Immigration Regularization 2026: The Opportunity You've Been Waiting For (and Why You Shouldn't Relax Until April)

If you're living in Spain without legal status, yesterday's news probably let you breathe a little easier for the first time in a long while. And for good reason. The Council of Ministers' announcement of the extraordinary regularization of 500,000 people is, without doubt, the immigration news of the decade.

But now that the headline euphoria has passed, it's time to get to work. Our law firm has received hundreds of calls since yesterday asking: "Can I submit my documents now?"

The short answer is no. The long answer will save you a lot of stress and money. Let’s break down what the government actually said yesterday and explain the legal strategy you should already be working on.

Where do things stand?

The first thing you need to understand — so you don’t get misled — is that there’s no published law yet. What happened yesterday was a political agreement, a “we’re going to do this.”

The government has switched to "urgent mode" to draft the Royal Decree. This means the law will be written during February and March, the fine print will be defined, and it will be published in the BOE (Official State Gazette). Until that happens, immigration offices are legally bound and cannot act.

Are you in or out?

Even though the final text isn't ready yet, the Ministry of Inclusion has already drawn the lines. This won't be an amnesty for everyone — only for those who are already part of Spanish society. Grab your calendar and take note of these key dates:

• 1. Cut-off date (December 31, 2025):
  If you arrived in Spain in January 2026, unfortunately, this process is not for you. You must have been here before the New Year’s Eve countdown.
• 2. The 5-month rule:
  It’s not enough to have arrived on December 30. You’ll need to prove you’ve been continuously living here for 5 months. This points to people who’ve been here since around last summer.
• 3. The non-negotiable requirement:
  Criminal Record. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in Spain — if you have a criminal record (here or in your home country), the door is closed.

April is around the corner: Start your strategy now

This is where many people get it wrong. They think: "The process starts in April, so I’ll worry about it in April." Big mistake.

The application window will be very short: just 3 months (April to June). If you wait until April to request documents from your home country, they may not arrive in time.

Do you know how long it takes to issue a criminal background check, get it apostilled, send it to Spain, and have it officially translated? Sometimes more than two months. Add to that half a million people requesting the same thing at once, and consular services will be overwhelmed.

Your immediate to-do list:

• Check your passport: Is it expiring soon? Renew it now.
• Register your address (or gather proof): The historical “padrón” is king. If you don’t have it, start collecting now any official documents showing you were in Spain in 2025 (medical visits, money transfers, public transport cards).
• Request your Criminal Record Certificate: It’s the slowest step. Start the process in your home country this week.

Why do you need a lawyer if the process will be online?

The government will most likely launch a digital platform for this. Sure, you can try it yourself. But in large-scale processes like this, a formatting error, poorly scanned document or incorrect fee payment can get you disqualified — with no time to fix it.

At our law firm, we won’t sell you illusions. We can’t submit your application today. But what we can do is prepare a bulletproof file.

We check if your proof of stay meets immigration office standards, arrange sworn translations, and have everything ready at the "starting line." So the day the website opens in April, your application is one of the first to go in — clean and error-free.

Don’t gamble with your future. If you meet the requirements, this is your chance.

Unsure if your documents qualify?

Book an appointment with us today so we can review your case before the law is published.