Spain: Upcoming Regulations Will Relax Family and Residency Pathways
December 6, 2024
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At a Glance
- Reforms to Spain’s immigration regulations will include the following changes:
- Liberalizing family-related immigration pathways, including creating a new permit, and expanding eligibility for an existing reunification permit;
- Increasing the residency period of one of the country’s two job seeker permit pathways; and
- Liberalizing pathways to regularize the residency status of undocumented foreign nationals.
- These reforms seek to expand the country’s labor market in response to persistent labor shortages in many sectors.
- Although these reforms have already been legislatively approved, they will only come into effect on May 20, 2025, with transitional measures to apply to existing residence permits and pending residence applications.
The situation
Reforms to Spain’s immigration regulations will go into effect May 20, 2025, including liberalizing reforms to family-related immigration pathways, job seeker permit pathways, and the regularization of undocumented foreign nationals, among other changes.
A closer look
| CHANGE | IMPACT |
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Liberalization of family-related immigration pathways. Two changes to family-related immigration pathways will be as follows:
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These reforms will increase the number of individuals who are eligible to work, helping employers find suitable talent. Additionally, the reforms may also increase talent attraction and retention in Spain – with the employability of family members often being a critical economic consideration when making a mobility decision. |
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Longer validity for jobseeker visa. The validity period for one of Spain’s two jobseeker visas will be increased to one year, up from the current three months. This visa, however, will remain limited to a narrow group of applicants, including descendants of Spanish citizens who may have lost Spanish citizenship, or applicants in fields or sectors which are approved by government authorities on a discretionary basis. This visa is different from Spain’s other jobseeker permit, which applies to university graduates (and which has not been changed as part of these reforms). |
Despite this visa’s limited scope, these reforms are likely to make Spain more attractive to certain foreign nationals by providing them with a longer timeframe to secure employment, reducing the pressure of finding a job quickly and ensuring applicants are better able to find a role that aligns well with their skill set. |
| Easier regularization of residency status. The reforms will make it easier for undocumented foreign nationals who can show some connection to Spain (including social, family, or work, among other methods) to access legal residency status. | By increasing the pool of individuals eligible for work authorization, this reform may substantially and quickly increase the pool of eligible talent available to employers, helping to ease current labor shortages. |
The regulations also make the following reforms, among others:
- Self-employment. Employment permit holders will be able to automatically engage in self-employment, provided that such self-employment remains ancillary to their main employment role. Currently, this is possible only if the employee applies for a separate ‘self-employment’ permit.
- Long-term residence. The scope of long-term residence in Spain will be clarified to ensure it adheres to EU regulations on the subject, and to remove current legislative ambiguity.
- Van Der Elst Process. The regulations will expressly regulate for the so-called ‘Van Der Elst Process’ – a legal principle under which non-EU nationals working legally in one EU Member State can provide temporary services in another one without obtaining a separate work permit. Currently, although Spanish authorities adhere to Van Der Elst requirements, there is a lack of express regulation on the subject.
Background
- Addressing labor shortages. Among other goals, these reforms seek to expand the country’s labor market in response to persistent labor shortages in many sectors.
- Separate regularization efforts. Spanish authorities are separately proposing reforms that would regularize the immigration status of around 900,000 undocumented foreign nationals over the next three years.
Looking ahead
- Effective date. Although these reforms have already been legislatively approved, they will only come into effect on May 20, 2025.
- Transitional measures. Residence permits and cards issued before May 20, 2025 will remain valid. Applications submitted prior to May 20, 2025, will continue to be processed under the current regulations after May 20, 2025, unless applicants opt for the new regulations to apply.
This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].
