Arraigo Laboral in Spain: What Replaced It in 2025–2026?

Spain’s former arraigo laboral route stopped accepting new applications on 20 May 2025. It was not simply renamed. Royal Decree 1155/2024 replaced the 2011 regulation and split the old search intent across several current procedures.

The former route was based on at least two years in Spain plus proof of a past employment relationship of at least six months. Previous work alone no longer creates eligibility for a new arraigo application.

Which route should you check now?

The extraordinary 2026 regularization was a separate temporary process and closed to new applications on 30 June 2026.

Arraigo sociolaboral is the closest employment-based successor

Sociolaboral uses a present or future employment relationship, not proof of past work. Its core requirements include:

• Two years of continuous presence in Spain immediately before filing, with no more than 90 calendar days of absence in total
• One or more signed employment contracts paying the applicable collective-agreement wage or the SMI, proportionate to hours
• At least 20 hours per week in global calculation across all contracts; qualifying temporary contracts must cover more than 90 days
• Employer compliance with tax and Social Security obligations and sufficient means to pay the salary

A municipal integration report is not required for sociolaboral. The current arraigo categories use Form EX-10, are filed with the provincial Oficina de Extranjería or through Mercurio, and generally have a three-month decision period.

The current five arraigo categories are sociolaboral, social, socioformativo, familiar, and segunda oportunidad. They serve different facts, so do not treat sociolaboral as an automatic rename of the former arraigo laboral route.

You can no longer start an arraigo laboral application. Since 20 May 2025, immigration offices only accept new filings under current procedures.

What happened to pending applications

The regulation’s second transitional provision preserves older cases:

• Applications filed before 20 May 2025 continue under RD 557/2011, the rules in force when they were submitted.
• A pending applicant may expressly ask to use the new regulation if all current requirements are met. The Ministry provides Form EX-28 for that request.
• Authorizations already valid on 20 May 2025 remain valid for their issued duration.
• A fresh filing on or after 20 May 2025 cannot invoke arraigo laboral.

Applying for arraigo sociolaboral

1. Complete and sign Form EX-10.

2. Gather category-specific evidence: two years’ qualifying presence, criminal-record documents where required, and compliant signed contract(s).

3. File with the Oficina de Extranjería in your province or electronically through Mercurio.

4. Pay Modelo 790, code 052, epigraph 2.3.1 within ten working days.

Once a sociolaboral application is admitted for processing, the applicant is provisionally authorized to reside and work as an employee until a decision. If approved, effectiveness depends on Social Security registration within one month.

Do not use EX-10 to claim the eliminated arraigo laboral category. First identify whether the facts fit sociolaboral, segunda oportunidad, another current arraigo category, or the separate article 129.2 authority-collaboration route.

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. Applying under the wrong category wastes time and the filing fee.

Choosing between the current routes

• Qualifying signed contract(s) totalling at least 20 hours per week at the legal salary → arraigo sociolaboral
• A renewable, non-exceptional residence authorization lost within the previous two years because it expired or ordinary renewal requirements were not met → arraigo de segunda oportunidad
• Family ties with legal residents or a favorable integration report, plus sufficient means → Arraigo Social
• Parent or guardian of an EU/EEA/Swiss minor, or support for an EU/EEA/Swiss national with a disability → Arraigo Familiar
• Enrollment in qualifying training → arraigo socioformativo
• At least six months of irregular work proved through labor-inspection or judicial proceedings → the separate article 129.2 authority-collaboration route

Segunda oportunidad does not require an employment contract, but it does not cover a study/stay authorization, loss of long-term residence, or every type of extinguished residence permit.

Complex or borderline cases

Get individual advice if your presence history has gaps, an employer’s tax or Social Security compliance is doubtful, or you applied for international protection. You cannot be an international-protection applicant while an arraigo filing is pending, and time spent as an asylum applicant does not count until the decision is final.

Since Royal Decree 316/2026, an applicant also must not hold another stay or residence authorization or have a pending grant, extension, renewal, or modification proceeding. This is narrower than saying every unrelated immigration procedure is a bar.

A pre-20-May-2025 application also requires comparing the old regime with the option to request the new rules using EX-28.

Arraigo laboral no longer starts anyone on the residence track, but current arraigo grants do.

What an arraigo grant leads to now

A current arraigo authorization such as sociolaboral, segunda oportunidad, or Arraigo Social is generally granted for one year. Once granted, article 131 authorizes employed and self-employed work throughout Spain without occupation or geographic limits. Arraigo familiar lasts five years, and socioformativo limits employee work to 30 hours per week.

Before a one-year authorization expires, the holder may:

• Extend (prórroga) for one-year periods by proving active job-seeking and registration with the public employment service. Since April 2026, justified barriers such as illness, disability, or retirement age can excuse that condition.
• Modify under article 191 after at least one year of residence. Because arraigo already authorizes work, the applicant uses the corresponding employed- or self-employed renewal requirements; the resulting authorization lasts four years.

An extension may be filed during the two months before expiry or up to three months afterward, although late filing can trigger sanctions. Apply for the TIE within one month after approval.

After five years of legal and continuous residence, a qualifying applicant can seek Long-Term Residence. Nationality by residence is a separate procedure with its own residence periods and requirements.

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.