On 11 July the Spanish National Police quietly rolled out an English-language microsite that allows foreign nationals to pre-check requirements for an “exceptional authorisation for a short stay” of up to three months. The permit—created by Royal Decree 1155/2024 and now fully digitised—caters to humanitarian cases, public-interest assignments and situations where a traveller entered Spain without the usual documentation. Previously, applicants had to visit regional immigration offices to initiate the process. The new portal centralises information, links to the mandatory form EX-29 and offers online generation of the tax form 790-012. While filing must still be completed in person, the digital pre-filter should cut appointment times and reduce incomplete submissions that slow down urgent deployments. For multinationals the tool provides clarity on an otherwise opaque pathway that can regularise short-notice postings when a visa is impractical—such as emergency maintenance on critical infrastructure or time-sensitive media assignments. HR teams should verify that travellers hold a valid passport and can evidence the humanitarian or public-interest grounds; the authorisation is non-extendable beyond three months in any six-month period. The microsite also bundles access to related procedures—return authorisations, NIE allocation, EU family cards—making it a handy one-stop bookmark for mobility managers. Fully online filing is slated for 2027 once Spain’s digital-identity upgrade for third-country nationals is completed. Although not a headline reform, the move aligns with the government’s digital-by-default agenda and should marginally ease the administrative burden on companies that need to mobilise talent at very short notice.
