The Spanish government approved a specific operational plan this Tuesday in Madrid to manage the regularization of migrant persons throughout the territory, including Catalonia. The measure, which will be processed urgently by royal decree, will allow up to 500,000 people to access the regularization of their administrative situation
Start of the Process and Application Requirements
Applications can be submitted from early April until June 30. The procedure will be available both online and at physical locations set up in Government delegations, sub-delegations, and Social Security offices, including those in Barcelona, Girona, and Tarragona.
To access regularization, it will be essential to prove a minimum stay of five months in Spain, which can be justified through a certificate of registration, medical reports, attendance at social services, rental contracts, proof of money transfers, transportation tickets, or utility bills such as electricity, water, or telephone. In addition, applicants may not have a criminal record and must be in the country as of December 31, 2025
Deadlines and express processing
The maximum period from the submission of the application to its admission for processing will be fifteen days. The resolution procedure is set at three months. The regularization will be processed urgently and will not require going through Congress, as it is a royal decree
"The goal is for the process to be agile" - Elma Saiz, Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration
Elma Saiz has underscored that the measure recovers the spirit of the Popular Legislative Initiative, endorsed by 700,000 signatures and numerous entities, and has recalled that the ILP had been blocked for months
Warnings and reactions
The police union Jupol has warned about the risk of collapse in immigration offices due to the forecast of a massive processing of residency applications. For his part, Alberto Núñez Feijóo has linked the approval of the regularization to an alleged maneuver to divert attention from the Adamuz train tragedy and has warned about a possible pull effect and saturation of public services.
The last regularization of this kind occurred in 2005, under the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. This time, the measure stems from an agreement between the Government and Podem. According to this party, **return procedures or expulsion orders for administrative reasons or for working without a permit will be suspended** at the time of submitting the application.