Arraigo Laboral Is Now Arraigo Sociolaboral: Spain's New Requirements

Arraigo laboral no longer exists as a standalone residence category.

Spain’s new Immigration Regulation — Royal Decree 1155/2024, in force since 20 May 2025 — eliminated it and reorganized the whole arraigo system. You cannot file a new arraigo laboral application.

The old authorization let you obtain residence based on proven past employment (at least six months of work, usually evidenced through labor inspection records, court rulings, or Social Security data) after two years of living in Spain. That legal basis disappeared when RD 1155/2024 replaced the 2011 regulation (RD 557/2011).

What replaced it: arraigo sociolaboral

The closest successor is the new arraigo sociolaboral. Instead of proving past work, you must present a current, active employment relationship. The core requirements are:

• Two years of continuous residence in Spain immediately before applying (absences of no more than 90 days in that period)
• One or more signed employment contracts guaranteeing at least the interprofessional minimum wage (SMI) — or the applicable collective-agreement salary if higher — pro-rated to the hours worked
• A combined weekly working time of at least 20 hours across all contracts; fixed-term contracts must total more than 90 days
• No criminal record in Spain or in your countries of residence during the five years before entering Spain

Unlike the old arraigo laboral, no proof of past (often irregular) employment is required — and no municipal integration report is needed for this route.

The five current arraigo categories

All of these are granted for one year — except arraigo familiar, which is granted for five — and all include work authorization (arraigo socioformativo caps employee work at 30 hours per week).

Quick context

Applications under the current arraigo categories still use the official Form EX-10 and are decided by the provincial immigration office (Oficina de Extranjería), under rules set by the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). After approval, the National Police issue the Foreigner Identity Card (TIE).

If you were counting on arraigo laboral, review the current options above — for most workers, arraigo sociolaboral or Arraigo Social will be the relevant route.

You can no longer start an arraigo laboral application. Since 20 May 2025, immigration offices only accept applications under the arraigo categories created by Royal Decree 1155/2024.

What happened to pending applications

The transition was handled by the regulation’s second transitional provision:

• Applications filed before 20 May 2025 continue to be processed and decided under the previous rules (RD 557/2011) — the rules in force when they were submitted.
• Applications still pending on that date are also resolved under the old rules, unless you expressly request that the new regulation be applied and you prove you meet the new requirements.
• Applications filed on or after 20 May 2025 are processed exclusively under RD 1155/2024 — which no longer includes arraigo laboral.

If your pre-reform arraigo laboral application was refused, a fresh filing must use one of the current categories.

Applying under the successor route (arraigo sociolaboral)

The process for the current arraigo categories works much like the old one:

1. Complete and sign Form EX-10 — still the official application form for arraigo authorizations.

2. Gather the supporting evidence for your category (for arraigo sociolaboral: proof of two years’ continuous residence, criminal record certificates, and the signed employment contract or contracts).

3. File in person at the Oficina de Extranjería of the province where you live, or electronically through the Mercurio platform.

4. Pay the Modelo 790 (code 052) fee within ten working days of filing.

One notable improvement: once an arraigo sociolaboral application is admitted for processing, you are provisionally authorized to live and work as an employee while you wait for the decision.

Which form for which procedure

Don’t file EX-10 citing arraigo laboral: the category no longer exists, and applications invoking it cannot succeed.

Arraigo laboral itself no longer generates fees or processing times — it is closed to new applications. The figures below apply to the current arraigo categories that replaced it.

Application fee

The fee for a temporary residence authorization for exceptional circumstances by reason of arraigo is paid with Modelo 790, code 052 (epigraph “autorización de residencia temporal por circunstancias excepcionales por arraigo”).

The fee is due when you file and must be paid within ten working days. If you later obtain a Foreigner Identity Card (TIE), the National Police charge a separate issuance fee.

Older guides quoting different amounts for “arraigo laboral” fees are out of date: that category was eliminated on 20 May 2025.

Decision deadline

The statutory decision period for the current arraigo categories is three months, counted from the day after your application enters the register of the competent office. If no decision is notified within that period, the application is deemed refused (negative administrative silence).

In practice, processing times vary by province and workload — busy offices can take longer than the legal deadline.

For arraigo sociolaboral specifically, you are provisionally allowed to reside and work as an employee from the moment the application is admitted until it is decided. If approved, the authorization only takes effect once you register with Social Security within one month of notification.

Pending old-rule cases

If you filed arraigo laboral before 20 May 2025 and are still waiting, your case is decided under the previous regulation (RD 557/2011), including its fee schedule and processing rules — unless you expressly asked for the new regulation to apply.

Check your case status with the immigration office that received your file, and keep proof of your filing date and payment receipts. You may need them later for a renewal, a modification, or an application for Long-Term Residence.

The 2025 reform makes route selection the critical decision. If your plans were built around arraigo laboral, get advice before filing anything, because applying under the wrong category wastes months and the filing fee.

Choosing between the current routes

Since 20 May 2025, your realistic options depend on your situation:

• You have (or can get) a job offer formalized in a contract of at least 20 hours per week at the legal salary → arraigo sociolaboral
• You have family ties with legal residents or strong community integration, plus sufficient means → Arraigo Social (Social Ties Regularization)
• You are the parent of an EU/EEA/Swiss minor or support an EU/EEA/Swiss national with a disability → Arraigo Familiar (Family Ties Regularization)
• You are enrolling in qualifying training → arraigo socioformativo
• You held a residence authorization that lapsed in the last two years → arraigo de segunda oportunidad

Complex or borderline cases

Borderline cases still require careful framing. You may need professional help if your residence history has gaps, if your employer’s tax or Social Security compliance is doubtful (the employer must be current on both and show sufficient means to pay your salary), or if you previously applied for international protection — time spent in Spain as an asylum applicant does not count toward the two years of residence.

Also get advice if you hold another authorization or have a residence procedure pending: since an April 2026 amendment (RD 316/2026), holding a stay or residence authorization — or being party to a pending authorization procedure — bars you from applying for arraigo.

Your choices now also shape later steps, including renewal, modification to a standard work permit, and eventual Long-Term Residence.

Arraigo laboral no longer starts anyone on the residence track — but its successor categories do, and the path afterward is broadly the same as before.

What an arraigo grant leads to now

A current arraigo authorization (for example, arraigo sociolaboral or Arraigo Social) is granted for one year and includes authorization to work as an employee or self-employed person, without geographic or occupational limits. Arraigo familiar is granted for five years, and arraigo socioformativo limits employee work to 30 hours per week.

Before your year ends, you have two main options:

• Renew (prórroga) for successive one-year periods. For segunda oportunidad, sociolaboral, and social, renewal requires proof that you are actively looking for work and registered with the public employment service — waived for justified reasons such as illness, disability, or reaching retirement age. Apply during the two months before expiry (or up to three months after, with a possible fine).
• Modify to an ordinary residence and work authorization under article 191 of the regulation. If you have already held residence for more than a year, the modified authorization works like a renewal and can be issued for four years.

After approval, apply for your TIE with the National Police within one month of notification, and keep your Social Security registration current if you work.

Long-term residence and nationality

After five years of legal and continuous residence, you can apply for Long-Term Residence (residencia de larga duración), which lets you live and work in Spain under conditions similar to nationals.

Spanish nationality by residence is a separate procedure with its own residence-period, integration, and documentation requirements. Keep your residence uninterrupted and properly documented at every stage — time in irregular status does not count.

Nobody can qualify for arraigo laboral anymore. Understanding what the old category required — and what the current arraigo sociolaboral requires instead — tells you whether the successor route fits your case.

What arraigo laboral required (until 19 May 2025)

Under RD 557/2011, you needed:

• Continuous residence in Spain for at least two years
• Proof of an employment relationship of at least six months — typically established through labor inspection reports, court judgments, or Social Security records
• No criminal record in Spain or your previous countries of residence

The defining feature was proving past work, which often meant exposing an irregular employment relationship.

What arraigo sociolaboral requires now

The successor category flips the logic: it looks at your current employment. You must show:

Several contracts can be combined — concatenated seasonal contracts with different employers, or simultaneous part-time jobs. Your employer(s) must be up to date with tax and Social Security obligations and show sufficient means to pay your salary. You must also hold the qualifications legally required for regulated occupations.

General requirements apply to all arraigo categories: you must be in Spain, not be an international protection applicant (and time spent as one doesn’t count toward the two years), have no criminal record in Spain or in your countries of residence in the five years before entering Spain, not be barred from the Schengen area, and have paid the fee. Since April 2026, you also must not hold another stay or residence authorization or have such a procedure pending.

If you can’t meet the contract requirement, look at Arraigo Social (Social Ties Regularization) — it requires no employment contract at all.

Most refusals under the current arraigo categories come from the same root causes that sank arraigo laboral files: weak proof of presence and non-compliant paperwork. A few new failure modes are specific to the 2025 rules.

Applying under a category that no longer exists

Some applicants still file citing arraigo laboral, usually following outdated guides. Those applications cannot succeed — the category was abolished on 20 May 2025. Check that any template, checklist, or advice you rely on refers to RD 1155/2024, not the repealed RD 557/2011.

Insufficient evidence of presence

You must prove continuous residence in Spain for the two qualifying years, with absences of no more than 90 days. Authorities reject applications when gaps appear in the record.

The most common issue remains inconsistent or interrupted empadronamiento (municipal registration). Registration alone is not enough — offices expect documents showing actual physical presence.

Maintain:

• Uninterrupted empadronamiento records and historical certificates
• Supporting documents (medical visits, school records, bank activity, official correspondence) spread across the whole period
• A consistent address history across all documents

Remember that time spent in Spain as an international protection applicant does not count toward the two years.

Contract-related refusals (arraigo sociolaboral)

Applications under the successor route often fail on the contract:

• Working time below 20 hours per week in global computation
• Salary below the SMI or the applicable collective agreement, pro-rated to hours
• Fixed-term contracts totalling 90 days or fewer
• Employers with tax or Social Security debts, or without demonstrable solvency

Make sure the contract terms are compliant on the filing date and that your employer can pass the solvency check.

Wrong-route filings

Filing arraigo social when your case rests on an employment contract — or sociolaboral without a valid contract — leads to refusal. The social integration report belongs to the Arraigo Social route (when qualifying family ties are absent); it is not an arraigo sociolaboral requirement.

If your goal is later Long-Term Residence, a refusal now delays that path, so verify requirements with the immigration office before submission.

Arraigo laboral document checklists are obsolete: you can no longer file that application. What matters now is the document set for the successor route, arraigo sociolaboral, per the ministry’s information sheet (Hoja 29).

Documents for arraigo sociolaboral

• Form EX-10, completed and signed
• Complete copy of your valid passport, travel title, or registration certificate — every page, not extracts
• Evidence of continuous residence in Spain for the two years before applying
• Criminal record certificate(s) issued by the countries where you lived during the five years before entering Spain
• The employment contract or contracts, signed by you and the employer(s), meeting the salary, 20-hour and (for fixed-term contracts) 90-day thresholds
• Employer documentation: tax ID (NIF), company deeds or statutes showing the signer’s authority, and solvency evidence (IRPF, VAT or corporate tax returns, or the company’s labor-life report, VILE)
• Proof of professional qualifications where the occupation is regulated in Spain

Foreign documents must be legalized or apostilled and, where needed, translated into Spanish by a sworn translator.

You do not need a criminal record certificate from third countries if you have stayed in Spain continuously for the last five years, or if you already proved it in an application within the previous five years without leaving Spain since.

No social integration report for this route

The municipal or regional social integration report belongs to Arraigo Social (Social Ties Regularization) (when qualifying family ties are absent) and to arraigo socioformativo — it is not required for arraigo sociolaboral. Older arraigo laboral guides that told applicants to obtain an “informe de arraigo social” mixed up the categories; ignore that advice for the successor route.

If you filed arraigo laboral before 20 May 2025

Your pending file is assessed under the old rules with the documents you submitted: proof of two years’ residence and evidence of the six-month employment relationship (labor inspection records or employer documentation). Respond promptly to any correction requests from the immigration office.

Keep full copies of everything, including proof of your filing date — you may need them for a later application under the current categories or for Long-Term Residence.