Extraordinary Regularization 2026 — Deadline Until June 30: What You Need to Know

The extraordinary regularization consists of two additional provisions of Spain's Immigration Regulations (the 20th, for applicants for international protection, and the 21st, the so-called extraordinary arraigo), added by Royal Decree 316/2026. It was published in the BOE on 15 April 2026, came into force the next day, and applications could be filed «until 30 June 2026» (Additional Provision 21.6 of Royal Decree 1155/2024).

Who could apply (to understand your file)

International protection route (Additional Provision 20): people who, «before 1 January 2026, had submitted an application for access to the international protection procedure, or registered or formalised an application for international protection in Spain».

General route, the extraordinary arraigo (Additional Provision 21): anyone who was in Spain before 1 January 2026. In addition, you had to prove at least one of these three circumstances (Additional Provision 21.2):

• Work: having worked, as an employee or self-employed, during your stay in Spain, or proving the intention to do so with a job offer or, for self-employment, a sworn statement on the specific form. Any type of contract was valid, as long as the contract or the sum of contracts lasted more than ninety days in a year.
• Family unit: staying in Spain with minor daughters and sons (or adults with a disability requiring support or who cannot provide for their own needs because of their health) or with first-degree ascendants you live with.
• Vulnerability: being in a situation of vulnerability certified, on the specific form, by «the bodies competent in matters of social assistance» or by Third Sector organisations registered in the Electronic Register of Immigration Collaborators.

Requirements common to both routes, all required at once («cumulatively», paragraph 1 of Additional Provisions 20 and 21): being of age and in Spain when applying; having stayed in Spain without interruption for the five months before the application (also on the international protection route); not holding a stay or residence authorisation, nor being a party to a procedure for the grant, extension, renewal or modification of a stay or residence authorisation; not holding or having held the temporary protection authorisation for people displaced from Ukraine; providing a full copy of your passport, registration card or travel document recognised as valid in Spain, current or expired; having no criminal record (records that can be cancelled in Spain do not count if you request cancellation before the decision is notified; and for your country of origin and the countries where you lived in the five years before arriving in Spain you had to provide a criminal record certificate or, if it did not arrive within a month, proof of having requested it, a sworn statement and an authorisation for Spain to obtain it, paragraph 9 of both provisions); not representing a threat to public order, public security or public health — and entries in the police report do not lead to refusal on their own: they are assessed case by case —; not being listed as a person to be refused entry in countries with which Spain has an agreement; not being, where applicable, within a no-return commitment period; and having paid the fee (its amount is set by Order PJC/617/2025).

If you applied within the deadline

• You can live and work while it is processed. From the notice that processing has started until the decision, the rules authorise you «provisionally» to reside and to work as an employee or self-employed anywhere in Spain and in any sector (Additional Provision 21.4; 20.3).
• If you are asked to correct something, the deadline is set in the notice and cannot exceed fifteen days; if you do not do it, your application is treated as withdrawn and closed (paragraph 6 of both provisions). Do not let it lapse.
• The maximum time to decide is three months, counted «from the day following the date» your application entered the register of the competent body, and it can be suspended in the cases of art. 22 of Law 39/2015 (for example, while waiting for your criminal records from another country); during the suspension your provisional authorisation remains valid. If that time passes without any notification, the application is deemed refused by administrative silence: silence is negative, not positive. See below what to do if it is refused.
• If you work as an employee, when you are notified of the decision you must immediately tell your employer what it says (Additional Provision 21.4).
• The court situation: on 8 July 2026 the Supreme Court decided not to refer, at this stage of the proceedings, a preliminary question to the CJEU and not to suspend the royal decree (CGPJ press note). The appeals on the merits continue in the Third Chamber. What it means for you, in The Supreme Court and the CJEU: what happens to your application (in Spanish).
• To follow your file: how to check the status of an immigration file (in Spanish), and the Ministry of Inclusion enquiry form.

If it is granted

• A one-year residence authorisation that lets you live and work as an employee or self-employed anywhere in Spain, in any occupation or sector (Additional Provision 21.10).
• Card (TIE): you must apply for it «during the month immediately following the grant». The authorisation gives full rights from the moment it is granted (Additional Provision 21.7).
• If you came through the international protection route, once it is granted you must withdraw your application for international protection (or the pending appeal), and when applying for the TIE you must provide the receipt of that withdrawal (Additional Provisions 20.4 and 20.7).
• The grant is backdated: «its effect shall be backdated to the moment the application was submitted» (Additional Provision 21.4).
• To stay legal after the year, in the two months before it expires you need to apply for a modification to another authorisation under art. 191 of the Regulations (on the general route the rule says holders «shall» apply; on the international protection route, that they «may», Additional Provision 20.10); filing it extends the previous one until a decision is made. If you miss it, filing within the three months after expiry also extends it, although with penalty proceedings (art. 52.b of the Immigration Act). And if you cannot apply for a modification, there is an exceptional one-year extension if you prove you are actively looking for work and registered with the public employment service, or with an integration-effort report from your region recommending the extension, or a four-year one in cases of serious illness, disability or retirement (Additional Provision 21.10).
• Time spent in an irregular situation does not count toward nationality: art. 22.3 of the Civil Code requires residence to be «legal, continuous and immediately prior to the application». What the regularization rules do say is that, once granted, the authorization's «effect shall be backdated to the moment the application was submitted» (Additional Provision 21.4 of Royal Decree 1155/2024). From then on, all your legal residence adds up, even if you later switch to another type of permit. If your authorisation was granted with effect backdated to the application date, ask the Civil Registry from which date they count your legal residence: there may be up to three months' difference.

The steps one by one, from the TIE to nationality: regularization approved: the next steps.

If it is refused

• You lose the provisional work authorisation automatically, with no further decision needed (Additional Provision 21.4).
• The decision must tell you which appeals are available, before whom and within what time limit (art. 88.3 of Law 39/2015). Read it in your notification: that is the information that counts.
• If the decision ends the administrative procedure, you can file an appeal for reconsideration (recurso de reposición) with the same body or go directly to the courts (art. 123). Reconsideration must be filed within one month if the refusal is express; if it is by silence, at any time from the day after it occurs (art. 124.1).
• If you are refused, get advice: an immigration lawyer or a Third Sector organisation can review your case and the time limits.

If you did not apply: the routes that remain open

The extraordinary regularization closing does not leave anyone without options, but it is worth knowing which one fits your case and which does not:

• Arraigo (rootedness) has no closing date. It requires two years of continuous stay in Spain — not three — and arraigo familiar requires no minimum stay at all (art. 126.b of Royal Decree 1155/2024). Requirements and types in the arraigo social guide.
• Careful if you have a pending asylum application: that same article, in point (a), requires that you are not an applicant for international protection either when the application is filed or while it is being processed, and it adds that the time that procedure lasts does not count towards the two years. While your asylum claim has no final decision, arraigo is not your route.
• Residence visas, if your situation fits one of them: every visa, one by one.
• For questions about a file already submitted, the official enquiry form of the Ministry of Inclusion.

Where to check your case officially

If you have specific questions about your situation, these are the official channels of the Ministry of Inclusion: