Immigration
Immigration lawyers in Vila-real
Every situation has its own route and its own deadlines. Choosing the wrong one costs more than money: it costs months you do not get back. Here is what applies to what, without the jargon.
Spanish immigration law changed substantially in a very short time. The regulation approved by Royal Decree 1155/2024 came into force on 20 May 2025 and completely reorganised the arraigo routes. Less than a year later, Royal Decree 316/2026 opened an extraordinary regularisation that ran from 16 April to 30 June 2026. A great deal of the information still circulating online — including on plenty of law firm websites — was written before those changes and no longer applies.
That matters more than it sounds. The residence periods required, the documents that prove integration and the length of the permit granted are not what they were two years ago. Filing under the old criteria is one of the most common causes of refusal we see.
Which route applies to you
The answer depends on three things: your nationality, how long you have been in Spain and your current administrative status. With those three, almost any case can be pointed in the right direction in a short conversation.
| If your situation is… | The route is usually… |
|---|---|
| Years in Spain without papers, with work or a job offer | Arraigo sociolaboral |
| Years in Spain without papers, with family ties or an integration report | Arraigo social |
| Years here and willing to train while regularising | Arraigo socioformativo |
| Parent of a Spanish or EU minor | Arraigo familiar |
| You held a permit and lost it, or your asylum claim was refused | Second-chance arraigo |
| You have residence and want to bring your family | Family reunification |
| Your card expires soon or has already expired | Renewal |
| Years of legal, continuous residence behind you | Spanish nationality by residence |
| You have been refused | Appeal or fresh application, depending on the case |
Why files get refused
In the overwhelming majority of cases that reach us after a refusal, the problem was not the substance. It was the form. These are the recurring causes:
- Foreign documents without legalisation or a Hague apostille, or with a translation that is not sworn.
- Certificates or documents that had expired at the time of filing.
- A padrón registration that does not evidence the required period continuously, with periods of time not accounted for.
- Employment contracts that do not meet the hours or duration conditions the chosen route requires.
- Criminal record certificates from the country of origin missing, or issued outside their validity window.
- Requests for missing documents not answered in time.
None of these has anything to do with whether you deserve the permit. They are about how the file was prepared, and every one of them is avoidable if someone checks the folder before it goes in.
How long it takes
As a general rule the administration has three months to decide applications. If that passes without an express decision, the application is deemed refused by administrative silence, which would allow an appeal. In practice, YOU HAVE TO WAIT FOR AN EXPRESS DECISION, because THEY ALWAYS REPLY, and especially over the last few months, when the volume of applications has been enormous and real timescales are running considerably longer.
Updated
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a lawyer for an immigration application?
Legally, no: you can file almost anything yourself. The more useful question is what it costs you if the file is refused on a technicality — how many months you lose and what happens to your status meanwhile. For simple applications with clear documents, plenty of people manage alone. For arraigo, appeals and reunification, where a detail changes the outcome, having someone who has seen that mistake a hundred times usually works out cheaper than doing it twice.
Can I work while I wait for a decision?
It depends on the route. Some now allow you to work from the moment the application is admitted, and Royal Decree 316/2026 widened those cases. Others do not allow it until the permit is granted and the card issued. It is one of the first things worth clarifying before filing, because it shapes important decisions.
What happens if I am refused?
There are two paths, and appealing is not always the better one. You can lodge an administrative appeal with the same body within one month, or go to the administrative courts within two. But if the refusal turns on a requirement you can now evidence, reapplying properly is often faster and safer than fighting an appeal with poor odds. We look at it case by case and tell you frankly what we see.
My documents are in English. Is that enough?
This is one of the points where most files are not approved, because a translation done by someone you trust but without official accreditation, or by a translator not authorised by the MAECC, is not valid. We tell you which documents you need, whether they must be legalised and how to have them translated.