Single-parent family certificate

What do you need to know?

It is a document attesting to single-parent family status which provides benefits throughout Spain.

It is an official document accrediting the status of a family which financially depends on just one person (single-parent).

It provides the opportunity to receive benefits, tax advantages and discounts at institutions, entities and commercial premises, in both the public and private sectors.

Along with the collective certificate for the whole family, an individual card for each family member is issued, for their personal, non-transferable use.

The process is not compulsory but it is of significant interest to families meeting the requirements for single-parent families and who want to gain access to the benefits offered by the certificate. These benefits mainly relate to benefits, discounts and allowances relating to birth, adoption, guardianship or fostering of children, as well as housing, education and cultural matters, recruitment, transport and leisure.

Therefore, the single-parent family certificate offers, among others, the following advantages:

• Direct help with the deposit to buy social housing.
• Universal financial help for single-parent families with children from 0 to 6 years of age.
• Free family youth hostel card when you submit the single-parent family certificate. This card means all members of the single-parent family unit can stay in the hostels.
• €6 per day discount, on a full board basis, for each member of the single parent family, in the 20 hostels owned by Catalonia Tourism.
• 50% discount on the entrance fee at public children's playgrounds owned by the Government of Catalonia.
• Subsidised property tax (IBI).
• Discount on transport tickets.

What requirements must be met?

It is aimed at families living with, and financially dependent on, a single person, who meet one of the following conditions:

• They are made up of one or more children under 21 years of age.
• They are made up of one or more children under 26 years of age, if they are studying.

Additionally, other family situations are also regarded as a single-parent family:

Requirements to be met by the household

Special category:

• Families who are financially dependent on a single person with two or more children.
• Families who are financially dependent on a single person where a parent or one of the children is disabled or unable to work.

General category:

• Families who are financially dependent on a single person and who are not included in the situations described above.

Single-parent families are considered to be those made up as follows:

• A parent, with children in his or her charge, who, at the same time, lives with other individuals with whom he or she is neither married nor has a stable partnership. An individual who is widowed, or in a comparable situation, with children who are financially dependent on him or her.
• A parent who has custody of the children and who does not receive any court-ordered maintenance payments for them. Families in receipt of maintenance payments which are lower than half the current Catalonia Sufficient Income Indicator (IRSC) monthly for each child are also included.
• A parent with children in his or her charge who has been the victim of violence, in accordance with Law 5/2008, of 24 April, on the right of women to eradicate domestic violence, by the other parent or cohabitee.
• A parent with children in his or her charge who has suffered family desertion by the other parent or cohabitee.
• A parent with children in his or her charge where the other parent is, for one year or more, imprisoned, in hospital or other similar situations.

Requirements to be met by the children:

• Being under 21 years of age, or being disabled or unable to work, or being under 26 years of age if they are studying.There is no age limit for disabled children, as long as they live with their family.
• Living with the parent and being financially dependent on them.

How long is it valid for?

Its general period of validity is four years.

What do you need to do?

You can get the single-parent family certificate in person, by attending the relevant offices, or over the Internet, via the Generalitat Virtual Formalities Office website, if you have a digital certificate.

What steps must you follow?

Online:

Step 1. You must obtain the digital certificate

• To get information about the procedure for obtaining the digital certificate, access the relevant document, where you will find the information and all the details about how to obtain it.

Step 2. Fill in the form and gather the necessary documentation 

• You must access the application form for single-parent family certificate (only available in Catalan and Spanish), fill it in following the instructions, attach the documents requested and send it.
• The application cannot be processed over the Internet in cases where there are disabled children over 26 years of age.
• In the event that you are part of a family unit in a specific situation that is not provided for above, check the specific documentation required with the body responsible.
• When the application is registered, a page containing the details of the formality will be displayed, along with the document acknowledging receipt. You must print or save this document, as it contains a record of receipt, the identifier for the formality and the fees.

Step 3. You will receive the certificate by post

• If the application has been sent correctly, you will receive the acknowledgement of receipt and a confirmation e-mail (if you requested it on the application form).
• The maximum period for issuing and notifying the decision is six months from the day after the date the application was submitted.
• If the decision is favourable, the certificate will be sent to your address by registered post, along with the favourable decision.

In person:

Step 1. Fill in the form and gather the necessary documentation 

• You need to download the application form for single-parent family certificate, fill it in, confirm the details, print it and sign it. The form is only available in Catalan and Spanish.
• If you prefer, you can ask for the form and fill it in at the same office you deliver the documentation to.
• Before starting the application, find out about and prepare the documentation that will be requested.

Step 2. Go to the place indicated and hand over the documentation required

• To apply for the certificate in person, go to one of the following offices in Barcelona province to submit the application and documentation needed:
  • Social and Family Affairs Offices and Citizens Information Offices of the Department of Social Rights, with an appointment.
  • Government of Catalonia registry offices for entering and issuing documents
• You can also go to any of the other places provided for by law:
  • At the registries of government bodies
  • At post offices (in the form stipulated in the regulations)
  • At Spanish diplomatic missions or consular offices abroad
  • At any other place provided for under current rules

Step 3. You will receive the certificate by post

• The maximum period for issuing and notifying the decision is six months from the day after the date the application was submitted.
• The certificate will be sent by registered post to your home address, along with the favourable decision, as long as you satisfy all the requirements for having single-parent family status and have provided all the supporting documentation.
• A certificate for the whole family is issued, along with an individual certificate for each family member, with the aim of making access to single-parent family benefits and advantages easy.

Who can submit the application?

The formality can be completed by anyone of legal age who is a part of the family unit which fulfils the conditions for being considered a single-parent family.

What documentation is needed?

All documentation must be submitted in original and photocopy format, or a certified photocopy.

A certified copy is a true copy of the original document which certifies its validity. It can be applied for at registry offices or via a Spanish notary, by submitting the original document. For more information, check the certified photocopy formality on the Barcelona City Council formalities website (available in Catalan and Spanish).

General documentation

Identity document (one of the following documents must be provided):

• Spanish national identity document (DNI), NIF (tax identification number) or NIE (identity number for foreign nationals) for the individual or individuals applying and for the children over 18 years of age who form part of the family unit.

Family document (one of the following documents must be provided):

• Full family book.
• Ruling, notarial certificate or administrative decision on adoption (only where this document has not previously been submitted to the Catalan Institute for Fostering and Adoption and it is not recorded in the family book).
• Judicial resolution for guardianship or administrative resolution for family placement.

Specific documentation

The specific documentation to be submitted varies according to the case applicable to the applicant.

• Where there are children over 21 years of age:
  • Certificate that the family unit lives together on the date the application is submitted.
• Where there is no obligation to file an income tax return for children over 21 years of age:
  • Certified income tax return for the last available tax year or an imputed income certificate.

In the event that you authorise the body responsible for the formality to check these data with other authorities or bodies, you do not need to provide this documentation.

• In the case of children over 21 and up to 26 years of age:
  • Certificate of studies or paid enrolment for the year in progress.
• In the case of widowhood:
  • Death certificate for the other parent, in the event that it is not shown in the family book.
• In the case of separation or divorce:
  • Court ruling on the family proceedings (separation or divorce decree and maintenance agreement approved by the court) establishing the measures for guardianship or the maintenance payments.
• In the event that maintenance payments are unpaid:
  • Court ruling showing that proceedings have been initiated to enforce the decree due to non-payment of maintenance.
• In the case of violence:
  • Court ruling, or any other type of evidence provided for by current legislation, attesting to the violence.
• In the case of desertion:
  • Court ruling on the initiation of preliminary proceedings for the offence of desertion, or any other type of evidence provided for by current legislation attesting to the desertion.
• In the case of imprisonment:
  • Certificate of incarceration in a detention centre.
• In the case of hospitalisation:
  • Certificate of hospitalisation.

Additional documentation for EU nationals 

• EU resident’s permit for the individual or individuals applying and for the children over 18 years of age who form part of the family unit.

If you do not have the above document, you should provide the following:

• Certified copy of the certificate proving registration in the Central Register of Foreign Nationals.
• Certified copy of your passport or identity document from your country of origin.

Additional documentation for non-EU nationals 

• Current resident’s permit for all members of the family unit.
• Resident’s card for all members of the family unit.

In the event that you are part of a family unit in a specific situation that is not provided for above, check the specific documentation required with the body responsible.

How long does it take?

If the certificate is processed in person, the document is processed and handed over on the spot, as long as you provide the documentation requested and meet all the requirements.

What does it cost?

It is free.

Want to know more?

Body responsible for the formality

Department of Social Rights (Generalitat de Catalunya-Government of Catalonia).

Further information

You can consult the Network of advantages for single-parent families and the Guide to benefits and services for families.

You can call the Generalitat help line (012) to resolve any queries or incidents during the process of applying over the Internet.You can also consult the formality single-parent family certificate (available in Catalan and Spanish).

Important linked formalities

If you wish to apply for the single-parent family certificate, prior to getting the document you must obtain the following:

• Volant de convivència (City of Barcelona)