The State of Alarm decreed by the Spanish Government, regarding the situation we are experiencing with COVID-19, is already in itself a problem for everyone. Therefore, matters of immigration in Spain during COVID-19 are something even more complicated.
Unfortunately, in terms of immigration, foreigners, and nationality, what we are experiencing today is nothing compared to the collapse that we are going to find in the different administrations when the health crisis is over, especially in immigration procedures.
Among the many immigration and nationality procedures that, without a doubt, will suffer a fundamental bottleneck in their processing, we must distinguish two different groups:
- The first is made up of immigration procedures about which we cannot do anything while the State of Alarm lasts.
- The second group is made up of all those immigration procedures that are capable of being processed and resolved electronically.
What immigration procedures in Spain can NOT be carried out today?
We can also separate these into three different groups:
First: The procedures that are generally submitted to the Police Stations.
Second: Those procedures managed by the different Civil Registries.
Third: Third: The immigration procedures that the interested parties submit in person at the immigration offices where the interested party has established residence or at the different auxiliary administrative registries, given that they are closed offices, without attention to the public.
Examples of immigration procedures in Spain that can NOT be carried out:
- Fingerprint appointments to issue the Foreigner Identity Cards (TIE) in the corresponding Police Stations. (Those who had assigned appointments have had them canceled and, at the moment, new ones cannot be requested, and we do not know if the National Police will reassign those appointments or if the person concerned will be forced to request a new appointment).
- Appointments to issue EU Citizen Registration Certificates at the corresponding Police Stations. (Those who had assigned appointments have had them canceled and, at the moment, new ones cannot be requested, and we do not know if the National Police will reassign those appointments or if the person concerned will be forced to request a new appointment).
- Issuance of Foreigner Identity Cards (TIE) at the corresponding Police Stations.
- Appointments for the Nationality Oath. (Those who had appointments assigned in the corresponding Civil Registries have had their appointments canceled and at the moment new ones cannot be requested, and we do not know if each Civil Registry will reassign those appointments or if the interested party will be forced to request a new appointment).
- Appointments for applications for Spanish Nationality by Value of Simple Presumption or “by Option” (Those who had appointments assigned in the corresponding Civil Registries have had their appointments canceled and at the moment new ones cannot be requested and we do not know if each Civil Registry will reassign those appointments or if the interested party will be forced to request a new appointment).
What immigration procedures in Spain CAN be carried out today?
Practically everything that can be submitted electronically, among which we find the following:
- Initial applications for immigration procedures.
- Residence and/or work permit renewals.
- Residence permit modifications.
- Application for Study Permits.
- Extensions of Stay for Studies.
- Modifications of Permits of Stay for Studies to:
- Residence permits for Job Search.
- Residence and Work Permits.
- Modifications of Residence Permits for Job Search to Residence and Work Permits.
- Applications for Long-Term Residence Permits in the:
- General Regime.
- EU.
- Applications for Permanent Residence Permits (Community Regime)
What options do I have to carry out any of these immigration procedures?
It is true that you have two options when it comes to nationality and immigration procedures that can be carried out:
- Wait for the Government to decide that normal work can be resumed in the corresponding immigration offices and auxiliary administrative records, or,
- Use electronic means to carry out the procedures that can be submitted electronically.
Waiting for the opening of immigration offices or auxiliary administrative registries does not seem like the best solution. It will be inevitable that, to the appointments that have had to be canceled, during all the business days that the State of Alarm lasts, all those new appointment procedures that could not even be requested will have to be added.
Also, waiting means that our procedure will be in the queue, with the files of the thousands of interested parties who have decided to wait, or who could not have submitted it before due to a lack of essential documents.
We are convinced that waiting to process the procedures “in paper format” will collapse the Administration and it will be unable to absorb in a short time the considerable number of applications that have ceased to be processed electronically during the State of Alarm.
For this reason, we recommend that, although the administrative deadlines are “paralyzed”, we should not wait until the system is “reopened” to be able to file the applications. It is advisable to do so electronically.
And for the Spanish Nationality?
The same applies to the case of applications for Spanish Nationality by Residence whose submission via electronic means has been shown to be the most efficient way since RD 1004/2015 came into force.
We cannot forget that it is the only way in which the interested party has their file number from the moment their application is submitted since it is done directly on the platform of the Ministry of Justice.
So, how can I process my paperwork related to immigration in Spain during COVID-19?
If you want to do any immigration procedure, make sure it has an expert team in the field!
At Entre Trámites we invite you to know all our immigration services. Fill in our contact form and we will call you to help you as soon as possible, schedule a free online consultation, or just text our WhatsApp.
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