Arraigo in Spain: Routes and Requirements (2026)

Arraigo has five routes: second chance, sociolaboral, social, socioformativo and familiar. Every route except familiar needs two years of continuous stay before you file, and you cannot apply while you hold a stay or residence authorisation. The fee is €38.28.

Arraigo is the route to a residence permit if you already live in Spain, and it is closed to you while you hold any stay or residence authorisation. There are five routes, and each permit lasts one year, except familiar, which lasts five.

Which route fits you?

Match your situation to one line:

• Second chance: you held a residence authorisation, not one granted for exceptional circumstances, in the two years before filing. A study stay does not count.
• Sociolaboral: you have work contracts paying at least the minimum wage (or the collective-agreement wage), pro rata, that add up to at least twenty hours a week.
• Social: your spouse, registered partner or a first-degree direct-line relative holds a residence authorisation and you have means of at least 100% of the IPREM, or, without such ties, you have a favourable integration report. To register your partnership in Valencia first, see registered de facto partnerships in Valencia.
• Socioformativo: you are enrolled in or attending qualifying training, and you have an integration report.
• Familiar: you are the parent or guardian of an EU, EEA or Swiss minor, you live in Spain, and you support the child and either live with them or keep up your parental obligations.

Rules every route shares

You must meet all of these:

• You are in Spain, and you are not an international protection applicant.
• You have stayed in Spain continuously for the two years before filing, except in familiar, which has no minimum stay.
• You have no criminal record in Spain or in the countries where you lived in the five years before entering Spain, for offences under Spanish law.
• You have paid the fee.
• You hold no stay or residence authorisation, and no procedure is open to grant, extend, renew or modify one.

Adults bring a criminal record certificate from each country where they lived in those five years. A record in the police report does not by itself cause a refusal.

To prove your two years, use padrón certificates or other public documents, plus private ones in your name such as bank statements, utility bills or a rental contract. Register on the padrón early: it shows where you live but is not proof of legal residence. The empadronamiento guide has the steps.

The integration report

You need it for socioformativo and for social when you have no resident first-degree relatives and want to show the means yourself. In Valencia province, ask the Conselleria responsible for social services, or the town hall of your usual address where it handles this. Your usual address is the one on your padrón, and no minimum time on it is needed. The report is free and must be issued within one month of your request.

Route details worth knowing

• Sociolaboral: once your file is admitted you may work as an employee until it is decided. The granted permit takes effect only if you register with Social Security within one month of notification.
• Social: the means must be available in Spain and can come from those relatives. The Valencia office reads the 100% as the annual IPREM, which is €7,200.
• Socioformativo: if enrolment has an official period, file in the two months before it opens, and prove enrolment within three months of the grant. Missing that deadline is a cause for the authorisation to lapse.

Where and how to file in Valencia

You apply yourself, at the Oficina de Extranjería, Calle Diputada Clara Campoamor, 23:

1. Pay the fee of €38.28 with Modelo 790, code 052, at a partner bank.
2. Fill in form EX10.
3. Email the form and your documents, preferably as one PDF, to citaextran.valencia@correo.gob.es.
4. Wait for your appointment, which is sent to the email you wrote from.
5. Go to the appointment. If something is missing, the office emails you.

You can also file online through Mercurio with a digital certificate or Cl@ve.

Bring a complete copy of your passport, the signed work contract where one is required, documents proving your route and the criminal record certificate. If the file is incomplete, you get up to fifteen days to fix it, or it is treated as withdrawn.

The general maximum period to notify a decision is three months. After that, silence may count as a refusal.

After the grant

Apply in person for your TIE within one month of notification. The Oficina de Extranjería does not issue it. If you live in Valencia city, you go to the police station at Gremis, 6. The TIE guide has the fee and appointment.

The permit carries a work authorisation, employed or self-employed. Socioformativo is the exception, limited to employed work up to thirty hours a week.

Extension and what comes next

Arraigo is not renewed. It can be extended in some cases, but as a general rule you move to a residence-and-work authorisation. You can request that change in the two months before or three months after expiry.

If you do extend, the extension lasts one year, or five for familiar, and the extension fee is €16.40. Second chance, sociolaboral and social need proof of active job search and registration with the public employment service, unless illness, disability or retirement age prevents it.

For basic or intermediate training cycles, socioformativo needs the school’s report certifying promotion to the second year. If you finished the course within the year, you show the qualification and prove an active job search with registration at the employment service. See from visa to permanent residency for the longer path.

The current regulation took effect on 20 May 2025. Earlier applications follow the rules in force when they were filed, unless you ask for the new regulation to apply. The transitional application window that ran until 30 June 2026 is now closed.

Studying instead? See the student visa guide, and book your appointment through the cita previa guide.

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Not confirmed: The Valencia office calls its email appointment arrangement temporary. Ask whether it still applies before you file.

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