Residence refused in Spain: your appeals and deadlines

If a residence permit has been refused, you have one month to lodge an appeal for reconsideration (recurso de reposición) with the same office, or two months to go straight to court with an administrative action (recurso contencioso-administrativo). There is a third option that is sometimes the best: fix what went wrong and file a new application.

First, read the decision calmly: it says why you were refused, which remedies exist, before whom and by when.

Read the decision: the reason decides everything

Refusals differ widely. The most common reasons:

• A substantive requirement is missing: the two years are not proven, the contract does not qualify, the means fall short.
• A document is not valid: expired records, no apostille, no sworn translation.
• The employer does not qualify: tax or Social Security debts, insufficient means.
• Criminal record or unfavourable police report.
• Withdrawal: you did not answer a request for documents.
• Late filing.

The strategy changes completely with the reason. If the problem is a document you now have, appealing or reapplying may give the same result, but on very different timescales.

The three routes

Decisions of Government Delegations and Sub-delegations on residence and work permits end the administrative route (ninth additional provision of the Immigration Regulation). That opens these options:

1. Optional appeal for reconsideration

• Before whom: the same body that issued the decision.
• Time to lodge it: one month from the day after notification (article 124 of Law 39/2015).
• Time to decide: one month. With no answer it is deemed dismissed and you may go to court.
• Cost: no lawyer or court representative needed.
• What it is for: clear errors by the Administration — a document overlooked, a deadline miscounted — or to add evidence reinforcing what was filed.

It is "optional": you can skip it and go straight to court. But if you lodge it, you cannot go to court until it is decided or the period expires.

2. Administrative court action

• Before whom: the administrative courts.
• Time: two months from notification of the refusal, or from the decision on the reconsideration appeal.
• Cost: a lawyer is needed. If you lack means, you can apply for free legal aid on the same terms as Spaniards (article 22 of Organic Law 4/2000).
• What it is for: when the disagreement is legal, or the Administration maintains a criterion you consider unlawful. It takes longer: months or years.

3. A new application

Not an appeal, but often the most effective: if the refusal was due to a document or requirement you can now meet, a new, complete application is decided within the ordinary three months.

Two warnings:

• In some procedures you cannot reapply: a late renewal cannot be "repeated". There the appeal is the only route, or you need another permit, such as second-chance arraigo.
• Since 2026, to apply for arraigo you may not have another procedure open. An appeal and a new application at once may get in each other's way: choose one strategy.

What happens to your status meanwhile

• Appealing does not suspend the refusal. As a rule, lodging an appeal does not halt the effects of the decision (article 117 of Law 39/2015). Suspension must be expressly requested and justified.
• The refusal includes a warning of compulsory departure from Spain within the period stated, generally fifteen days at most.
• A provisional right to work linked to the application is lost on refusal.
• If it was a renewal, your previous permit is no longer extended.

This is not a situation for improvising. If the refusal leaves you without a permit, discuss it in a video call with an immigration lawyer from our team before the deadlines run.

Preparing an appeal for reconsideration

1. Calculate the deadline. The month runs date to date from the day after notification; for electronic notification, from when you accessed it.
2. Identify the exact reason for refusal and answer that reason, not others.
3. Provide the evidence that disproves or corrects it.
4. Structure the appeal: your details and file number, the decision appealed, the facts, the grounds and what you ask for.
5. File through a registry — online office, in-person registry or post office — and keep the receipt.

More on the appeal against refusal page.

Common mistakes

• Letting the month pass while deciding. After that only the court remains, and after two months, nothing.
• Appealing with the same documents that already failed.
• Writing an emotional appeal instead of answering the legal reason.
• Lodging reconsideration and a court action at the same time.
• Continuing to work on a provisional authorisation that no longer exists.
• Not collecting or opening the notification: the period runs anyway.

Frequently asked questions

Appeal or reapply?

If the reason can be fixed and the procedure allows a new application, reapplying is usually faster. If the error is the Administration's or you cannot reapply, appeal.

Can I stay in Spain while the appeal is decided?

The appeal does not in itself give you a permit or suspend the duty to leave. That is the point to examine with legal advice.

How long does reconsideration take?

The legal period to decide is one month; with no answer it is deemed dismissed.

Do I need a lawyer for reconsideration?

It is not compulsory. For the court action, it is.

I missed the appeal deadline. Is there anything to do?

The decision becomes final. What remains is to look at a new application, by the same route if possible or another.

Your next step

Tell Resi what your decision says and it will explain which deadlines are running. And take the free test with your situation today: you may have a different route open from the one refused.