Arraigo: The Route to Regularisation in Spain

Arraigo (Social Rooting Residence) Spain: the regularisation route for non-EU nationals who have been living in Spain without regular immigration status. Governed by Royal Decree 1155/2024 (BOE-A-2024-24099, in force 20 May 2025), which provides 5 modalities: (1) arraigo social — 2+ years continuous presence + social integration report from the local authority (or family ties with legal residents) + employment contract or sufficient means; (2) arraigo sociolaboral — 2+ years presence + current active employment contract meeting the standard work-permit minimum conditions; (3) arraigo familiar — parent of a minor EU/EEA/Swiss citizen (no minimum residence period); (4) arraigo socioformativo — 2+ years presence + enrolment in regulated vocational training; (5) arraigo de segunda oportunidad — previously held legal residence for 2+ years, lost it, and no more than 3 years have elapsed. All modalities are processed before the Oficina de Extranjería of the province of habitual residence. Statutory resolution: 3 months; administrative silence = deemed rejection. Once regularised, arraigo holders are on a progressive pathway toward long-term residence (after 5 years) and ultimately Spanish nationality. See the immigration practice overview for all routes.

The five modalities of arraigo under RD 1155/2024

Arraigo social is the most commonly used route when there is no current formalised employment. It requires demonstrating continuous presence in Spain for at least two years (evidenced primarily through historical municipal registration records — empadronamiento histórico), evidence of social integration (a council or regional authority report, or family ties with legal residents), and an employment contract or sufficient means of subsistence.

Arraigo sociolaboral replaced the former “arraigo laboral” of the previous regulatory framework. While arraigo laboral required retrospective proof of at least six months of employment with Spanish employers — which often meant obtaining court judgments or conciliation records — arraigo sociolaboral requires a current, active employment contract at the moment of application. The contract must meet the minimum conditions required for a standard initial work permit: salary at or above the applicable minimum wage or collective agreement, and a minimum weekly working time of 20 hours. Two years of continuous presence in Spain is also required.

Arraigo familiar is available to parents of minor children who are citizens of an EU, EEA or Swiss member state. It does not require a minimum residence period. Family members of Spanish nationals are handled under a separate regulatory framework.

Arraigo socioformativo requires at least two years of continuous presence in Spain and current enrolment in a regulated educational or vocational training programme. It integrates the regularisation pathway with educational integration.

Arraigo de segunda oportunidad applies to those who previously held legal residence in Spain for at least two years but were unable to renew their authorisation, provided no more than three years have elapsed since the loss of that authorisation.

Documentation and common reasons for refusal

The most common reasons for arraigo refusal are: incomplete or improperly apostilled criminal record certificates, inadequate evidence of continuous presence (gaps in municipal registration history), an employer who does not meet the solvency and registration requirements for the employment contract (arraigo sociolaboral), and failure to evidence sufficient means of subsistence (arraigo social). Our preparation process is specifically designed to identify and resolve these issues before submission.

What to expect from our service

We handle arraigo applications with systematic eligibility assessment before initiating any file: we do not submit applications that lack a solid evidentiary basis, and we prepare each application anticipating the documentation standards of the competent Immigration Office. The majority of properly documented cases we handle obtain a favourable resolution.

Regulatory framework

The current governing regulation is Royal Decree 1155/2024 (BOE-A-2024-24099), approved 5 November 2024, in force since 20 May 2025. It replaced Royal Decree 557/2011 in its entirety. The arraigo modalities are regulated in Title VII, Chapter I of the new Regulation (temporary residence for exceptional circumstances). Where useful for historical reference, the former RD 557/2011 provided for three modalities: arraigo social (art. 124), arraigo laboral (art. 125) and arraigo familiar (art. 126).

Path from arraigo to standard residence

Obtaining arraigo is not the end point: it is the beginning of a progressive regularisation. After the arraigo authorisation expires, the holder renews towards a standard two-year temporary residence authorisation, then towards a long-term residence authorisation (five years), and ultimately towards permanent residence. Spanish nationality by residence requires ten years of continuous legal residence (or fewer for nationals of certain countries).

Once arraigo is obtained, the appropriate next step is the standard renewal towards a standard work and residence authorisation, not specialist programmes that require an existing legal status — such as the intracompany transfer (ICT) route, which is only available to staff with prior legal residence in a third country and an active contract within a multinational group.

This service is part of our immigration and international mobility practice.