The Government of Spain is going to approve this Tuesday April 14 in the Council of Ministers the Royal Decree that starts the process of extraordinary regularization of migrant people who are in an irregular situation. According to figures from the Spanish Executive, the initiative will allow the regularization of approximately half a million people, who already live in the country.
This regularization will benefit people who are in irregular administrative situation and who have entered Spanish territory before January 1, 2026, having to prove five months of stay in the country, compared to the two years requested in the rootedness procedures.
In a letter addressed to the citizenry, the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, has celebrated the "pride of being Spanish" and has defended that this initiative is "an act of normalization" and "an act of justice" for the history of Spaniards who emigrated to America and Europe "in search of a better life". At the same time, he added that regularization is also "a necessity" due to the aging of the population.
The Regularization Now Movement has celebrated the agreement reached with the Spanish Executive for the definitive text of the extraordinary regularization. Thus, it has defended that this document is "the result of an arduous period of struggle and negotiations" and has recalled that it moves forward thanks to a citizen process to try to regularize the largest possible number of people.
Some new requirements
Pending its publication in the Official State Gazette (BOE), in the agreement, this group has achieved that a provisional authorization of work be granted from the admission for processing of the regularization application and has recalled that until now, the work permit was only contemplated when the resolution was favorable.
At the same time, the regularization application will be made compatible with the right to continue the International Protection procedure until regularization is granted.
The collective has informed that the municipal register will not be the only means that serves to accredit permanence in Spanish territory nor residence. Other alternative ways are contemplated to access regularization such as the situation of vulnerability due to being in an irregular situation, the presentation of a job offer or the completion of training, which are required in socio-labor or socio-educational roots procedures.
In addition, expired passports will have validity in order to begin the process to request regularization.
In some special cases a four-year extension will be allowed, without new requirements, for people of retirement age, with serious illnesses or disability and their direct relatives (spouse or first-degree descendants).
The collective Regularización Ya has also informed that applications for residence permits due to exceptional circumstances that are in process must be resolved favorably if the requirements for achieving regularization are met, exempting people in this situation from carrying out any additional procedure.
Regarding criminal records, the figure of the responsible declaration has been eliminated, but if no response is obtained from the country of origin, the Government of Spain may request them directly from that country.
The Council of Ministers will approve today the Royal Decree that initiates the process of extraordinary regularization of people in an irregular situation in our country.
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) April 14, 2026
An act of normalization, of recognizing the reality of almost half a million people who are already part of our… pic.twitter.com/Es9il0KE59
Proposals that are left out
The Regularization Now Movement has pointed out that applicants for statelessness have been excluded from the regularization process, following the opinion of the Council of State. The collective has highlighted "the relevance of their inclusion" and has argued that despite showing "viable alternatives" to the Government of Spain, its initiative was rejected.
At the same time, despite the fact that they also proposed eliminating the requirement that demands presenting a certificate of vulnerability, an agreement has not been reached with the Spanish Executive, but the process has been simplified.
Meanwhile, it has highlighted that its objective was that applications for international protection would not decline upon granting regularization, but that it has only managed that both be made compatible during the start and the duration of the process.
Finally, the collective sought for the regularization to be extended until December 31, 2026, but has denounced that the entry into force of the European Pact on Migration and Asylum, which "will exacerbate institutional violence", has been the reason for not extending its validity.
