Facing a deluge of 1.17 million applications in the country’s extraordinary regularisation campaign, Spain’s Ministry for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration has formally asked provincial extranjería (immigration) offices to join the processing effort. The move, published on 24 July and reported by El País, comes after only about 11,000 cases had been fully decided by the 2 July mid-point review. Under the new plan, nearly 1,300 immigration officers have volunteered to work overtime—paid at €10 per file—to pre-screen and digitise up to 250,000 dossiers that risk breaching the statutory three-month decision deadline. Final approvals will still be issued by the central UTEX processing unit, but the extra manpower should clear the bottleneck that had begun to worry employers relying on provisional work authorisations. The unprecedented regularisation, launched in April, allows undocumented migrants with two years’ residence in Spain and an offer of work or training to obtain papers. The surge in demand exceeded the government’s original forecast of 500,000 applicants, creating operational strain across partner agencies such as Correos and the Social Security Treasury. For business-mobility managers, the ministry confirms that provisional work permits granted on submission remain valid even if the three-month window is exceeded; silence will not constitute a refusal. Nevertheless, companies should monitor expiry dates of temporary contracts and, where possible, stagger new hires to avoid further congestion in autumn. Practical tip: Employers sponsoring candidates via the regularisation route should prepare to supply updated job offers if processing stretches beyond 90 days, as labour authorities may request confirmation that the position is still available.
Source: El País
