What country has the quickest EU family card approval?

[Fastmover]

Hello,

I am an Irish citizen and I have an Irish citizen child with my Filipino girlfriend. I am living in Ireland and she is living in the Philippines. I am planning to get married and exercise my free movement rights to Spain to bring her with me to apply for a residence card and then finally end up in Ireland.

How long generally does it take to get a residence card in Spain and is there any other country that typically has a quicker resident card issued?

Many thanks for any help given.

[Angel99]

Hi,

If you are already in Spain and have an NEI number, use Spain since for them the child's birth certificate is sufficient as proof of cohabitation and you won't need any additional proof of cohabitation.

If not you first have to be resident in Spain before she applies for the EU family visa in Manila. The residence card is very easy there as well.

Other options will be France,Portugal and Nederlands. You don't need to be resident there. Plane ticket showing both of you will arrive in said countries on the same day is sufficient + atleast 1 year proof of cohabitation and copy of child's birth cert.

Germany is also very good but unless you use any schengen visa to enter first then apply for residence card which can be processed 1 day, providing you are in employment. It will be hard for her to get the visa since she's not your spouse.


All the best.

[Fastmover]

Hi,

If you are already in Spain and have an NEI number, use Spain since for them the child's birth certificate is sufficient as proof of cohabitation and you won't need any additional proof of cohabitation.

If not you first have to be resident in Spain before she applies for the EU family visa in Manila. The residence card is very easy there as well.

Other options will be France,Portugal and Nederlands. You don't need to be resident there. Plane ticket showing both of you will arrive in said countries on the same day is sufficient + atleast 1 year proof of cohabitation and copy of child's birth cert.

Germany is also very good but unless you use any schengen visa to enter first then apply for residence card which can be processed 1 day, providing you are in employment. It will be hard for her to get the visa since she's not your spouse.


All the best.

My status is we are not married, but we do have a child that has an Irish passport. The child was born in January 2025. Are you saying that if I went to Spain and got an employment number then she could join me without getting married because we could claim cohabitation based on the fact that we have a child together and no proof of cohabitation is required.

[Angel99]

Yes. The child is the proof of cohabitation. You don't need to get married.

[Palma9]

Hi yes, I did this
The child is the proof.
It would be worth getting the birth certificate translated and court certified by a company as you will need this for afew things, nursery, school, TIE cards. Its libro de familia in Spanish (family book) It has to be stamped so its official. Just as a side note, try to get to grips with the language (not sure if you already are).

[Fastmover]

Hi yes, I did this
The child is the proof.
It would be worth getting the birth certificate translated and court certified by a company as you will need this for afew things, nursery, school, TIE cards. Its libro de familia in Spanish (family book) It has to be stamped so its official. Just as a side note, try to get to grips with the language (not sure if you already are).

Thanks for the information. I don’t plan on living in Spain long-term I’m just going to use as a springboard to get residency and then probably come back to Ireland.

How long did it take to get the residency permit and work permit for your non-EU partner?

Many thanks for your help

[Fastmover]

Hi yes, I did this
The child is the proof.
It would be worth getting the birth certificate translated and court certified by a company as you will need this for afew things, nursery, school, TIE cards. Its libro de familia in Spanish (family book) It has to be stamped so its official. Just as a side note, try to get to grips with the language (not sure if you already are).

Hello, I just want to check something. I think I might be barking up the wrong tree. Did your partner get an EU residency card as a family member of an EU citizen or do they just get a residency permit? Because I think I need to get a residency card issued to a family member of an EU citizen for my partner to travel to Ireland.