If you have applied for international protection (asylum) in Spain—for example, if you have a red card or are awaiting a decision—it is important to know about a specific route being designed for 2026 in the Draft Royal Decree amending the Immigration Regulations (RD 1155/2024). The draft provides that certain applicants for international protection may request a residence authorization on exceptional grounds based on roots, under a clear procedure and clear rules.
In this post, we explain it in an informative, direct and practical way: who might qualify, what requirements are requested, what happens while the application is processed and how to prepare the documents so you do not lose time when the application period opens.
Important notice: we are talking about a draft and it may change when the final rule is approved. Even so, preparing your file now is useful because it is based on stable elements: proof of presence, criminal records, family circumstances and administrative documentation.
What is this “2026 regularization” for asylum seekers?
The draft amends the Fifth Transitional Provision and establishes a route for foreign nationals who submitted an application for international protection before 31 December 2025 to request a residence authorization on exceptional grounds based on roots, provided that they meet the stated requirements.
The project’s impact assessment explains that its aim is to strengthen access routes to authorizations on exceptional grounds for people already in Spain and provide legal certainty, facilitating integration and inclusion, including through access to the labour market.
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Según el borrador:
- You could apply for this authorization until 30 June 2026.
- The Royal Decree would enter into force the day after its publication in the BOE, once it is approved.
This means that the smart time to prepare is before then: when the application period opens, many people try to obtain their documents at the same time and procedures become slower.
Who might qualify? (Main criterion)
The key condition is this: having submitted an application for international protection before 31 December 2025.
In plain language: if your asylum or international-protection file was submitted before that date, this route is designed for you, provided that you meet the other requirements.
Requirements set out in the draft
To request authorization through this route, the draft lists requirements that should be clearly understood:
- You must be in Spain.
- You must have no criminal record in Spain or in the countries where you lived during the five years before entering Spain, for offences covered by Spanish law.
- You must not represent a threat to public order, security or public health.
- You must not be prohibited from entering Spain and must not be listed as inadmissible in countries with an agreement.
- Where applicable, you must not be within a non-return commitment period, if you previously returned voluntarily and accepted that commitment.
- You must have paid the procedural fee.
Do not be put off by the list: most applications are won or lost on two very specific points—proving your situation properly and not leaving the criminal-record issue until the end.
What happens while the application is processed: “provisional” residence and work
This is one of the most important points in the draft.
Once the application has been admitted for processing and until a decision is issued, the text provides for provisionally authorizing the applicant to reside and, if of working age, to work as an employee or self-employed person throughout Spain and in any occupation or sector.
It also clarifies that, if the application is refused, the provisional authorization to work automatically loses its validity, without any additional procedure.
Además, el borrador contempla que el plazo máximo de resolución puede suspenderse en ciertos supuestos y que, durante esa suspensión, la autorización provisional seguiría siendo válida.
If you have a return procedure or decision: what the draft says
The text provides for a relevant measure if the applicant is affected by a return procedure or decision, provided that it is based on certain grounds. In that situation, submitting the application would suspend the return procedure and its enforcement while the application is processed.
If the decision were favourable, the return procedure would be closed and the return decision revoked.
If this is your situation, the most sensible course is to prepare your file with extra care—not out of fear, but because the documents must be especially well organized here.
How to prepare your file: what really works
The rule talks about requirements, but your practical priority is different: build a file that can be understood in five minutes. This reduces requests for additional documents, delays and errors.
1) Proof of your application for international protection (the “heart” of the file)
You need to be able to prove two things:
- that you submitted an application for international protection, and
- that it was submitted before 31 December 2025.
What you should gather: the filing receipt, file number, appointment documents, notices and any dated official communication. If you have a red card, it can help as contextual evidence, but what matters is the date and administrative traceability of your application.
2) Proof that you are in Spain and of your habitual residence
The draft states that habitual residence may be proved with any legally valid evidence and at any documentation unit within Spanish territory.
In practice, this translates into a simple strategy:
- prepare a timeline, month by month,
- and support it with dated documents showing continuity.
For example, the following can usually serve as evidence (choose what you have and organize it by date): municipal registration certificates; medical appointments, reports or receipts (health centre, emergency care, prescriptions); enrolment records, reports or communications from educational centres (if you study or if your daughters or sons attend school); bank statements and transactions (income, payments, transfers); rental or housing-loan agreements, receipts and bills (electricity, water, internet) in your name; tickets issued in your name or proof of domestic travel; course enrolment and attendance records (training, languages, certificates from organizations); official notices or communications (appointments, decisions, letters from the Administration); and certificates or reports from social organizations supporting you.
You do not need “a thousand documents”, but you do need consistency: your story should not contain large unexplained gaps.
3) Criminal records: how to avoid a blockage
Here is the most concrete part of the draft, explained step by step.
a) If your criminal records in Spain could be cancelled
The text provides mechanisms to initiate cancellation before a decision is issued and may also require you to process it before a decision is made.
In other words: if you have old records that can be cancelled, act as soon as possible.
b) Si el certificado de tu país tarda
The draft provides a solution: if you prove that you requested it and a month passes without receiving it, the Government may, if you ask, obtain the information directly. If the information still does not arrive after another month, the Administration will inform you and you could submit a declaration of responsibility stating that you have no criminal record; for these purposes, you would be considered to have no criminal record.
Practical translation: keep the receipt proving that you requested this certificate as carefully as possible.
4) Fee and payment receipt
The fee is a requirement under the draft. Always keep the payment receipt in the file, in a clearly marked section.
Family situations: what happens if you have daughters or sons in Spain
The draft states that, if the applicant has minor daughters or sons or adult children with disabilities who cannot meet their needs for health reasons, they may submit their residence-authorization application under Articles 159 and 160 simultaneously with the parent’s application, and both applications will be decided simultaneously.
It also includes specific flexibilities:
- If the application is made under Article 159, the requirement to submit it within six months of the birth is waived.
- If the application is made under Article 160, the requirement of two years of previous residence and proof of the financial means and accommodation required for family reunification is waived.
The impact assessment reinforces the purpose of this measure: these authorizations would be valid for five years and would be independent of the parents’ authorizations, protecting the best interests of children and adolescents and avoiding administrative instability.
If this is your situation, your file should include, in addition to your documents, an organized family folder: the identities of your daughters and sons, school-enrolment records or school reports where applicable, health documents if there is a disability or dependency, and proof of living together.
Other relatives in Spain: possibility of simultaneous applications
The text states that, if you have relatives in Spain who meet the requirements of Article 127(c), they may apply for a social-roots residence authorization simultaneously, meeting the requirements of the relevant chapter with specific exceptions.
This is a more technical section, but the practical idea is this: in some cases, the rule provides for related files to be processed in a coordinated way. If you think it applies to you, it is advisable to review it with legal or social support to identify the correct route.
How to submit the application: registration and available facilities
The draft provides that applications and documents may be submitted using a form prepared by the competent administration and through any legally valid registration method.
It also opens the door to authorizing other public offices to receive applications throughout Spain through a specific, priority and differentiated procedure.
It adds two important safeguards:
- Habitual residence may be proved with any legally valid evidence.
- You will not be required to submit documents that are already held by the Public Administration.
After approval: the TIE
If the authorization is granted, the draft states that, during the immediately following month, you must apply for the Foreigner Identity Card (TIE), which will be issued for the period of validity of the authorization.
To close: preparing now gives you stability and room to act
The key to this route, as designed in the draft, is that it seeks to provide legal certainty and facilitate the transition to a more stable situation, with the possibility of entering the labour market while the application is processed, provided that the requirements are met.
If you have a red card or are in the asylum process, your best decision today is simple: gather evidence, organize your documentary history and resolve the criminal-record issue as soon as possible. This puts you in a much stronger position when the procedure is activated.
