no more family reunification and visas without international asylum

With the new reform of the regulations of the immigration law, approved this Tuesday by the Council of Ministers, the government hopes to regularize some 900,000 migrants over the next three years. Or what is the same, some 300,000 per year.

This is what the Minister of Inclusion, social security and migration, Elma Saizwhich defends that “this is the most complete and ambitious reform carried out in 13 years, since its entry into force in 2011”.

In 2022, the Government has already introduced a new aspect for the regularization of immigrants in Spain: the concept of roots. A figure which does not exist in other countries of the European Union, affirms the ministry, and thanks to which 300,000 people have already been regularized since.

Today, this same mechanism constitutes the government’s main tool to try to increase this figure to 900,000 by 2027. A projection which would mean about double the rate regularizations. What the Executive is doing is expanding the possibility of staying in Spain thanks to its roots with five different modalities, and in each of them there are more facilities to request it.

Since the entry into force of the new regulation – six months after its publication in the BOE – migrants will be able to apply for a residence permit for social, family, socio-training, socio-work or what is called “second chance” reasons. “. .

Two years of previous stay

One of the most important developments is that to be eligible for each of these categories, you will need to have previously stayed in our country. two years and not three, as up to now. With the exception of family roots, for which no type of prior stay is necessary.

This means that the direct ancestors of a foreigner holding a residence permit in Spain can apply for the same permit. Until now, children up to 21 years old could resort to this circumstance, but from the entry into force of the regulation this will be the case. up to 26.

Aspects linked to the labor market are also changing, what the ministry calls socio-training or socio-work roots.

From now on, permits will allow access to the social security system from the first daywithout the need to ask expresses a first authorization to work as an employee, as was the case until now.

It can also be argued that the person has an active employment contract of 20 hours per weekwithout having to reach the current 30 years of age to be able to apply for a residence permit.

And, although these permits will have an initial duration of one year, they can then be extended for an additional period of four more years.

Second chance

The other big novelty introduced by the regulations is the possibility of benefiting from a second possibility of having a residence permit in Spain. Currently, if a migrant requests a petition for international asylum and this is denied, you find yourself in an irregular situation for a period of two years.

With immigration regulatory reform, you would have the opportunity to resort to some of the roots mentioned above to be able to stay in our country.

Spain thus manages to circumvent European regulations, which do not allow the granting of visas if international protection is refused during this two-year period. And the options are extended to citizens of countries experiencing instability but not open conflict, which may fall outside this category of asylum.

Furthermore, people who have had a residence permit over the last two years and who have not renewed it, for whatever reason, could also benefit from this “second chance” of residence.

Parallel to the law

This regulatory change comes alongside the Immigration Act, which is being negotiated through a popular legislative initiative. This other reform envisages the additional regularization of another half a million people and directly affects migrant minors arriving in the Canary Islands.

Minister Elma Saiz dissociated the two measures. Differences with the PP aimed at reforming immigration law have so far prevented the transfer of minors remaining in the Canary Islands to other communities.