The Guardia Civil has broken up an organised crime ring that specialised in creating fictitious “parejas de hecho” (de-facto couples) and false municipal registrations to obtain Spanish and Schengen-wide residence permits for foreign nationals.
According to a statement released on Sunday, 16 November 2025, and first reported by EFE, officers arrested seven people and placed another ten under formal investigation after coordinated raids in Barcelona, Castelldefels and Badalona. The group allegedly charged up to €15,000 per application, pairing undocumented migrants with Spanish or EU citizens willing to sign fraudulent partnership contracts and to register them at local town halls. The forged paperwork allowed applicants to request “arraigo familiar” or family-based residence cards that confer legal stay and work rights throughout Spain and, eventually, free movement within the Schengen Area.
Investigators say the network ran a “one-stop migration shop,” providing everything from forged empadronamiento (address registration) certificates to bogus labour contracts and tax statements that helped foreign nationals pass authenticity checks at immigration offices. Evidence seized during the operation includes blank municipal forms, pre-stamped notarial deeds, USB drives with passport scans and €42,000 in cash.
![Spain’s Guardia Civil Dismantles Barcelona-Based Network that Sold Fake ‘Parejas de Hecho’ to Secure EU Residence Permits]()
The probe began late last year when Catalan immigration officials noticed a sudden spike in de-facto partnership applications involving the same group of intermediaries. Guardia Civil cyber-crime units traced hundreds of online payments linked to the suspects and detected clients in at least five EU member states who had used the Spanish documents to regularise their status elsewhere in the Schengen zone.
For multinational employers, the case is a reminder that Spain continues to tighten scrutiny of family-based and “arraigo” routes that many companies use to on-board talent already in country. Legal advisers expect deeper background checks and longer processing times, particularly in Catalonia and Madrid, where authorities are rolling out new interview protocols. Companies relocating staff are urged to verify the authenticity of civil-status documents and to budget extra lead-time—currently four to six weeks—for empadronamiento verifications.
The Interior Ministry stressed that the arrests form part of a broader national strategy against document fraud, which has grown more lucrative since Spain’s 2024 Immigration Regulation (RD 1155/2024) widened work authorisation for several arraigo categories. While the reform was designed to facilitate orderly migration and fill labour shortages, officials warn that criminal intermediaries are exploiting the system’s popularity. Employers planning local hires under the new regulation should therefore anticipate more in-person interviews and cross-database checks as regional offices implement anti-fraud measures.
According to a statement released on Sunday, 16 November 2025, and first reported by EFE, officers arrested seven people and placed another ten under formal investigation after coordinated raids in Barcelona, Castelldefels and Badalona. The group allegedly charged up to €15,000 per application, pairing undocumented migrants with Spanish or EU citizens willing to sign fraudulent partnership contracts and to register them at local town halls. The forged paperwork allowed applicants to request “arraigo familiar” or family-based residence cards that confer legal stay and work rights throughout Spain and, eventually, free movement within the Schengen Area.
Investigators say the network ran a “one-stop migration shop,” providing everything from forged empadronamiento (address registration) certificates to bogus labour contracts and tax statements that helped foreign nationals pass authenticity checks at immigration offices. Evidence seized during the operation includes blank municipal forms, pre-stamped notarial deeds, USB drives with passport scans and €42,000 in cash.
The probe began late last year when Catalan immigration officials noticed a sudden spike in de-facto partnership applications involving the same group of intermediaries. Guardia Civil cyber-crime units traced hundreds of online payments linked to the suspects and detected clients in at least five EU member states who had used the Spanish documents to regularise their status elsewhere in the Schengen zone.
For multinational employers, the case is a reminder that Spain continues to tighten scrutiny of family-based and “arraigo” routes that many companies use to on-board talent already in country. Legal advisers expect deeper background checks and longer processing times, particularly in Catalonia and Madrid, where authorities are rolling out new interview protocols. Companies relocating staff are urged to verify the authenticity of civil-status documents and to budget extra lead-time—currently four to six weeks—for empadronamiento verifications.
The Interior Ministry stressed that the arrests form part of a broader national strategy against document fraud, which has grown more lucrative since Spain’s 2024 Immigration Regulation (RD 1155/2024) widened work authorisation for several arraigo categories. While the reform was designed to facilitate orderly migration and fill labour shortages, officials warn that criminal intermediaries are exploiting the system’s popularity. Employers planning local hires under the new regulation should therefore anticipate more in-person interviews and cross-database checks as regional offices implement anti-fraud measures.
