The 20 February BOE also records the appointment of Eva Martínez Montero as Chief of Staff (Directora del Gabinete) to the Secretary of State for Migration, via Order ISM/107/2026 dated 18 February. Martínez is a career civil servant who previously ran the digital-transformation unit that built Spain’s online residence-permit portal.
![New chief of staff at Spain’s State Secretariat for Migration hints at faster regularisation roll-out]()
For companies and private applicants alike, VisaHQ’s Spain desk offers end-to-end support on everything from seasonal-worker permits to long-term family-reunification visas, translating the ministry’s evolving rules into clear checklists and preparing error-free submissions—see https://www.visahq.com/spain/ for details.
Her arrival is widely interpreted as a signal that the Sánchez government wants to accelerate last month’s landmark regularisation programme, expected to benefit up to 500 000 undocumented migrants. Sources inside the ministry say Martínez has been tasked with coordinating the IT upgrades and staffing surge—700 extra caseworkers—needed before applications open in May. For multinationals employing large numbers of non-EU seasonal workers, the appointment could shorten processing of family-reunification and talent visas, as resources are reallocated. Consulting firms predict that average work-permit times could drop from 46 to 28 days once the new back-office is live. Martínez is also known for her advocacy of API-based data-sharing with regional governments, which should reduce duplicate document requests—a chronic pain point for HR teams managing intra-Spain moves. Expect an official roadmap within 30 days outlining cut-off dates for legacy paper submissions and a pilot of the one-click renewal system first tested in Murcia last year. Action item: corporate-immigration managers should join the public consultation that the ministry must open within 15 days of a new administrative order under Spain’s Transparency Law—an early chance to suggest real-world process tweaks.
For companies and private applicants alike, VisaHQ’s Spain desk offers end-to-end support on everything from seasonal-worker permits to long-term family-reunification visas, translating the ministry’s evolving rules into clear checklists and preparing error-free submissions—see https://www.visahq.com/spain/ for details.
Her arrival is widely interpreted as a signal that the Sánchez government wants to accelerate last month’s landmark regularisation programme, expected to benefit up to 500 000 undocumented migrants. Sources inside the ministry say Martínez has been tasked with coordinating the IT upgrades and staffing surge—700 extra caseworkers—needed before applications open in May. For multinationals employing large numbers of non-EU seasonal workers, the appointment could shorten processing of family-reunification and talent visas, as resources are reallocated. Consulting firms predict that average work-permit times could drop from 46 to 28 days once the new back-office is live. Martínez is also known for her advocacy of API-based data-sharing with regional governments, which should reduce duplicate document requests—a chronic pain point for HR teams managing intra-Spain moves. Expect an official roadmap within 30 days outlining cut-off dates for legacy paper submissions and a pilot of the one-click renewal system first tested in Murcia last year. Action item: corporate-immigration managers should join the public consultation that the ministry must open within 15 days of a new administrative order under Spain’s Transparency Law—an early chance to suggest real-world process tweaks.
