Arraigo de segunda oportunidad (second chance)

A route created by RD 1155/2024 for people who had obtained a residence authorisation and fell into an irregular situation because they could not renew it (for example after losing their job or failing to meet the requirements at renewal time).

It allows you to become regular again without having to build up years of stay through the other arraigo routes.

• People who held a residence authorisation (other than those granted on exceptional grounds) during the two years immediately before the application, and whose renewal did not go through for reasons unrelated to public order, security or public health.

• You must have held that authorisation within the 2 years before the application.
• Continuous stay in Spain during that period, with limited absences (generally no more than 90 calendar days in total).
• No criminal record in Spain or in the countries of residence over the last 5 years.
• Social insertion report or the equivalent documents required by your office.
• You must not have been granted this same authorisation in the previous 3 years.

• Official form EX-31, completed and signedIn duplicate (original and copy) if you file it on paper. Always download it from the Ministry website so you use the current version.Official link
• Full passport, validA copy of every written page (including blank ones if the office asks for them) plus the original for checking. Many procedures require at least 4 months of validity.
• Proof of payment of fee form 790 code 052It is generated and filled in on the official fee website, paid at a bank or online, and submitted as the stamped copy.Official link
• Documents on the previous authorisationCopy of the expired TIE, the decision granting it, or the decision refusing or closing the renewal.
• Municipal registration certificateRequested at the town hall of the municipality where you live. Arraigo procedures usually require the historical or joint certificate.
• Evidence of continuous stayHistorical municipal registration, employment history, medical reports, children's schooling, contracts and bills.
• Social insertion reportIssued by the Autonomous Community or municipal social services. Request it well in advance.
• Criminal record certificateFrom the countries where you have lived in the last 5 years, issued by the authorities of that country, legalised or apostilled and translated into Spanish.

Always download the form from the Ministry website: the templates are updated and offices reject outdated versions.

Amounts are updated periodically: the one shown when you generate form 790 is the one in force.

• Decision: 3 months (silence means refusal).
• Duration: 1 year. After that it must be extended or converted into a residence and work authorisation.

• Application forms (EX-31)Official download of the form.
• Immigration Regulation (Royal Decree 1155/2024)Consolidated text in the BOE.