The window for new applications closed on 30 June 2026. This page is for those who already applied and have received a request for further documents.
1,174,978 applications were filed. Some of them receive a formal request for documents that are missing, or that were submitted in a form that does not qualify. That request has a deadline, and if it is not answered the application is treated as withdrawn — not refused, simply closed as though it had never been made. The window to correct it ends on 30 September 2026.
It means supplying what the authorities ask for after you have already applied. It is not a new application and you do not start over: your file stays alive and keeps its original filing date.
The request arrives by the channel you designated when applying. Check your email, your spam folder and the postal address you gave. Many people lose the file simply because they never saw the notice.
You can file the documents at any of the 383 designated Correos offices, or online through MERCURIO, without an appointment.
It is the slowest document and the one that generates most requests. The chain of deadlines is worth knowing:
If you requested the certificate from your country and have had no answer within one month, you may authorise the Spanish authorities to obtain it on your behalf.
If after three months Spain has had no answer either, UTEX will require you to produce it within fifteen days. If you do not, the application is treated as withdrawn.
Sworn translation and legalisation or apostille: a correct certificate that has not been legalised is rejected exactly as if it did not exist.
With the notice that processing has begun you are assigned a NIE and provisionally authorised to live and work. That authorisation is real: you can register for social security and sign a contract.
From that notice you have ten days to pay the fees and provide proof of payment.
The decision period is three months.
If the decision is favourable, you must apply for the Foreigner Identity Card (TIE) within one month.
A withdrawal does not close the road. After the reform introduced by Royal Decree 316/2026, the Immigration Regulation keeps the ordinary arraigo routes open — social, socio-labour and socio-educational — with two years of proven residence and, in the case of arraigo social, no need for an employment contract.
Watch out for a requirement introduced by that same reform: you cannot apply for arraigo if you already hold another valid stay or residence authorisation.
Every situation is different and the route you choose conditions the whole file. It is worth reviewing before filing anything.
Not checking the notification address given in the application, and learning about the request once the deadline has passed.
Submitting the criminal record certificate without legalisation, apostille or translation.
Filing incomplete documents in the correction, which triggers a second request there may no longer be time to answer.
Letting the ten days for the fees lapse after admission.
We review your request and tell you honestly what is missing, whether what you have will do, and by when it must be filed. First assessment free and without obligation, and a closed written quote before any engagement.