Administrative silence in Spanish immigration: when it means yes or no

In Spanish immigration, if the Administration does not answer in time, the general rule is that your application is deemed refused. There is one very important exception: for renewals, extensions and long-term residence applications, silence is positive and they are deemed granted.

The general period is three months. Knowing which side your procedure falls on tells you whether you must appeal or whether, in fact, you already have the permit.

The rule and its exception

It is set out in the first additional provision of Organic Law 4/2000, to which the Immigration Regulation refers (seventh and eighth additional provisions of Royal Decree 1155/2024):

• General period: three months, counted from the day after the application enters the register of the body competent to process it.
• Permit applications (initial): once the period passes without notification, they may be deemed refused.
• Residence extensions, work permit renewals and long-term residence: once the period passes with no express answer, they are deemed granted.

This is the opposite of the general rule of administrative procedure, where silence is usually positive: in immigration a statute provides otherwise for initial applications.

Deadlines and meaning of silence by procedure

These are the maximum periods set by law, not how long each office takes: some decide much sooner, others have backlogs.

How the period is counted

• It starts the day after the application enters the register of the processing body. If you filed at another registry or by post, it counts from arrival there.
• Periods in months run date to date.
• The period is suspended while a request for documents is pending, from notification until you answer or it expires.
• What matters is the date the decision is notified, not signed. And remember that an electronic notification not opened within ten calendar days is treated as served.

Before assuming silence has occurred, always check the file status and your notification inbox.

If silence is negative

Negative silence is a legal fiction so that you can appeal: no decision says you fail the requirements. You have three paths:

1. Wait. The Administration is still obliged to decide expressly (article 21 of Law 39/2015), and may do so either way. If the delay is a few weeks and the file is complete, this is usually reasonable.
2. Appeal for reconsideration. Against a deemed act you may lodge it at any time from the day after silence occurs (article 124.1). The one-month limit for express decisions does not apply.
3. Administrative court action. The judicial route, with a lawyer.

Meanwhile your status is what it was before filing: silence neither gives nor removes a permit, but neither does it prolong provisional authorisations beyond what their rule says.

If silence is positive

Here silence counts as a grant. The law says acts produced by silence may be relied on before the Administration and any person, and that their existence may be proven by any means, including the certificate of silence you can request from the competent body.

What to do:

1. Check that three months have passed with no suspensions or pending notifications.
2. Request the certificate of positive silence through a registry.
3. With the certificate, book the appointment for the card.

A warning: positive silence does not validate an application that lacked essential requirements. The Administration may later review a deemed act contrary to law, so do not treat it as a shortcut.

Common mistakes

• Believing "silence means consent" for an initial application.
• Not realising a renewal is already granted by silence and continuing to wait.
• Counting the period without deducting the time of a request.
• Not opening the electronic inbox and thinking there has been no answer.
• Ceasing to meet requirements during the wait: keep your padrón, job and passport current.

Frequently asked questions

Three months have passed on my arraigo with no answer. Is it refused?

It is deemed refused for the purposes of appealing, but the office must still decide and often does so later. Check the file status before deciding.

Is there a deadline to appeal against negative silence?

An appeal for reconsideration against a deemed act may be lodged at any time. For the court route, take advice.

My renewal has had no answer for four months. Can I apply for the card?

If there were no requests or suspensions, it is deemed granted. Request the certificate of silence and, with it, the card.

Does positive silence apply to arraigo?

No. Only to extensions, renewals and long-term residence.

Can I complain to speed things up?

You can file a letter asking for the file to be progressed, and complaints to oversight bodies. They guarantee no deadline but leave a record.

Your next step

Tell Resi what you filed and when: it works out when the period expires and what silence means for your procedure. If you have not filed yet, start with the free test.