Arraigo social: temporary residence on exceptional grounds

Legal basis and things to bear in mind

• THE ARRAIGO SOCIAL DOES NOT REQUIRE AN EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT. The contract belongs to the arraigo SOCIOLABORAL (art. 127.b), which is a different route. What art. 127.c) requires is sufficient means for your maintenance reaching at least 100 % of the IPREM (the public income indicator used as the financial-means threshold), available in Spain, which may come from your spouse, registered partner or first-degree relative, or from a self-employed activity if you meet art. 84.
• TWO ROUTES, NOT ONE. Either you prove a family link with a foreign national holding a residence authorisation (spouse, registered partner or first-degree relative in the direct line), or, if you do not have one, your integration effort is assessed through the social-integration report. Having no resident family in Spain does NOT leave you out.
• In force since 20 May 2025 with RD 1155/2024 (Spain's Immigration Regulation): the continuous residence required was reduced from 3 to 2 years (art. 126.b). Watch the counting: time spent in Spain as an international-protection applicant does NOT count until there is a final decision, and while you remain an applicant you cannot apply for arraigo (art. 126.a).
• NEW REQUIREMENT SINCE 16 APRIL 2026: art. 126.h), added by RD 316/2026, requires that you do not hold a stay or residence authorisation and are not a party to any procedure to grant, extend, renew or modify one. Anyone with another file open has to resolve it first.
• The social-integration report is issued by the competent body of the Comunidad Autónoma (autonomous region) where you live. The Ayuntamiento may only issue it where the region has established this and has notified the Secretaría de Estado de Migraciones beforehand. It must be issued within one month of the request.
• THERE IS NO FAVOURABLE SILENCE on that report. If it is not issued in time, art. 127.c) allows the requirement to be proved by any means of evidence, but only if the applicant duly evidences that failure to issue: keep the acknowledgement of the request. Reports from Cáritas, Cruz Roja or ACCEM count as evidence of integration, but do not replace the official one.
• Resolution deadline: 3 months, silencio NEGATIVO (no reply within the deadline = application denied). If the deadline passes with no reply, it opens the way to a recurso de alzada (administrative appeal to a higher body, 1 month) and contencioso-administrativo (judicial review, 2 months).
• After the grant: 1 month to obtain the TIE (Foreigner Identity Card) at the police station with a prior appointment. The authorisation carries work authorisation, both employed and self-employed, with no geographical or occupational limit (art. 131). You may NOT work while the application is being processed: the provisional authorisation of art. 130.5 belongs only to the arraigo sociolaboral.
• The year granted does not renew itself. The extension under art. 132.2.a) requires evidence of active job-seeking and registration with the public employment service, unless there is justified cause such as illness, disability or having reached retirement age. It is applied for in the two months before expiry.
• The 790-052 (38,28 €) is included in the €429.00 charged in a single payment; our fee of €390.00 (21% VAT incl.) covers the full processing and submission. The 790-012 TIE card fee (16,08 €) comes after the grant.