in or outside Spain, for at least 12 continuous months. With children in common that time is not required.
• Children of the Spaniard or of their spouse or partner, under 26, or older if dependent or with a disability that requires support. For children under 18 of the spouse or partner, the foreign parent must have sole custody, or the other custody holder must consent before a public authority or a notary.
• Parent of the Spaniard, or of their spouse or partner, who lives at their expense and has no family support in the home country, or for humanitarian reasons.
• Parent or guardian of a Spanish minor who supports the minor and lives with them or is up to date with their obligations.
• One relative up to the second degree who cares for a Spaniard with a recognised level of dependency (Ley 39/2006).
• Children of a father or mother who is or was Spanish by origin.
• Other dependent relatives, proven beyond doubt. This case cannot be filed from Spain.

If you and the Spaniard are both in Spain, art. 97.1.c lets the relatives in letters a) to h) of art. 94.1 apply here. Letter i), other dependent relatives, is left out.

What changes when you have temporary protection.

• You must hold the residence authorisation granted for temporary protection. The 19th additional provision of RD 1155/2024 (wording from RD 316/2026, in force since 16.04.2026) lets its holders apply for authorisations that can be started from within Spain.
• The Fifth Instruction, paragraph 2, of SEM 2/2026 names this authorisation and says the general regime of chapter VII applies. In our reading, temporary protection neither adds requirements nor lowers them.
• Arts. 94 to 96 set no minimum time in Spain and no job contract among the requirements, and the national employment situation is not taken into account (art. 95.1).
• While the application is processed, you keep your temporary protection. The Seventh Instruction places the renunciation after the grant.
• EX-24 has no box for temporary protection, and Hoja 18 (April 2026) does not mention it, because it predates the June Instruction. You can cite the Fifth Instruction in a cover letter when you file. It is not an official requirement.
• Dates: the temporary-protection TIE card is valid until 04.03.2027 (Order INT/96/2026). The EU has already extended the protection until 04.03.2028 (Decision (EU) 2026/1912).

Documents. A valid passport, proof of the family link and of living together, documents of your Spanish relative and, if you lived outside Spain in the last 5 years, a criminal-record certificate from that country (art. 96 and sheet 18). The full list by type of relative and how to fill in the EX-24 are in the PDF guide on this page.

Deadlines, fees and work.

• Decision: 2 months from filing. With no answer, the application is deemed refused (negative silence). Processing is a priority. If documents are missing, the office gives you up to 15 days to complete them, or closes the file (art. 97.6).
• Application fee: none, the procedure is free of charge (art. 97.8 and Hoja 18).
• Work in the meantime: when the office admits the application for processing, it provisionally authorises you to live and work, employed or self-employed, in any sector (art. 97.5). This does not apply if an authorisation of the same type was already inadmitted or refused on the same facts. If it is refused, that provisional authorisation is lost and, if you work for an employer, you have to tell them right away. If it is granted, its effects count from the filing date.
• Duration: 5 years from the grant, or the Spaniard's planned period of residence in Spain if it is shorter. It allows you to live and work across Spain, employed or self-employed (art. 95).
• TIE: requested in person at the police station within 1 month of the notice of the grant (art. 97.7). It takes form EX-17 and the fee on form 790, code 012, heading 4.1: 12 € (Order PJC/617/2025). Check the current amount on the day you pay.

After the grant: renouncing temporary protection. When you obtain the residence you must expressly renounce temporary protection (Seventh Instruction; art. 24.1.d of RD 1325/2003). It is done with the withdrawal or renunciation form of the OAR (Ministry of the Interior), through the electronic register, with «RENUNCIA PT» and the file number in the subject. The receipt is shown when you request the TIE, and the temporary-protection card is handed in to the police. The NIE does not change. Details in renouncing temporary protection.

Conditions of the permit.

• The authorisation lasts while you remain in one of the cases of art. 94 and meet the requirements. You must report to the Oficina de Extranjería or the police station any change of address, nationality, marital status or partner status within 2 months (art. 98.2).
• It can be lost if you stop living as a couple or family in practice, or if the Spaniard marries or has a stable relationship with someone else (art. 98.3).
• If the relationship ends or the Spaniard dies, there is independent residence (art. 99), generally to be requested within 6 months of the event. Stable partners and other dependent relatives do not have it (art. 99.1). Check your case with a professional.

Criminal records and Supreme Court judgment 868/2026. A previous conviction is not by itself an automatic ground for refusal, except for the relatives in letters c), g), h) and i) of art. 94, who must always show they have no record (art. 98.1). Supreme Court judgment 868/2026 (BOE of 22.09.2026) annulled two things that affect this route:

• The phrase in letter f) of art. 94.1 that required the relationship of the parent or guardian with the Spanish minor to be established under Spanish law. Hoja 18 still includes it.
• The passages of arts. 97.4 and 98.1 that set automatic refusal for criminal records, without an individual assessment, in the cases covered by art. 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU.

Other routes from temporary protection. If your case does not fit here: change to residence and work (EX-26), arraigo, long-term residence and minor children (EX-25). The summary of the seven instructions is in SEM Instructions 2/2026. The general card for this residence, without temporary protection, is residence of a family member of a Spanish citizen. If your relative is from another EU country and not Spanish, it is a different regime: EU citizen family member card. If the sponsor is a foreign resident, see family reunification.

What is not confirmed.

• Cases that can be filed from Spain. Hoja 18 lists letters a), b), c), f), g) and h). Art. 97.1.c of the regulation includes a) to h), that is, also dependent children and parents. The sheet itself warns that only the rules in force at filing apply. Ask at your office.
• Office practice. We found no management criterion and no public cases of EX-24 filed from temporary protection (search 2026-10-03). How offices apply the Fifth Instruction, paragraph 2, is not confirmed.
• Criminal records. Hoja 18 does not explain the case of someone who spent part of the previous 5 years in Ukraine and part in Spain, and the sources we consulted do not say how long the certificate stays valid.
• Passport. Art. 97.4 refers to art. 38, which for the visa asks for a passport with at least 1 year of validity. Hoja 18 only says «in force». This is our reading of the text: there is no official clarification of whether that year is required when applying from Spain.
• Stable partner. The rule requires proof of living together but does not list which proofs each office accepts.
• Fees. Art. 97.8 and Hoja 18 speak of a free procedure. The fee order sets 12 € for the TIE of this residence (heading 4.1) and its art. 1.3 equates the fees of this residence to those of the DNI. Check at the office what you are asked to pay. The order provides for annual updating.
• Supreme Court judgment. There is no official guidance on how offices apply it, and Hoja 18 has not been updated.

The box-by-box EX-24 walkthrough and the document checklist are in the PDF guide on this page.

Steps:

1. Check that your link with the Spaniard is on the list in art. 94.1 and that you live with your relative.
2. Gather the documents of Hoja 18. If you spent part of the last 5 years outside Spain, ask for the criminal record certificate of that country, with apostille and sworn translation.
3. Fill in EX-24 («Residencia inicial» and the type of relative) and, for a spouse or partner, Annex I.
4. File the application, you or your Spanish relative, at the Oficina de Extranjería of your province or through the electronic register (sheet 18 mentions Mercurio, but the EX-24 is not on its list of procedures). No fee. If you wish, attach a letter citing the Fifth Instruction of SEM 2/2026.
5. Once it is admitted for processing you have a provisional authorisation to live and work. Check your notifications and answer any request within the deadline, which is up to 15 days.
6. The office has 2 months. With no answer, the application is deemed refused: see what to do after a refusal or silence.
7. If it is granted, renounce temporary protection with the OAR form and request the TIE within 1 month, with the receipt of the renunciation.

Official source: RD 1155/2024, consolidated text · SEM Instructions 2/2026 (PDF) · Hoja 18, Ministry of Inclusion · EX forms, Migraciones (our forms card).

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