Spain's 2026 reform of the Immigration Regulation: what changed

Spain's Immigration Regulation (Royal Decree 1155/2024) has been in force since May 2025, but it is no longer the same text: Royal Decree 316/2026 of 14 April amended it on points that mainly affect arraigo (settlement) permits and family members of Spanish citizens. If you did your research before that date, this is what to update.

Here are the changes that matter most in practice, with the article where each one sits.

1. A new requirement for every arraigo

Letter h) is added to article 126: to apply for arraigo you may not hold a stay or residence permit or have another grant, extension, renewal or modification procedure open.

In practice, arraigo is reserved for people who really have no permit. If you hold a valid card or have a renewal pending, your path is different: renew, modify or wait for the decision.

2. Arraigo social: more flexible means and report

Article 127.c) changes in two respects:

• Financial means. The minimum of 100% of the IPREM stays, but the text now says means may come from resident relatives rather than requiring that they do.
• Integration report. It is issued by the regional government or, where the region has so provided, the town hall, within one month. It records your time at your address, your means and your participation in integration programmes. If it does not arrive in time, you may prove integration by any means of evidence, provided you show you requested it.

More in arraigo social: requirements and integration report.

3. Arraigo sociolaboral: work from admission

Probably the change with most day-to-day effect. New article 130.5 provides that once an arraigo sociolaboral application is admitted and until it is decided, the applicant is provisionally authorised to reside and to work as an employee. The start-of-processing notice must say so.

Previously you had to wait for the grant. Now the employer can register the worker with that notice. Once the permit is granted, Social Security registration within one month of notification is still required.

4. Extending arraigo: exceptions to job seeking

To extend arraigo social, sociolaboral or second-chance arraigo you must show active job seeking and registration with the public employment service. The amended article 132.2.a) adds that extension is possible without this where justified reasons prevent work, such as illness, disability or reaching retirement age.

5. Family of Spanish citizens: applying in Spain and provisional work

Paragraphs 1.c) and 5 of article 97 are amended. As they now stand:

• When the foreign relative and the Spanish citizen are both in Spain, most relatives (spouse, partner, children, parents, parents of Spanish minors, carers and children of Spaniards by origin) may apply here, without leaving.
• Once the application is admitted, the applicant is provisionally authorised to reside and work, employed or self-employed, until the decision, unless identical applications were refused before.

Details in partner or spouse of a Spanish citizen.

6. The extraordinary regularisation

The same royal decree created the two extraordinary routes (twentieth and twenty-first additional provisions), with applications until 30 June 2026. That window has closed; if it affects you, see extraordinary regularisation: what now?.

7. Other adjustments

The reform also amends rules on unaccompanied minors (article 172), the move from studies to work and other permit modifications (articles 190 and 191), temporary protection, and repeals a transitional provision on arraigo. These are more technical; if your case is one of them, check it against the consolidated text.

What does not change

• The two years of continuous stay for arraigo social, sociolaboral, socioformativo and second chance.
• Time as an applicant for international protection does not count towards those two years.
• The one-year duration of arraigo permits (five for arraigo familiar).
• The general three-month period to decide and negative silence for initial applications.

How it affects you

Frequently asked questions

Since when do these changes apply?

Royal Decree 316/2026 is dated 14 April 2026. Applications filed earlier have their own transitional regime, so if yours predates it, check which version applies.

Is the integration report still needed if I have resident family?

For arraigo social, no: the report comes in when family ties are not proven. For socioformativo it is always required.

Does the provisional right to work apply to every arraigo?

No. Article 130.5 provides it only for arraigo sociolaboral.

Has arraigo familiar changed?

Not with this reform. It remains the route for parents of minors from another EU country; parents of Spanish minors use residence as family of a Spanish citizen.

Your next step

The rules have changed twice in eighteen months. The free test works with the current version and tells you which route you have today; for questions on a specific article, ask Resi.