Spain’s long-awaited extraordinary regularisation (‘regularización extraordinaria’) moved from legislative text to lived reality in the early hours of 16 April. By 00:30 the Ministry of Inclusion had switched on the Mercurio immigration platform and, according to Friday afternoon figures, 13,500 applications had already been filed online while 19,633 in-person appointments were booked for next week.
![Spain’s Extraordinary Regularisation Opens With 13,500 Online Applications in First 24 Hours]()
For organisations or individuals who may also need help with Spain’s broader immigration requirements—whether short-term visas, residence permits or coordinating family applications—VisaHQ offers a streamlined, online service (https://www.visahq.com/spain/) that guides users through each step, checks documentation and tracks submissions, saving time while the extraordinary regularisation unfolds.
The decree—published in the Official State Gazette on 15 April—allows undocumented migrants and asylum-seekers who can prove they were in Spain before 1 January 2026 and have stayed at least five continuous months to obtain a one-year residence-and-work authorisation, renewable if they meet labour-market or self-employment conditions. Applications can be lodged digitally through Mercurio or, from 20 April, at 371 Correos branches, 60 Social-Security offices and five dedicated extranjería hubs in major cities. For corporate mobility and HR teams the numbers matter. The ministry has reinforced frontline capacity with 550 temporary staff and extended office hours (16:00-19:00) so that routine immigration services continue uninterrupted. Yet even with extra manpower, the government anticipates a workload of up to half a million files between now and 30 June. Companies employing irregular workers—especially in agriculture, hospitality and elder-care—have a three-month window to sponsor contracts and bring staff onto formal payrolls, avoiding future compliance fines. Legal advisers highlight that the decree also creates a fast-track for self-employed migrants who file a ‘declaración responsable’ and a special vulnerability route for people who can show social or health hardship. Finger-print enrolment and a police report remain obligatory, but the Interior Ministry has clarified that a non-serious record will not automatically bar approval—a key concern for NGOs. In practical terms, employers should audit their workforces quickly, ensure digital-certificate access for online filing and reserve appointment slots ahead of the expected May-June rush. Foreign nationals, meanwhile, are being advised to gather proof of continuous residence—padron certificates, utility bills or health-centre records—to avoid last-minute rejections when the file reaches the extranjería desk.
For organisations or individuals who may also need help with Spain’s broader immigration requirements—whether short-term visas, residence permits or coordinating family applications—VisaHQ offers a streamlined, online service (https://www.visahq.com/spain/) that guides users through each step, checks documentation and tracks submissions, saving time while the extraordinary regularisation unfolds.
The decree—published in the Official State Gazette on 15 April—allows undocumented migrants and asylum-seekers who can prove they were in Spain before 1 January 2026 and have stayed at least five continuous months to obtain a one-year residence-and-work authorisation, renewable if they meet labour-market or self-employment conditions. Applications can be lodged digitally through Mercurio or, from 20 April, at 371 Correos branches, 60 Social-Security offices and five dedicated extranjería hubs in major cities. For corporate mobility and HR teams the numbers matter. The ministry has reinforced frontline capacity with 550 temporary staff and extended office hours (16:00-19:00) so that routine immigration services continue uninterrupted. Yet even with extra manpower, the government anticipates a workload of up to half a million files between now and 30 June. Companies employing irregular workers—especially in agriculture, hospitality and elder-care—have a three-month window to sponsor contracts and bring staff onto formal payrolls, avoiding future compliance fines. Legal advisers highlight that the decree also creates a fast-track for self-employed migrants who file a ‘declaración responsable’ and a special vulnerability route for people who can show social or health hardship. Finger-print enrolment and a police report remain obligatory, but the Interior Ministry has clarified that a non-serious record will not automatically bar approval—a key concern for NGOs. In practical terms, employers should audit their workforces quickly, ensure digital-certificate access for online filing and reserve appointment slots ahead of the expected May-June rush. Foreign nationals, meanwhile, are being advised to gather proof of continuous residence—padron certificates, utility bills or health-centre records—to avoid last-minute rejections when the file reaches the extranjería desk.
