Social-Security and Migration Minister Elma Saiz told reporters on 23 July that more than 820,000 of the 1.17 million applications filed during Spain’s six-month extraordinary regularisation window have entered the substantive evaluation phase. Of these, some 48,000 dossiers have received initial approval, mainly for caregivers and construction workers. The figures represent a significant acceleration since early July, when only half of the files had been scanned into the system. Saiz credited the new AI-assisted document-classification tool, which pre-sorts applications by completeness and flags missing police-clearance certificates. For multinational companies, the programme opens a legal pathway to convert long-standing irregular employees into formal payroll, reducing compliance risk under Spain’s toughened labour-inspection regime. Tax advisors also note that once applicants obtain residency they can enrol in the special impatriate tax regime within six months, offering corporate-tax equalisation savings. The ministry expects first residence cards to be printed from mid-August. HR departments should remind beneficiaries that initial cards are issued for one year and require social-security affiliation within 30 days of collection—failure to do so voids the permit.
Source: Europa Press – Migración
