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Is a resident of a Schengen country (but non-EU citizen) required to have a passport that is valid for 3 extra months when entering Spain?

I only managed to find the website of the Spanish foreign ministry, which states:

Foreigners holding a valid residence permit or a long-term visa issued by another Schengen State may travel through the territory of the other Schengen States for a maximum of 90 days within any 180-day period, provided that they are in possession of a valid passport or travel document, [...]

However, what confuses me is that the same website also states:

The document must be valid for al least three months following the projected exit from the territory of the Members States, and must have been issued within the last ten years. Citizens from any State of the European Union, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein only need a valid national identity document or passport.

The second passage seems to mean that only EU citizens are exempt from the passport validity requirement, whereas citizens of non-EU countries need to have a passport that is valid at least 3 months after the projected exit.

What is the actual requirement in terms of passport validity for a Schengen resident to enter Spain?

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    Last time I was trying to getting answer on this, different authorities gave different replies. In any case, it would be rare for this to be effectively checked.
    – xngtng
    Dec 17, 2021 at 17:19
  • Did Spain issue your residence permit, or are you entering Spain in transit to the country that did issue it?
    – phoog
    Dec 18, 2021 at 19:46
  • Are you entering Spain from outside the Schengen area? The requirements on the page you link to don't really apply to entering from another Schengen country.
    – phoog
    Dec 18, 2021 at 22:11

2 Answers 2

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Technically speaking, the passport should meet the validity requirements for short-term visitors unless either your residence permit was issued by Spain or you are in transit to the country that issued it. Article 6(5)(a) of the Schengen Borders Code:

  1. By way of derogation from paragraph 1:

(a) third-country nationals who do not fulfil all the conditions laid down in paragraph 1 but who hold a residence permit or a long-stay visa shall be authorised to enter the territory of the other Member States for transit purposes so that they may reach the territory of the Member State which issued the residence permit or the long-stay visa, unless their names are on the national list of alerts of the Member State whose external borders they are seeking to cross and the alert is accompanied by instructions to refuse entry or transit;

Paragraph 1 is where the validity requirement is established:

  1. For intended stays on the territory of the Member States of a duration of no more than 90 days in any 180-day period, which entails considering the 180-day period preceding each day of stay, the entry conditions for third-country nationals shall be the following:

(a) they are in possession of a valid travel document entitling the holder to cross the border satisfying the following criteria:

(i) its validity shall extend at least three months after the intended date of departure from the territory of the Member States. In a justified case of emergency, this obligation may be waived;

...

Whether you'd actually run into trouble in this case is anyone's guess, but you might want to check whether TIMATIC discusses the validity requirement in connection with a residence permit.

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  • That is not what the OP is asking, They are asking if they may enter Spain from the country that issued the residence permit. Even when refused entry for other reasons, they will be allowed to return to the country that issued the residence permit.
    – Mark Johnson
    Dec 18, 2021 at 22:04
  • @MarkJohnson ok, I missed the German residents tag. I still don't see anything in the question that suggests the traveler is arriving from Germany. How do you imagine traveler from Germany to Spain would be "refused entry"? The Spanish border authorities do not routinely inspect passengers arriving by air from Germany. As to "not what the OP is asking," the post ends with the question "What is the actual requirement in terms of passport validity for a Schengen resident to enter Spain?" This answer addresses that question.
    – phoog
    Dec 18, 2021 at 22:59
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EU citizens, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein etc. require only proof of citizenship in the form of a national ID or passport. Family members if an EU citizen, who are not nationals of a Member State, require only a valid passport together with their residence card.

When traveling outside of the country of residence, the conditions of the Schengen Border Code Article 6(1)(a), (c) and (e) apply for 3rd country nationals who hold a valid residence permit.

This is defined in Article 21 of the Schengen acquis/Convention:

The Schengen acquis - Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985.
Article 21

  1. Aliens who hold valid residence permits issued by one of the Contracting Parties may, on the basis of that permit and a valid travel document, move freely for up to three months within the territories of the other Contracting Parties, provided that they fulfil the entry conditions referred to in Article 5(1)(a), (c) and (e) and are not on the national list of alerts of the Contracting Party concerned.

Note:
Article 5 is now Article 6

Schengen Border Code:
Article 6 Entry conditions for third-country nationals

  1. For intended stays on the territory of the Member States of a duration of no more than 90 days in any 180-day period, which entails considering the 180-day period preceding each day of stay, the entry conditions for third-country nationals shall be the following:

a) they are in possession of a valid travel document entitling the holder to cross the border satisfying the following criteria:

(i) its validity shall extend at least three months after the intended date of departure from the territory of the Member States. In a justified case of emergency, this obligation may be waived;

(ii) it shall have been issued within the previous 10 years;.

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  • The conditions of short-term visits do not apply to the holder of a residence permit who is in transit to the country that issued the permit. Article 6(5)(a).
    – phoog
    Dec 18, 2021 at 19:53
  • @phoog But that is not the OP's case. With a German residence permit traveling to Spain, Article 6(1)(a) applies.
    – Mark Johnson
    Dec 18, 2021 at 21:57
  • The question says nothing about Germany. Even if we had reason to think that the traveler is a resident of Germany, we don't know the purpose for which the traveler is entering Spain.
    – phoog
    Dec 18, 2021 at 22:07
  • @phoog It has a german-residents tag. The way the question is formulated, it is clear that Spain in not the country that issued the residence permit.
    – Mark Johnson
    Dec 18, 2021 at 22:11

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