The Spanish government is finalizing preparations for an unprecedented campaign to legalize migrants who are in the country illegally. According to the latest draft decree, which was reviewed by the newspaper El País, post offices (Correos) and Social Insurance offices (Seguridad Social) will be used to receive applications from hundreds of thousands of people.
The process is aimed at legalizing foreigners who find themselves in Spain without documents, but meet certain criteria.
Basic conditions: migrants who were in Spain before January 1, 2026 and lived in the country for at least five consecutive months before applying can become participants in the program.
Applications will be accepted until June 30, 2026.
Initially, the government estimated the number of potential applicants at about 500,000. However, the Funcas analytical center cites a higher figure: about 840,000 undocumented people live and work in Spain, who may meet the new requirements.
In order to cope with the enormous amount of work in a short time, a decentralized but centrally managed scheme was chosen.1. Applications will be accepted at the offices of the Spanish Post (Correos)and in the offices of Social Insurance (Seguridad Social). This decision was made to relieve the burden on traditional immigration offices, which are already operating intermittently.
The submission will be carried out in a special form, which will be available on the websites of the ministries.
2. After receiving the documents, all cases will be transferred to the Immigration Case Processing Department (UTEX), which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Migration Affairs. It is this body that will check the documents and make final decisions on each case.
The Government undertakes to review each application within three months from the moment it is accepted for production.
The government says that legalization will bring jobs out of the shadows, strengthen the social insurance system and increase tax revenues. The initiative has a demographic rationale: the aging of Spain's population "threatens the future accessibility of workers and the sustainability of the welfare system" (including pensions).
Source: El Pa
