The reform of the regulations of the Immigration Law approved yesterday by the Government, and published this Wednesday in the BOE, reduces deadlines and simplifies requirements to regularize migrants living in Spain without papers the process could benefit some 300,000 people each year over the next three years.
The main novelty is that it homogenizes the figures of arraigo, the existing mechanism for foreigners living in Spain to regularize their administrative situation, and reduces from 3 to 2 years the time of permanence in Spain required to access them.
It also clarifies the incompatibility between the application for international protection and regularization due to roots, improves family reunification, establishes that all visas have an initial duration of one year, strengthens protection for seasonal workers and facilitates the transition from study permit to work permit.
The keys to the Immigration Law
The following are some of the keys to this comprehensive reform of the text, in force for 13 years, which will come into force in the form of a royal decree on may 20, 2025the Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, said in an interview on RNE, reported by EFE.
1. Reconfiguration of the figures of arraigo (root status)
One of the most noteworthy novelties is the reconfiguration of the figures of arraigo, which are as follows:
— Arraigo social: from requiring three years of residence in Spain to two and maintains the requirement to prove family ties with legal residents in the country or to provide a report of arraigo that proves the social integration of the applicant.
— Socio-laboral roots: (replaces the one known until now as labor): it still requires two years of residence and an employment contract but the number of hours per week required in such employment relationship is reduced from 30 to 20 hours.
— Arraigo socioformativo: (replaces arraigo for training): maintains the two years of residence required and the commitment to train in a profession in demand in the labor market. Now it will be possible to work from the first moment, while receiving the training.
— Second chance Arraigo (newly created): also with the requirement of two years of residence in Spain, it allows to regularize foreigners who have had a previous authorization and for some reason have not been able to renew it.
— Arraigo familiar: does not require a minimum time of residence in Spain and is limited to third country national parents of citizens of other EU States because the rest of the cases are regulated in a new statute of family members of Spanish citizens.
2. Incompatibility of the arraigo with international protection
Another of the novelties of the new text is that it establishes that the time of residence in Spain as an applicant for international protection will not be counted as time to be taken into account in order to qualify for arraigo, as recently ruled by the Supreme Court and also upheld by European legislation.
As a transitional measure, for one year, the Government will reduce from 2 years to 6 months the minimum time of residence in Spain required for asylum seekers who have a final rejected petition to have access to the different figures of arraigo, as long as they meet the different requirements.
3. Improvement of family reunification
A residence authorization for family members of Spanish citizens is created and its coverage is extended.
Among the new features, it extends the age of beneficiary children from 21 to 26 years, includes other realities such as couples not formally registered who can prove an analogous affective relationship and facilitates the regrouping of children and parents of victims of trafficking, sexual or gender violence.
4. One year initial and four year renewal for all permits
The new regulation creates a specific title for visas and establishes that all initial authorizations will be for one year and renewals for four years.
This will serve to avoid situations of supervening irregularity, something that has also been avoided by simplifying the procedures for changing from one residency status to another: for example, it will not be necessary to leave the country to obtain long-term residency after a temporary one.
The modification also extends the visa for job search from three months to one year.
5. Protection for seasonal workers
A specific residence and work authorization is created for seasonal activities that facilitates individual and collective hiring and improves the protection of workers’ rights, as they must have concrete and written information in a language they understand of their working conditions, stay and other expenses.
The new text improves their living conditions and safety from the time they leave the country until they are registered with the Social Security and includes the possibility of changing employer in case of abuse or other causes that have prevented the employment relationship from developing, such as a plague in the harvest.
6. Fast track between study and work authorization
Regarding training, people coming to Spain to study will have an initial stay authorization that lasts the same length of time as their training and they will be provided with a fast track to be able to link it with a work authorization when they finish their studies.
In addition, while studying, they will be able to work a maximum of 30 hours per week.
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