Arraigo in Spain: five ordinary residence routes

Identify the route before collecting documents

This guide covers segunda oportunidad, sociolaboral, social, socioformativo and familiar under RD 1155/2024, including the April 2026 amendment. The Spanish legal names are retained because these English descriptions are explanatory. It does not determine individual eligibility. Physical presence is different from lawful residence counted for long-term status or nationality. Family members of Spanish citizens have a separate regime.

For a relative of a Spanish citizen, first check the specific authorisation; general family reunification and arraigo have their own conditions. See the specific guide for family members of Spanish citizens.

General conditions: presence, status and background

The general rule requires two years of continuous presence before applying; familiar has no minimum presence requirement. SEM 1/2025 sets a maximum of 90 calendar days of absence during those two years. This continuity criterion does not authorise travel or guarantee re-entry.

For an initial application, Article 126.h excludes holders of a stay or residence authorisation and interested parties in pending procedures for a grant, extension, renewal or modification of stay or residence. An existing study authorisation must be checked against this exclusion. We do not recommend giving up an authorisation to obtain arraigo.

Criminal records and the applicable public order, security, public health, entry-refusal, non-return undertaking and fee conditions must also be checked. A police record does not itself mean automatic refusal.

Article 126 · Article 130.2 · SEM 1/2025 · p. 3

International protection: excluded time does not count retrospectively

You cannot be an international protection applicant when applying for ordinary arraigo or while that application is being processed. SEM 1/2025 treats expressing the intention to seek protection as starting that status. Processing time excluded by Article 126.b does not become countable retrospectively when the protection procedure ends.

Article 126 and PI4/2025, page 2, must be read together to identify when counting starts or resumes. The criterion distinguishes an express adverse decision that was not appealed —from the date it was issued— from an appealed decision: the decision on reconsideration or the judicial decision must have become final. It also distinguishes registration of withdrawal of an appeal with the competent authority and registration of withdrawal of the protection application with the Ministry of the Interior.

The criterion applies the more favourable date between issue of a decision and knowledge, notification or communication of it where applicable. There is no uniform rule that counting always restarts only on finality. Decisions, appeals, notifications and registration records must be reviewed before individual dates are determined. This explanation does not recommend withdrawing protection or appeals. The former reduction under transitional provision 5 has been repealed.

Article 126.a–b · PI4/2025 · p. 2 · SEM 1/2025 · p. 3 · RD 316/2026 · repeal of DT 5

Second chance: check the previous authorisation

This route requires having held a residence authorisation, not granted on exceptional grounds, within the two years immediately before applying. Non-renewal must have been for reasons other than public order, security or public health, subject to the statutory exception linked to dismissal of proceedings or acquittal.

Collect the previous authorisation, its expiry date and the renewal file or decision. An old NIE or any former permit does not by itself show that this route applies.

Article 127.a · Information sheet 27 · April 2026

Employment ties: contracts, hours and employer

One or more contracts must total at least 20 weekly hours and guarantee the applicable statutory minimum wage or collective-agreement pay, proportional to the hours worked. Multiple contracts are allowed in the statutory cases of consecutive seasonal work or simultaneous part-time work for several employers.

SEM 1/2025 accepts lawful forms of employment contract and requires temporary contracts to last more than 90 days individually or in total. The employer must meet the applicable Article 74 conditions except paragraph 1.a; tax, Social Security and sufficient resources are checked. Self-employment does not replace these contracts.

Under the current Article 130.5, formal admission for processing, recorded in the commencement notice, provisionally authorises residence and employed work until the decision. Merely registering an application is insufficient. If granted, effectiveness is conditional on Social Security registration within one month of notification.

Article 127.b · Article 74 · Article 130.5 · SEM 1/2025 · pp. 4–5

Social ties: family link or report, with proven resources

The specified ties are a spouse, registered partner or first-degree relatives in the direct line who hold residence authorisation. Without those ties, a favourable integration report is required. The family-link route does not extend to every relative.

Article 127.c refers to at least 100% of IPREM for the applicant’s maintenance. For the family-link route, SEM 1/2025 and the April 2026 social information sheet specify 100% for the resident relative plus 100% for the applicant: 200% in total, regardless of the number living in the family unit. This is not 200% for each additional member and does not mean 100% is sufficient for every application.

Resources must be available in Spain, evidenced when applying and maintained during the authorisation. The legislation allows them to come from relatives and permits reliance on self-employment if Article 84 is met; an unsupported business idea is insufficient. This guide provides neither a universal euro amount nor a personal calculation.

Article 127.c · Article 84 · Information sheet 28 · April 2026 · SEM 1/2025 · p. 5 and Annex I

Integration report: different documents prove different things

The report must be issued within one month; SEM 4/2025 provides for initial validity of six months from issue. If it is not issued on time, that failure must be evidenced and substitute evidence can be submitted after the month ends. Neither a missing report approves the application nor an unfavourable report automatically requires refusal.

Utility bills, rental agreements, remittances and bank movements are examples of substitute documents for proving length of presence. Alone they do not prove integration or sufficient means. An expense does not automatically become income or a deduction from the IPREM threshold.

SEM 4 allows present resources and resources potentially available after a grant to be considered in the report. That assessment does not itself establish the means required for the residence grant. These are distinct evidence requirements and decisions.

Article 127.c · SEM 4/2025 · pp. 3–6 · SEM 1/2025 · p. 5

Training ties: verify the course before enrolling

Article 127.d and its cross-references cover specified post-compulsory secondary studies, grade C professional certificates including level 1, and in-person compulsory adult education. A commitment to public employment-service training for occupations in the Article 75.1 catalogue is another statutory case. An integration report is required.

The authorised institution, qualification, delivery method and timetable must be checked. Not every academy, online course or university programme qualifies. The enrolment calendar and evidence of training can determine whether the training-ties route is viable. Where an official period applies, the statutory two-month period before it and three-month period after notification require checking the actual dates and evidence; non-compliance can end the authorisation. These periods do not apply universally to every course. We review the timetable before assessing the file.

Once granted, the authorisation permits employed work up to 30 weekly hours in total, with minimum remuneration proportional to hours under Article 131. This exception does not provide unlimited work rights or self-employment.

Article 127.d · Article 52.1.b and e.5 · Article 131 · Information sheet 30 · read with the legislation

Family ties: EU/EEA/Swiss cases and Spanish relatives differ

The route covers a parent or guardian of a child who is a national of another EU/EEA state or Switzerland, subject to the conditions on care, living together or compliance with parental obligations. It also covers a relative supporting a person with a disability of those nationalities in exercising legal capacity, with responsibility for their care and cohabitation.

No minimum previous presence is required. Not every family tie to an EU citizen qualifies. Family members of Spanish citizens have a specific regime under Articles 93 onwards; the applicable regime and circumstances must be checked.

Article 127.e · Articles 93 onwards · Information sheet 31 · April 2026

Application, documents and decision

The ordinary exceptional-circumstances procedure does not require a visa. Current identity documents and evidence of the circumstances relied on are required. Foreign criminal certificates concern countries of residence during the five years before entry into Spain, with the Article 130.2 exceptions, rather than simply the five years before applying.

Personal submission has statutory exceptions and permitted forms of representation, including rules for children and people requiring support. The applicable method must be checked. The Supreme Court annulled Article 197.2, published in the BOE on 22 September 2026: no general electronic-only duty is asserted on that basis. Avanza is not assumed to hold professional or registry authorisation to submit every type of application.

For an ordinary initial application, the general maximum period for notification is three months from the day after entry in the competent authority’s register, subject to special rules and lawful suspensions. Additional provision 1.1 of LO 4/2000 provides for negative administrative silence, subject to its exceptions. Negative silence is not an express refusal or a guarantee of actual processing time. Extensions and other procedures have their own rules.

Article 130 · Article 197 · provisions still in force · Supreme Court · BOE 22-09-2026 · LO 4/2000 · DA 1 and DA 3 · Law 39/2015 · Articles 22 and 24

Validity and extension: different from an initial application

Initial validity is one year, except familiar, which is five years. An extension is not automatic and does not itself create long-term residence or nationality.

For segunda oportunidad, sociolaboral and social, Article 132.2.a requires active job-seeking and registration with the public employment service. It allows extension without those requirements where justified circumstances prevent access to employment, such as illness, disability or reaching statutory retirement age.

For socioformativo, progression to the second year of a basic or intermediate vocational cycle must be certified. If training ended before the year finished, the qualification or certificate and active job-seeking with registration are required. The initial-application exclusion in Article 126.h is not transferred to an existing holder requesting extension.

Article 132.3 permits an extension request in the two months before expiry or the three months afterwards and extends validity until the decision. Filing in the three months afterwards can lead to penalty proceedings. The authorisation and procedure must be checked before individual dates are determined.

Article 125 · Article 132

2026 extraordinary routes: closed to new applications

Additional provisions 20 and 21 set a deadline of 30 June 2026. As checked on 21 October 2026, no new application window is advertised: no later extension was found in the current consolidated legislation, ministry indexes and retained official checks. Correcting an existing file does not reopen the deadline.

For extraordinary files already started, the criterion of 22 July 2026 maintains the provisional authorisation recognised in the commencement notice until notification of an express decision; negative silence does not itself end it. The notice, qualifying circumstances and notifications must be checked. Mere registration does not establish it, and an express refusal has different consequences. It is not a final grant or a rule for every ordinary arraigo application.

DA 20 · DA 21 · Criterion 22-07-2026 · pp. 1–3 · Closure announced 02-07-2026

Preparing a case review

1. Reconstruct your status

Identity, entries and exits, international protection, permits and pending procedures. A single date is insufficient to determine countable time.

2. Document the appropriate route

Contracts and employer, family links and resources, training and report, or residence history as appropriate. Separate evidence of presence, integration and resources.

3. Agree the scope and next steps

We review documents and requests before agreeing the work, permitted representation and personal steps. Keep filing receipts and notices.

General information based on sources checked on 21-10-2026. No personal income, employer resources or case deadlines are calculated and no grant is guaranteed.

Official sources and scope

Checked on 21 October 2026. Current legislation and published court rulings take precedence over instructions, criteria and information sheets. Historical documents contain passages that no longer open a current route. The official Spanish sources below provide the legal context; they do not replace review of the individual file.

• RD 1155/2024 · Arts. 125–127, 130–132 and 197; Additional Provisions 20–21
• RD 316/2026 · BOE 15-04-2026
• SEM 1/2025 · pp. 3–7 and 9
• SEM 4/2025 · pp. 3–6
• PI4/2025 · p. 2
• Information Sheet 27 · second chance · April 2026
• Information Sheet 29 · social and employment grounds · April 2026
• Information Sheet 28 · social grounds · April 2026
• Information Sheet 30 · training and social grounds · April 2026
• Information Sheet 31 · family grounds · April 2026
• LO 4/2000 · Additional Provisions 1 and 3
• Law 39/2015 · Arts. 22 and 24
• Supreme Court · BOE 22-09-2026
• Criterion 22-07-2026 · cases under Additional Provisions 20–21
• Moncloa · close of extraordinary applications · 02-07-2026