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9h ago

Spain Records About 1.3 Million Regularisation Applications as Deadline Ends

Madrid must decide cases within three months, with NGOs warning incomplete filings could produce large-scale rejections that will strain public services.

FILE - Migrants queue at a public service office to obtain paperwork needed to apply for Spain's immigration amnesty, in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat near Barcelona, Spain, on April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)
The cause has had a mixed reaction within the country and across Europe (Photo: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images)
A migrant queues to buy a bus ticket to Valladolid to obtain a vulnerability certificate to regularise migration status, in Almeria Spain, April 22, 2026. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
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Overview

  • The application window for Spain’s one-year, Spain-only residence and work permits closed on Tuesday, June 30, and union and media tallies put filings at roughly 1.27 million to 1.3 million.
  • Applicants had to prove five months’ continuous residence and a clean criminal record, and the Migration Ministry has up to three months to accept or reject each file.
  • By mid-June about 360,000 applicants had been declared admissible and issued provisional permits, but most submissions remain to be processed and a large backlog is expected.
  • NGOs urged people to submit even incomplete cases before the deadline and warned that about 20 percent of applications could be denied because applicants lack criminal records, apostilles or other required documents.
  • The move has deepened domestic political divisions and caused friction with other EU governments, while business groups welcome new legal workers and authorities prepare for legal and administrative fallout.