Does Pareja de Hecho give me residency?

Not directly. It's a precondition for family-based routes — Arraigo Familiar, Tarjeta de Familiar UE, and Withdrawal Agreement family applications. Register first, then apply for the family route.

How long does registration take?

It varies by region: Valencia roughly 4–8 weeks, Madrid 6–12 weeks, Andalucía 8–16 weeks. Cataluña's notarial route can be much faster.

Can two foreign nationals register?

Yes, provided both are legally resident or registered on the padrón. The main complication is the certificate of no impediment / single status from your country of origin, which must be apostilled and sworn-translated.

Pareja de Hecho Spain 2026 — How to Register (By Region)

Pareja de Hecho is Spain's registered-partnership system — the unmarried equivalent of a marriage certificate. It isn't a residency route on its own, but it's the key that unlocks several family routes: Arraigo Familiar, the Tarjeta de Familiar de Ciudadano UE, and Withdrawal Agreement family applications.

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Who can register?

Two adults living together as a couple, neither married to anyone else.
Both registered on the padrón, usually at the same address.
Both holding an NIE or DNI.

Why it's different in every region

Pareja de Hecho is governed by autonomous-community law, so the registry, the form, the waiting period and even the method differ depending on where you live. There is no single national process.

Comunidad Valenciana

Registration is handled by the Registre d'Unions de Fet of the Generalitat Valenciana, and is done largely online — you complete the application on the GVA portal, then print, sign and present it (or file with a digital certificate). Joint empadronamiento is typically expected.

Comunidad de Madrid

Madrid's Registro de Uniones de Hecho publishes downloadable forms for both electronic and in-person presentation, booked via cita previa.

Andalucía

The Junta de Andalucía provides an official downloadable application (the standard anexo form), which can also be filed online through the Ventanilla Electrónica (VEAJA).

Cataluña

Cataluña is the outlier: Pareja de Hecho is constituted before a notary rather than through a regional form, which can be faster but carries a notarial fee.

Pathway fills your regional form

Because each community uses its own form, Pathway lets you download your region's official form and drop it straight into the tool — it reads the fields and fills in your details automatically. For online-only regions, it produces a clean reference sheet to copy into the portal. See the Pareja de Hecho route page for details.