Arraigo in 2025-2026: what changes with the new Immigration Regulation

Royal Decree 1155/2024, in force since May 2025, replaces the 2011 regulation and reorganises residence permits for exceptional circumstances. The core idea is unchanged: people already living in Spain without a permit can regularise their status if they prove continuous stay and a real link with the country. What changes is the list of routes and the time required.

The five types

• Social arraigo: two years of stay and proven links (integration report or relatives with legal residence). Allows employed and self-employed work.
• Social-labour arraigo: two years of stay and one or more employment contracts adding up to at least twenty hours a week.
• Socio-training arraigo: two years of stay and a commitment to complete regulated or employment training. On completion it can be changed to a residence and work permit.
• Family arraigo: for parents of Spanish or EU minor children and for certain relatives of Spanish citizens. No prior time required.
• Second-chance arraigo: for those who held a residence permit in the previous two years and could not renew it.

What stays the same

It remains essential to have no criminal record in Spain or the country of origin, and to prove the stay with reliable documents: municipal registration, medical reports, transport cards, money transfers or any dated public or private document.

What to do now

1. Collect proof of stay from your first day in Spain, not when the two years are up.
2. Request the criminal record certificate from your country of origin as early as possible, legalised and translated: it is the document that takes longest.
3. Use the free test to check which route fits today and which will fit in a few months.

This article is general information about RD 1155/2024 and does not replace the study of a specific case.