Social Arraigo continues to be nowadays the most recurring way of regularization and residence by foreigners in Spain. It has been the most common authorization processed by those people who either have lost their residence card or have never had it.
Through the Immigration Law reforms that have been in force since August 2022, the requirements for this residence and/or work authorization in Spain have been made more flexible.
Below, we will tell you about the main changes incorporated into this permit. How to apply for it? Which are the requirements? Keep reading!
And if you have any questions, you can contact Entre Trámites and we will solve them for you. You can manage your Spanish citizenship or immigration procedures with us. Schedule a free consultation!
Social Arraigo contract
The first and most important change that has been introduced in the figure of Social Arraigo is related to the employment contract. Before, in order to obtain this type of residence authorization due to Exceptional Circumstances in Spain, we had three options:
- Providing a job offer.
- Creating our own business.
- Providing your own financial means or those of a family member.
Although legally there are three ways to obtain this card in Spain the most typical one is through a job offer. However, after the reform, the main change introduced to the contract is its duration. Today you can provide any type of contract and of any duration, it is no longer mandatory to provide a job offer of an indefinite nature or of a specific duration. You can provide a temporary contract of 6 months or even shorter.
The only requirement that is needed today is that the salary established therein is at least the Minimum Interprofessional Salary (SMI) or the established salary, in this case, in the applicable collective agreement, the sum of which must represent a weekly shift of not less than 30 weekly hours.
Why is it no longer required that the contract is of one year or indefinite?
In order to answer this question, it is necessary to go back a bit. Initially, the rule required the employment contract to have the same duration as the card or authorization that was being requested, which was 1 year. This meant that we had to submit temporary job offers of one year or an indefinite contract.
After the labor reform that came into force last March 2022, temporary contracts can have a maximum duration of 6 months. Due to this change, and since Social Arraigo is so closely related to labor regulations, from that moment on, it was completely necessary to provide an indefinite contract.
All this meant that it was already difficult to find a job offer, and if it also had to be indefinite, it became an impossible task. Now it is different, foreigners in Spain have more possibilities to reside in the country under the new flexibilities of the Social Arraigo.
Type of contracts for Social Arraigo
As we said before, any type of contract of those established in labor regulations can be provided: a temporary employment contract, an indefinite contract, or a discontinuous permanent contract on certain occasions.
Economic means of the employer
Another of the great novelties introduced in the Social Arraigo after the reform of the Immigration Regulations is that it is not mandatory to prove the economic means of the employer.
In those cases in which the Immigration Office doubts said employment relationship, they may ask for the appropriate documentation to verify that the company has the capacity to make said contract.
20-hour contract for Social Arraigo
Another important change that has been introduced with this reform is that it is possible to provide a 20-hour weekly work contract when you are in charge of:
- Minors.
- People who require special support measures to exercise their legal capacity.
In these cases it is possible to provide a job offer of 20 hours per week, setting the proportional part of the minimum interprofessional salary or the salary established in the applicable collective agreement.
Let’s Talk!
We hope this information has been very useful to you! In Entre Trámites we offer various consulting services of bureaucratic processes for foreigners, self-employed and SMEs, including the processing of residence permits, NIE, TIE, CUE, and Spanish citizenship.
We invite you to know our immigration services here. Fill in our contact form and we will call you to help you as soon as possible, schedule a free online consultation, or simply text our WhatsApp.
