Spain’s regularization window is open

Spain’s 2026 regularization amnesty is live and it’s a big one. Undocumented foreigners who arrived before January 1, 2026 and can prove five months of continuous stay by December 31, 2025 can apply for a one-year renewable residence and work permit, honestly a sharp shift for people already working under the table in hospitality, farming, construction and domestic work.

The government says the measure could cover about 500,000 people, with filings already piling up fast and weirdly enough the system is built to process a lot of volume, from the Mercurio portal to in-person appointments at post offices and migration offices. It also folds into Spain’s wider labor shortage problem, because the state says there are 156,000 vacancies in hard-to-fill sectors.

Who gets a real shot at it

This is aimed at undocumented non-EU residents, especially people from Latin America, Africa and Morocco who are already settled in Spain. Tourists and short-term visitors don’t fit and people with valid permits, pending renewals, Ukrainians under temporary protection or active arraigo filings are out, though the last group gets an automatic favorable resolution.

The practical upside is real and frankly overdue. Approved applicants get legal work rights, social security access and a path into the tax system, which means some expats and overstayers may be able to move out of limbo if they meet the residence and clean-record rules.

What to do before the June 30 cutoff

Applications opened online on April 16 and in person on April 20, with a hard deadline of June 30, 2026. The fee is €38.28 and applicants need a passport, police clearances from Spain and their home country, plus proof of continuous stay, which can be documents like empadronamiento records or bank statements.

Don’t wait on this. Resolutions can take up to three months, so people who qualify should file now, because queues are already forming in Madrid and Barcelona and the cap on processing capacity, surprisingly, isn’t the problem, timing is.

Read our full Spain guide for the complete picture.