The 2026 extraordinary regularisation: what you can do now

Royal Decree 316/2026 of 14 April opened an extraordinary regularisation for migrants already living in Spain. Applications were accepted between 16 April and 30 June 2026. The government had forecast around half a million; roughly 1.2 million were filed. Despite requests for an extension reaching parliament, the window closed without one.

I applied and have heard nothing

This is very common. Requests for documents and admissions are gradually arriving, and silence is not in itself a bad sign: with that volume of files, delay was inevitable. The real risk is not keeping an eye out for requests or not keeping your contact details up to date. Four things are worth doing now:

1. 01

   Make sure they can reach you

   If you have moved, changed number or changed email since filing, the notification may be going somewhere you will never see it. Updating your details costs nothing and prevents the worst outcome.

2. 02

   Check your electronic notifications

   If you filed online, communications arrive the same way, so keep an eye on your email: that is where you will get the alerts telling you a new notification is waiting.

3. 03

   If we are handling your file

   If we filed it, the alert comes to us and we are the ones who download the notification. We send it to you through the contact method you gave us (usually WhatsApp or email).

4. 04

   Have ready the documents you may be asked for

   Either because you did not have them when you applied, or because you have been asked to update a document. The deadline to answer a request is 10 working days (not counting Saturdays, Sundays or public holidays), which is not much time.

I have received a request for documents

A request is not a refusal: it is an opportunity, and a good sign, because it means your file is being reviewed. But it is an opportunity with an expiry date. If it is not answered in time and in the right form, the application is closed as withdrawn and the whole process is lost.

Two warnings we always give. First: answer everything they ask for, not part of it. A half-answered request is treated the same as an unanswered one. Second: if they ask for a document you cannot obtain within the deadline, answer anyway, even if you do not have all the documents requested. You can ask for more time or show that you have applied for the document and it is on its way, but you must do so within the deadline, not after.

I have been refused

Read the whole decision first and find the specific ground, because the strategy changes completely depending on what it is. Being refused for not evidencing presence in Spain before the required date — where further proof may exist — is nothing like being refused on criminal record grounds, where the margin is far narrower.

From there, three paths: an administrative appeal to the same body within one month, a court appeal within two months, or a fresh application through an ordinary arraigo route if you now meet the requirements. In a fair number of cases the third is the fastest and most likely to succeed, even though it feels psychologically like starting over.

I missed the deadline

You are not outside the system. The extraordinary regularisation was an additional, temporary route, not a substitute for the ordinary ones. The arraigo routes in the regulation remain fully in force and are how most people in Spain regularise their status every year.

• Arraigo social: for those who evidence continuous residence plus family ties or a regional integration report.
• Arraigo sociolaboral: for those who evidence residence plus an employment relationship or an offer meeting the required conditions.
• Arraigo socioformativo: designed for people committing to accredited training while they regularise.
• Arraigo familiar: tied to the relationship with Spanish minors or EU citizens, with a longer permit duration.
• Second-chance arraigo: for those who held a residence permit and lost it for reasons beyond their control, but it DOES NOT APPLY to anyone who has already had a residence permit through arraigo.

Which one fits depends on how long you have been here and what you can evidence. And a detail many people do not know: the time you spent in Spain waiting for the regularisation decision counts as residence. You have not lost it.