Citizeo
Pathway

Spain Residence for People Already in Spain

Spain Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

Spain's current arraigo routes are exceptional-circumstances residence authorizations for certain non-EU/EEA/Swiss nationals already in Spain who fit a social, sociolaboral, socioformative, family, or second-chance category.

Type
Exceptional-circumstances residence
Special fit
People already in Spain who fit one of the five current arraigo categories
Core records
Presence history plus the exact category's family, work, training, integration, or prior-permit records
What to know
Most categories require 2 years' presence; family arraigo uses a narrow EU-family care basis
Duration
Usually 1 year; current family arraigo is 5 years
Renewal / path
A 1-year holder must plan an extension or modification before expiry

Summary

Spain's arraigo authorizations are exceptional-circumstances residence routes for certain non-EU/EEA/Swiss nationals who are already in Spain. They are not entry visas. Since 20 May 2025, the ordinary categories are second-chance, sociolaboral, social, socioformative, and family arraigo.

Most categories require at least two years of continuous presence in Spain, with absences of no more than 90 days during that period. Family arraigo has no minimum-presence period, but now covers only two narrow situations involving an EU/EEA/Swiss minor or an EU/EEA/Swiss person with a disability. Family members of Spanish citizens generally use Spain's separate family-of-a-Spanish-citizen authorization instead.

Spain also accepted extraordinary regularization applications under Royal Decree 316/2026 until 30 June 2026. That filing window is closed as of 15 August 2026. A person who filed on time should follow the pending application; the temporary program is not open to a new applicant.

Pathway fit check

Eligibility

Requirements shared by the ordinary categories

An applicant generally must:

For the four categories with a two-year presence rule, time while an international-protection application was pending does not count until the rejection is final administratively and, where applicable, judicially.

The five ordinary categories

Useful presence evidence includes empadronamiento, public-health, school, municipal, court, and other dated Spanish records identifying the applicant. Each subroute needs additional evidence such as contracts, family civil-status records, an integration report, training enrollment, or the former permit and renewal decision.

What This Route Allows

Second-chance, social, and sociolaboral arraigo are generally granted for one year and allow both employment and self-employment throughout Spain. Sociolaboral approval becomes effective when the worker is registered with Social Security within the required one-month period.

Socioformative arraigo is granted for one year and permits employment for up to 30 hours per week, paid at least the applicable wage in proportion to hours. Family arraigo is granted for five years. A successful applicant must normally request a TIE within one month.

Before a one-year authorization expires, the holder may need to modify into an ordinary residence-and-work authorization or meet the rules for an arraigo extension. Active job-search registration or continued training can be important, depending on the category. Lawful residence on arraigo can contribute to a later five-year long-term-residence period.

What This Route Is Not

This is not a route for applying from abroad, and two years in Spain does not by itself create eligibility. It is not accurate to use the former labels “work roots” or “training roots” without checking the post-May-2025 category rules.

It is also not a currently open extraordinary-regularization program. The 2026 special filing deadline was 30 June 2026. A pending timely application and a new ordinary arraigo application are different cases.

Next Steps

  1. Confirm whether EU free-movement rules or the separate family-of-a-Spanish-citizen authorization applies instead.
  2. Identify the exact arraigo category before collecting documents.
  3. Build a dated timeline of Spanish presence, immigration applications, protection proceedings, absences, and prior permits.
  4. Obtain the category-specific evidence: contracts and employer records, family and financial records, a social-integration report, qualifying training evidence, or the former residence and non-renewal record.
  5. Obtain required criminal-record certificates and arrange sworn translations and legalization or apostilles where required.
  6. File the current EX-10 process with the competent Immigration Office or through Mercurio, and track any Social Security, enrollment, TIE, and expiry deadlines after filing.
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