Regularise your status in Spain through vocational training — the arraigo formación route

What is arraigo por formación and why does it matter for 2025?

Spain’s immigration law recognises several routes through which undocumented foreign nationals who have been living in the country for an extended period can regularise their status — collectively known as arraigo (literally “rooting” or “taking root”). These routes acknowledge a practical reality: when someone has lived in a country for years, built social connections, learned the language, and integrated into a community, strict enforcement of their irregular status creates humanitarian and social costs that outweigh the administrative benefits.

Historically, the two main arraigo routes were arraigo social (requiring three years of continuous residence and a job offer or municipal integration report) and arraigo laboral (requiring two years of presence and proof of a prior irregular employment relationship). Both routes had significant barriers: the three-year threshold for arraigo social locked out many recent arrivals, and the job offer requirement created a dependency on a willing employer that was difficult to satisfy from a position of irregular status.

Arraigo por formación — officially “autorización de residencia temporal por razones de arraigo formativo” — was introduced as a separate route under the comprehensive reform of the Spanish Immigration Regulation published as Real Decreto 1155/2024 (confirm the exact RD number and date of entry into force against the official BOE text). Its core innovation is replacing the job offer or social report requirement with an obligation to enroll in accredited vocational training. The residence threshold is reduced to two years of continuous presence in Spain, and the successful applicant receives a combined residence and work authorisation for the duration of the training — meaning they can work legally while they study.

This design reflects a deliberate policy choice: encouraging irregular migrants to gain formal professional qualifications that Spain’s economy needs, while offering a regulated path to legalisation that benefits both the individual and the host country’s labour market.

Who is this route designed for?

The arraigo formación route is not limited to any nationality or sector. It is designed for any non-EU/EEA national who:

• Has been living continuously in Spain for at least two years without legal residence status
• Does not have a current deportation or expulsion order in force
• Has no disqualifying criminal record (no conviction for an offence carrying more than one year’s imprisonment, in Spain or in countries of prior residence)
• Is willing and able to enroll in an officially approved vocational training programme
• Holds a valid passport or travel document (or can obtain one)

In practice, the profile is diverse. It includes adults who arrived in Spain as irregular migrants and have integrated over time; people whose residence permits expired and were not renewed; individuals who entered legally on a student visa or tourist visa but overstayed; and family members of Spanish citizens or legal residents who have not yet been able to regularise through family reunification.

The route is particularly relevant for:

• Workers in informal sectors (hospitality, agriculture, construction, domestic work, care) who have been working without papers for two or more years and see vocational training as a way to formalise their situation and advance professionally
• Young adults who arrived as children with their families, attended Spanish schools, and are now of working age but without legal status — for whom FP programmes are a natural continuation of their education
• People approaching the three-year threshold for arraigo social who want to start the regularisation process one year earlier using the formación route
• Anyone whose employment situation is unstable and who cannot secure a committed job offer from an employer willing to provide it before a work permit exists

English-speaking migrants from Commonwealth countries, the United States, Canada, Latin America, or the Philippines living in Spain in irregular status will find this route directly applicable if they meet the two-year residence threshold and are willing to commit to a recognised vocational programme.

The two-year residence requirement: what it means in practice

The central documentary challenge in most arraigo formación applications is proving two years of continuous residence in Spain. The word “continuous” does not mean the applicant must not have left Spain at any point during those two years — brief trips abroad (holidays, family visits) do not break the continuity — but it does mean the applicant’s habitual residence must have been in Spain throughout the reference period.

The starting point of the two-year calculation is not arbitrary: you count back two years from the date you file the application. If you file in October 2025, you need to show continuous residence from at least October 2023.

Documents that prove continuous residence

Empadronamiento (municipal census registration) is the single most powerful document. Spanish municipalities are legally obliged to register anyone who lives in their territory, regardless of immigration status — there is no requirement to have a valid residence permit to be empadronado. A historical certificado de empadronamiento (obtainable from your ayuntamiento or juntas de distrito) that shows all the addresses where you have been registered over the relevant period, with no gaps, is the gold standard evidence.

If you have never registered or have had gaps in your registration, you will need to supplement with other evidence:

• Public health records (historia clínica from your centro de salud or hospital): visits, prescriptions, and diagnoses create a dated record of physical presence. The Spanish public health system registers patients regardless of immigration status.
• School records for children: if you have children enrolled in Spanish state schools, the school’s annual enrolment certificates for each academic year are powerful evidence of the family’s continuous presence.
• Official correspondence: letters from the AEAT (tax office), courts, Social Security, Sepe, or any other public body addressed to you at a Spanish address and dated within the reference period.
• Bank records: account opening documents, statements showing regular transactions in Spain, or proof of use of Spanish banking services.
• Rental agreements and utility bills: lease contracts, electricity bills, or telecommunications contracts in your name at a Spanish address.
• Witness statements: in some cases, sworn declarations from persons who know the applicant can supplement documentary evidence, though these carry less weight than official records.

Building your evidence file before you apply

At BMC we review the evidence file before it is submitted to the Oficina de Extranjería. In practice, many applicants have stronger evidence than they realise — the challenge is identifying it, translating it where necessary, and presenting it in a format that addresses the examiner’s specific requirements. We have seen applications rejected for lack of continuity documentation where the evidence existed but was not gathered or presented correctly.

If you are not yet at two years of documented residence, the practical advice is to start documenting now: register with your ayuntamiento immediately, register with the centro de salud in your neighbourhood, and keep every piece of official correspondence with a Spanish address. Two years passes quickly, and building a strong evidence file is best done continuously rather than retrospectively.

Which vocational training programmes qualify?

This is one of the most frequently misunderstood aspects of the route. Not every course called “training” qualifies. The regulations under RD 1155/2024 specify that the training must be from one of three officially recognised categories.

Category 1: Official Formación Profesional (FP) cycles

The Spanish vocational education system is structured into three levels:

• Ciclo de Grado Básico: entry-level, typically two years, leads to a Título de Técnico Básico. Requires completion of compulsory secondary education (ESO) or equivalent, or agreement from the education authority for those who have not completed ESO.
• Ciclo de Grado Medio: intermediate level, typically two years, leads to a Título de Técnico. Requires Graduado en ESO, equivalent, or placement test.
• Ciclo de Grado Superior: advanced level, typically two years, leads to a Título de Técnico Superior and can give access to university.

FP programmes are offered by state schools (institutos de educación secundaria), state-subsidised private schools (concertados), and private schools. They cover families of professional activity including: healthcare, administration and finance, hospitality and tourism, computing and communications, construction and civil works, electricity and electronics, agriculture, personal image and aesthetics, sports activities, transport and logistics, manufacturing, and many others.

FP qualifications are recognised across the EU under the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) and are broadly portable. For an applicant considering future mobility within Europe, an FP qualification obtained in Spain carries real value.

Category 2: Employment training certificates (certificados de profesionalidad)

Certificados de profesionalidad are official qualifications awarded for completing SEPE-approved employment training courses (formación para el empleo). They are organised by professional competence area and are calibrated against the national qualifications framework at three levels. Unlike FP cycles, which are typically delivered over one or two academic years, many certificados de profesionalidad programmes are shorter and more modular — ranging from a few hundred to over a thousand hours.

These programmes are delivered by public employment services (SEPE and regional services like SOC in Catalonia, LABORA in Valencia, or SEPE-Madrid), authorised training centres, and employer associations. They are often free or heavily subsidised for unemployed persons.

The key requirement is that the programme must be one that leads to an official certificado de profesionalidad — informal courses, non-accredited language classes, or private professional development courses do not qualify.

Category 3: Qualifications in the national catalogue (CNCP)

The Catálogo Nacional de Cualificaciones Profesionales is the official registry of qualifications recognised within the Spanish and European vocational training system. Any training programme that leads to a qualification listed in the CNCP qualifies for the arraigo formación route, even if it does not fit neatly into the FP or certificado de profesionalidad categories.

What does NOT qualify

• Private language courses (even at accredited language schools)
• University degrees or postgraduate programmes
• Non-accredited online courses (Udemy, Coursera, etc.)
• Internal company training programmes not leading to an official qualification
• Short professional development workshops without an official certificate

BMC routinely checks whether a specific programme an applicant is interested in meets the regulatory requirements before they enrol. Enrolling in a non-qualifying programme, paying fees, and then filing an application based on that enrolment is a costly mistake that we help clients avoid.

The application process: step by step

Step 1: Confirm eligibility

Before gathering documents, a preliminary eligibility check avoids wasted effort. The key questions are: Have you been in Spain for at least two years? Do you have a valid passport or travel document? Do you have any current expulsion order or pending return procedure? Do you have any criminal convictions that might disqualify you? Answering these questions honestly at the outset determines whether to proceed and, if so, on what timeline.

Step 2: Enroll in a qualifying programme

The application cannot be filed without proof of enrollment (or at minimum an acceptance letter) in a qualifying training programme. This means you need to identify a suitable programme, apply for a place, and secure your enrollment before filing the immigration application. FP centres often have intake periods — September for the start of the academic year, and sometimes February for second-semester starts. SEPE programmes run throughout the year.

Timing matters: the training enrolment is a live requirement, not a hypothetical commitment. If you enroll and then withdraw before the immigration authorisation is granted, the basis for the application falls away.

Step 3: Gather the document dossier

The standard dossier for an arraigo formación application includes:

• Official application form (EX-10 or the form specified by the relevant Oficina de Extranjería — check for the most current version)
• Valid passport or travel document (all pages, including stamps)
• Proof of continuous residence for at least two years: empadronamiento certificates + supplementary documents as described above
• Proof of training enrollment: official acceptance letter or enrolment certificate from the training institution
• Clean criminal record certificate from Spain (Registro Central de Penados) and from countries of prior residence for the last five years — these need to be apostilled and translated into Spanish where the originating country is not a Spanish-speaking country
• Proof of payment of the immigration fee (tasa — the applicable tax form, currently Modelo 790 código 052)
• Photographs (passport-size, per specification)

Additional documents may be required by specific Delegaciones: proof of address, family circumstances, or other supporting materials.

Step 4: File at the Oficina de Extranjería

The application is filed at the Oficina de Extranjería for the province of the applicant’s registered address (empadronamiento). In most provinces, prior appointment (cita previa) is required and must be booked through the immigration appointment system. In provinces with high demand (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Murcia), appointment availability can be a bottleneck — applicants should book as early as possible.

BMC can file applications as authorised representative for applicants who cannot attend in person, or who face language barriers when engaging with the administration.

Step 5: Resolution and notification

The Oficina de Extranjería has up to three months from the date of filing to resolve the application. If no resolution is issued within that period, the application is considered to have been resolved by administrative silence — which, for arraigo applications, is generally treated as positive (approved) under Spanish administrative law, though in practice the authorities try to issue an express resolution. BMC monitors the file and advises on next steps based on the outcome.

If the application is rejected, there is a right of appeal (recurso de reposición or recurso contencioso-administrativo) — BMC advises on the merits and prospects of appeal in each case.

Step 6: Collection of the residence card (TIE)

Once the authorisation is granted, the applicant must apply for the Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero (TIE) at the National Police’s Oficina de Extranjeros, where biometric data (fingerprints) is registered and the physical card is issued. The TIE is the document that proves legal residence and work authorisation and is required by employers for Social Security registration.

Converting to a full work permit after completing training

The arraigo formación authorisation is designed as a transitional status. Once the holder completes their training and obtains the official qualification, they can apply to convert the authorisation to a standard initial work and residence permit (autorización de residencia y trabajo por cuenta ajena for employment, or por cuenta propia for self-employment).

This conversion — known as a modificación de la situación administrativa — is filed in Spain without the need to return to the applicant’s country of origin. It requires:

• The official qualification certificate or diploma from the training institution
• A job offer (for employed work) or a viable business plan (for self-employment)
• Continued absence of criminal record or open expulsion procedures
• Current empadronamiento

The conversion pathway is one of the most valuable features of the route: it provides a clear, legally defined progression from initial regularisation through training to full legal work status — without the applicant having to leave Spain and restart from zero.

Arraigo formación vs. other regularisation routes: a comparison

For applicants who have between two and three years of residence in Spain and cannot secure a prior employment relationship to support an arraigo laboral application, the arraigo formación route is often the only viable path to regularisation before the three-year mark that would open the arraigo social route.

Practical considerations for English-speaking applicants

For applicants whose first language is English — whether from the Philippines, Jamaica, Nigeria, India, Pakistan, the US, or Commonwealth countries — several practical points are worth noting:

All applications must be filed in Spanish. Documents issued in English must be officially translated by a sworn translator (traductor jurado) recognised in Spain. Criminal record certificates from English-speaking countries must carry an apostille under the Hague Convention and be accompanied by a certified Spanish translation. BMC coordinates translations as part of the application service.

The criminal record certificate from your home country is often the document that takes the longest to obtain — it may need to be requested from a national police authority, a government agency, or a court registry, with processing times of several weeks. We advise clients to initiate this process at the earliest stage.

Language capability for training: Official FP and certificado de profesionalidad programmes are delivered in Spanish (or in co-official regional languages in Catalonia, the Basque Country, Galicia, and Valencia). Some applicants with limited Spanish will need to invest in language learning alongside or before their vocational programme. SEPE offers subsidised Spanish language courses for immigrants through its formación para el empleo system — in some cases these may themselves form part of a qualifying pathway (confirm whether SEPE Spanish-language courses for immigrants qualify as formación for arraigo formativo purposes with the relevant immigration authority before advising clients).

Using the TIE for banking and contracts: Once the TIE is issued, the holder has full access to formal financial services in Spain. We advise on the practical steps to opening a bank account, registering with Social Security, and understanding your rights as a legal resident and worker.

What BMC does — and what we charge

BMC’s immigration team handles the full arraigo formación application process. Our standard service includes:

• Initial eligibility assessment (free, 30-minute consultation)
• Document audit and gap analysis
• Identification and verification of a qualifying training programme
• Compilation and review of the complete application dossier
• Filing at the Oficina de Extranjería and tracking of the file
• Response to any requerimiento de subsanación
• Post-resolution guidance on TIE collection and Social Security registration

We also offer standalone consultations for applicants who want professional guidance but intend to file their own application, and we advise legal professionals and NGOs on complex arraigo formación cases.

Contact us for a no-obligation eligibility assessment — we will tell you honestly whether you have a strong case, what documents you will need, and what your best next step is.