Arraigo in Spain: types, requirements, documents and where to apply

Arraigo in Spain is the route that lets a foreign national already living in the country without a residence permit obtain temporary residence on exceptional grounds. It is governed by the Immigration Regulation approved by Royal Decree 1155/2024, in force since 20 May 2025, and you apply at the Immigration Office (Oficina de Extranjería) of the province where you live or through the government e-portal.

What arraigo in Spain is and what changed in 2026

Article 125 of the regulation sets out five types of arraigo, which roughly translates as rootedness: second chance, socio-labour, social, socio-training and family. All of them grant a one-year permit, except family arraigo, which lasts five years.

As of November 2026 there are two developments to know about. Royal Decree 316/2026, published in the BOE on 15 April and in force from the next day, amended the regulation. It added a general requirement of not already holding a stay or residence permit or having an open procedure to obtain, extend, renew or modify one, and it adjusted social arraigo, the socio-labour procedure and extensions. It also created an extraordinary arraigo for people who were in Spain before 1 January 2026, with an application window that ran until 30 June 2026 and is now closed.

Then came the Supreme Court ruling of 8 July 2026, published in the BOE on 22 September. It struck down several provisions of the regulation, none of them among the arraigo articles (124 to 132). The rules keep moving, so always check the version in force before you file.

Requirements shared by every type of arraigo

Article 126 lists requirements that all have to be met at once, whatever the type:

• Being in Spain and not being an international protection applicant when you file or while the case is open.
• Having lived in Spain continuously for at least the two years before applying. Family arraigo has no minimum stay. The Ministry's information sheets add that absences in that period cannot exceed 90 days, and time spent as an asylum applicant does not count.
• No criminal record in Spain or in the countries where you lived during the five years before entering Spain, for offences that exist under Spanish law.
• Not posing a threat to public order, security or public health, and not being flagged for refusal of entry in countries that have an agreement with Spain to that effect.
• Not being within a no-return commitment period, if you signed one.
• Paying the processing fee.
• Not holding a stay or residence permit and not being party to another procedure to get one.

To prove the two years, the information sheet gives examples such as your padrón registration with the town hall, a hospital stay, a visit to the public health service, or any municipal, regional or state document bearing your details. Documents issued by a Spanish public body carry the most weight.

Types of arraigo in Spain and what each one needs

• Socio-labour. One or more employment contracts paying at least the national minimum wage or the collective agreement rate, pro rata to the hours, and adding up to at least 20 hours a week. Several contracts are accepted for chained seasonal work or for part-time work with several employers at once. The employer must be up to date with tax and Social Security and able to meet the contract.
• Social. Two paths. If your spouse, registered partner or a first-degree direct relative holds a residence permit, you must show financial means available in Spain; the Ministry sheet sets this at 100% of the IPREM index for the resident relative and another 100% for you, 200% in total. Without those family ties, your integration effort is assessed through a favourable integration report from your regional government or, where provided for, your town hall, due within one month.
• Socio-training. Being enrolled in or attending upper secondary education, grade C vocational training (levels 1, 2 or 3) or in-person compulsory adult education, or committing to training run by the public employment services for hard-to-fill occupations. You also need the integration report. If enrolment has an official window, you apply in the two months before it opens and prove enrolment within three months of approval, or the permit lapses.
• Second chance. Having held a residence permit not granted on exceptional grounds during the two years immediately before applying, which was not renewed for reasons other than public order, security or public health.
• Family. Being the parent or guardian of a minor who is a national of another EU state, the European Economic Area or Switzerland, who depends on you and lives with you, or toward whom you are meeting your parental obligations. Providing support to a disabled relative of those nationalities who depends on you and lives with you also qualifies.

Arraigo types compared

Documents you need for arraigo

The core is the same for every type: the signed EX-10 form, a copy of every page of your passport, proof of your stay, and a criminal record certificate from the countries where you lived in the five years before arriving. That certificate is not needed if you have spent five continuous years in Spain. On top of that come the type-specific papers: contracts plus the employer's tax ID and proof of solvency for socio-labour; marriage, partnership or birth certificates and proof of means for social; integration report and enrolment for socio-training; the child's birth certificate for family.

Documents from Argentina, Peru or Colombia must carry an apostille or legalisation and a sworn translation into Spanish where needed. Bring copies and show the originals. Request your criminal record early, since it is usually the slowest piece to arrive from home. Each office can ask for extra documents, and if something is missing you get up to 15 days to fix it before the file is closed.

Where and how to file for arraigo, step by step

1. Gather your documents and, if your type requires it, request the integration report from your regional government or town hall.
2. File in person at the Immigration Office of your province with a prior appointment (cita previa). For types such as socio-labour or second chance, the information sheet also allows online filing through the Mercurio platform.
3. Pay the fee using form 790, code 052, item 2.3.1, within ten working days of filing.
4. Wait for the decision. The legal maximum is three months; if nothing is notified by then, the application is deemed refused by administrative silence.
5. If approved, apply in person at the police station for your foreigner identity card (TIE) within one month. For socio-labour, the permit only takes effect once you are registered with Social Security within a month of notification.

Working while your arraigo is being processed

This is the question everyone asks in the queue. Among the ordinary arraigo types, article 130.5 only provides provisional authorisation for socio-labour: from the moment the application is admitted until it is decided, you may live and work as an employee, and the start-of-procedure notice says so explicitly. For the other types, permission to work comes with approval, under article 131.

Once granted, socio-training arraigo lets you work as an employee for up to 30 hours a week. At the end of the year you can move to a residence and work permit or apply for an extension in the two months before expiry. For second chance, socio-labour and social arraigo, the extension requires being registered as a jobseeker and actively looking for work, unless there are justified reasons such as illness, disability or retirement age.

Money during the arraigo process

The fee for any arraigo is 38.28 euros as of November 2026, under Order PJC/617/2025. The order provides for amounts to be updated through the state budget, so confirm the figure on the 790 form you download from the e-portal. The first foreigner identity card costs 16.08 euros and extending the permit costs 16.40 euros. Add apostilles, sworn translations and certificates, which vary by country.

For social arraigo the means have to be available in Spain, so money sent from home should leave a paper trail rather than arrive as undocumented cash. If someone asks you to pay for a contract to use for socio-labour arraigo, walk away. Once your first payslip arrives you will need somewhere to be paid and a way to send and receive money; BNKA is one option for moving funds to Argentina, Peru or Colombia, and if part of your family savings sits in dollars there is also a USD account. More guides are on the BNKA blog.

Official sources

• Immigration Regulation, Royal Decree 1155/2024, consolidated text (BOE)
• Royal Decree 316/2026 of 14 April (BOE)
• Supreme Court ruling of 8 July 2026 (BOE)
• Order PJC/617/2025 on immigration fees (BOE)
• Sheet 29, socio-labour arraigo (Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration)
• Sheet 28, social, Sheet 30, socio-training, Sheet 27, second chance and Sheet 31, family
• Government e-portal: appointments, Mercurio and immigration fee payment

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