Speaking after the 1 April cabinet meeting, Spain’s Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, doubled down on the government’s intention to launch an extraordinary regularisation that could grant residence and work permits to more than half a million non-EU nationals. The draft decree, now in its final inter-ministerial review, is expected to reach the Council of Ministers before Easter and to open the application window in late April. Under the scheme, applicants must prove continuous residence in Spain before 31 December 2025, have no serious criminal record and, in most cases, present an employment offer or evidence of self-employment.
To avoid scenes of overnight queues, the government will accept files via Spain’s post-office network (Correos), Social Security offices and the upgraded online MERCURIO platform. Processing will be capped at three months, with automatic ‘positive silence’ after six—a major departure from the current system, where some cases drag on for 18 months.
Business groups broadly welcome the move. The Spanish Confederation of Hotels predicts that legalising long-time informal workers could ease the chronic summer staffing gap, while the employers’ federation CEOE argues that formalisation will boost tax revenue and social-security contributions.
![Madrid defends historic plan to regularise 500,000 undocumented migrants despite political backlash]()
Critics led by opposition party Partido Popular claim the measure will act as a “pull factor”. Saiz countered that Spain has used regularisations six times since 1985 and that empirical studies “show a net benefit in GDP and labour-market participation”.
Whether you’re an individual hoping to benefit from the regularisation or an employer assembling paperwork for several staff members, VisaHQ can streamline the process. The firm’s Spain portal (https://www.visahq.com/spain/) offers clear checklists, real-time updates and professional assistance with compiling, translating and lodging documents—services that extend not just to this extraordinary measure but to standard Spanish visas and permits as well.
For multinational HR departments the decree, if approved, changes the compliance landscape. Foreign employees already in Spain on tourist status but meeting the residence cut-off could secure full work authorisation without leaving the country, a route cheaper than the standard Highly-Qualified Professional permit. Companies should audit their contingent workforce, prepare employment contracts and budget for social-security back-payments that will be triggered once permits are issued.
Saiz also confirmed that newly regularised migrants will initially enjoy mobility rights only within Spain; travel to other Schengen states will require a three-year wait for long-term EU residence. Employers must therefore avoid business trips outside Spain until staff receive re-entry visas, or risk voiding their new status.
To avoid scenes of overnight queues, the government will accept files via Spain’s post-office network (Correos), Social Security offices and the upgraded online MERCURIO platform. Processing will be capped at three months, with automatic ‘positive silence’ after six—a major departure from the current system, where some cases drag on for 18 months.
Business groups broadly welcome the move. The Spanish Confederation of Hotels predicts that legalising long-time informal workers could ease the chronic summer staffing gap, while the employers’ federation CEOE argues that formalisation will boost tax revenue and social-security contributions.
Critics led by opposition party Partido Popular claim the measure will act as a “pull factor”. Saiz countered that Spain has used regularisations six times since 1985 and that empirical studies “show a net benefit in GDP and labour-market participation”.
Whether you’re an individual hoping to benefit from the regularisation or an employer assembling paperwork for several staff members, VisaHQ can streamline the process. The firm’s Spain portal (https://www.visahq.com/spain/) offers clear checklists, real-time updates and professional assistance with compiling, translating and lodging documents—services that extend not just to this extraordinary measure but to standard Spanish visas and permits as well.
For multinational HR departments the decree, if approved, changes the compliance landscape. Foreign employees already in Spain on tourist status but meeting the residence cut-off could secure full work authorisation without leaving the country, a route cheaper than the standard Highly-Qualified Professional permit. Companies should audit their contingent workforce, prepare employment contracts and budget for social-security back-payments that will be triggered once permits are issued.
Saiz also confirmed that newly regularised migrants will initially enjoy mobility rights only within Spain; travel to other Schengen states will require a three-year wait for long-term EU residence. Employers must therefore avoid business trips outside Spain until staff receive re-entry visas, or risk voiding their new status.
