The Spanish permanent residence is also commonly referred to as a five-year residence as it is valid for five years. As you may know, there are certain conditions to be met in order to apply for permanent residence, the most important of which is to have lived in Spain for a continuous period of 5 years. Today’s topic is about whether it is possible to apply for permanent residence in Spain after five years of residence as a student.
Does the period of student residence count towards the 5 years?
Article 32 of the Spanish Aliens Act states that the first requirement for permanent residence is to have resided in Spain legally and continuously for 5 years. Spanish law refers to residencia (which means “residence” in Spanish) and estancia (which means “temporary residence or stay”) when living or studying in Spain as a student. This is why the words “estancia por estudios” appear on the student residence card.
Therefore, the period of student residence cannot be counted as part of the 5 years of permanent residence. This is because legally the period of residence as a student cannot be considered as legal residence.
Does the student residence period count as half the time?
Some students have previously asked whether the student residence period is discounted by 50%, for example, if you have studied at university for 4 years, then when applying for permanent residence, the 4 years are counted as half of the residence period, i.e. 2 years.
It is true that in some regions the 50% discount for student residency has been heard before, but this information has been confirmed to be a misinformation and a confusion between permanent residency and EU residency.
According to Article 152 of the Spanish Aliens Statute the period of residence as a student is counted as 50% of the residence time when applying for permanent residence in the EU. In other words, if I have been a student in Spain for 4 years, this period will count as 50% of the time spent in Spain when applying for permanent residence in the European Union, i.e. 2 years. However, there is no similar provision in the law in relation to permanent residence.
In summary, even if you have been in Spain for 5 years as a student, you cannot apply for a permanent residence, but rather you need to apply for a work residence or employer residence.
