Arraigo sociolaboral for €440, fully online.
Two years of documented residence, a job contract and an eight-document case file. The price is published before you commit, and you can work once the application is admitted.
Arraigo sociolaboral for €440, fully online.
Arraigo sociolaboral: Temporary residence authorisation on exceptional grounds (arraigo). People who have lived in Spain for at least 2 years and hold a job contract. Booka's fee is €440, plus the official fee of 38,28 €. Applied for from within Spain.
Arraigo sociolaboral is a temporary residence authorisation on exceptional grounds in Spain (form EX-10, art. 125 of the Immigration Regulation). It is designed for people who have lived in Spain for at least 2 years and hold one or more job contracts adding up to 20 hours per week. Its most useful feature: once the application is admitted for processing, it allows you to work provisionally, without waiting for the final decision.
The case file consists of eight documents and moves through four stages. What delays an arraigo most is not the administration — it is filing an incomplete application.
Updated on · Rule: RD 1155/2024 · Source: boe.es
Arraigo sociolaboral: The facts that decide your case.
- What it is
- Temporary residence authorisation on exceptional grounds (arraigo).
- Who can apply
- People who have lived in Spain for at least 2 years and hold a job contract.As a general rule; the count is evidenced with the historical padrón certificate.
- Where you apply
- From within Spain. No need to leave the country or visit a consulate.
- Official form
- EX-10, ticking the arraigo box.
- Can you work?
- Yes, provisionally, from the moment the application is admitted for processing.
- Length of the permit
- 1 year, renewable afterwards as residence and work.
- Government fee
- 790-052, heading 2.3.1 — 38,28 € (as of 2026).The 790-012 TIE fee is paid separately, at the end.
Arraigo sociolaboral: Who it is for — and who it is not.
This is your procedure if…
- You have lived in Spain continuously for 2 years or more.
- You hold one or more job contracts adding up to at least 20 hours per week.
- You can obtain a historical padrón certificate covering those 2 years with no gaps.
- You have no criminal record in Spain or in the countries where you lived over the last 5 years.
This is not your procedure if…
- You have been in Spain for less than 2 years: the required residence is not met yet.
- You have no contract or job offer — this route is built on the contract.
- You already hold a valid residence permit: yours is a renewal, not an arraigo.
- Your time here is as an international protection applicant, which does not count until finally decided.
Is this really your procedure?
If you are torn between routes, answer them before hiring anything. Twelve questions, three minutes, and we tell you which ones fit your case, what you are missing for each, and what puts it at risk. It comes off the price if you then hire the full service.
Arraigo sociolaboral if you come from Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Argentina or Cuba
Arraigo sociolaboral is filed in Spain, not at the consulate. What depends on your country is the criminal record certificate from every country where you lived in the last 5 years: apostilled, or legalised by MINREX if you come from Cuba, and translated if not in Spanish. Request them first: they take longest.
| Country | Apostille or legalisation | Consulate of Spain | Criminal record certificate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colombia | Colombia apostilles online at the Cancillería (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Colombian degrees are first legalised, free and online, at the Ministry of National Education. | Consulate General of Spain in Bogotá | Colombia's certificate of judicial records (antecedentes judiciales) is issued by the National Police and apostilled online by the Cancillería as a digital document. |
| Venezuela | Venezuela apostilles at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MPPRE), by appointment, with an electronic apostille for many documents. Venezuelan degrees first go through the Ministry of University Education. | Consulate General of Spain in Caracas | Venezuela's criminal record certificate is issued online by the Ministry of Interior, Justice and Peace, valid for 3 months, and apostilled by the MPPRE. |
| Argentina | Argentina apostilles at the Foreign Ministry (TAD platform, digitally signed documents) or at any Colegio de Escribanos (notaries). Argentine degrees are first legalised at the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Health. | Consulates General of Spain in Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza, Rosario and Bahía Blanca, depending on the province | Argentina's criminal record certificate is issued online by the Registro Nacional de Reincidencia, valid for 90 days, and apostilled via TAD or at a Colegio de Escribanos. |
| Mexico | Mexico has a dual apostille system: federal documents are apostilled by the Secretaría de Gobernación (SEGOB) and state documents by each state's Secretaría General de Gobierno. Mexican consulates do not apostille. | Consulates General of Spain in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey, depending on the state | Mexico issues the federal criminal record certificate (SSPC, online, with SEGOB electronic apostille) and the state certificate of no criminal record; check with the Spanish consulate which one it requires. |
| Peru | Peru apostilles at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, online or in person in Lima. Peruvian degrees must be registered with SUNEDU before the apostille. | Consulate General of Spain in Lima | Peru's criminal record certificate is issued electronically by the Judiciary (Poder Judicial), valid for 90 days, and apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. |
| Cuba | Cuba is not party to the Hague Convention, so there is no Cuban apostille: Cuban documents are legalised at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) and, when the Spanish authority requires it, at the Consulate General of Spain in Havana. | Consulate General of Spain in Havana | Cuba's criminal record certification is issued by the Ministry of Justice and legalised by MINREX; it is the slowest document in a Cuban file, so it is requested first. |
| Ecuador | Ecuador apostilles online at the Cancillería, with no appointment, and the apostille arrives by email. An Ecuadorian degree must be registered with SENESCYT before it is apostilled. | Consulates General of Spain in Quito and Guayaquil | Ecuador's criminal record certificate is issued online and free by the Ministry of the Interior, valid for 90 days, and apostilled online by the Cancillería. |
| Chile | Chile's apostille is decentralised: the Civil Registry apostilles its certificates online, higher-education degrees are legalised and apostilled at Ayuda Mineduc and all other documents at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. | Consulate General of Spain in Santiago de Chile | Chile's certificate of criminal record for private purposes is issued by the Civil Registry with ClaveÚnica and apostilled online in the same request. |
Common to all eight countries
- Nationals of Ibero-American countries can apply for Spanish citizenship after 2 years of legal residence (article 22 of the Spanish Civil Code), instead of the general 10 years.
- Criminal record and civil certificates are usually required to be less than 3 months old when filed, and every document not in Spanish needs a sworn translation (traducción jurada) in addition to the apostille or legalisation.
Consular pages at exteriores.gob.es and the Hague Conference status table, checked 4 October 2026.
Arraigo sociolaboral: What you have to prove.
Two years of continuous residence
Article 126.b) of the Immigration Regulation requires continuous presence in Spain for at least the 2 years before the application — it used to be 3. The regulation sets no tolerated number of days abroad, so each absence is assessed within the file. In practice presence is evidenced mainly with the historical padrón certificate, the document worth requesting on day one: it is the slowest and the one that springs the most surprises, since a gap of a few months forces you to prove residence by other means.
Requirement 1 of 5A job contract of at least 20 hours per week
It can be one contract or several adding up to that, with pay proportional to the minimum wage or the applicable collective agreement. This is what sets arraigo sociolaboral apart from the other routes: here the contract is not an extra, it is the piece the whole file is built on.
Requirement 2 of 5Proven solvency of the employer
The company provides its tax and employment documentation (income tax, VAT or corporate tax as applicable, plus the company's employment history report). This is the part that stalls most often when the employer has not been briefed, which is why we ask for it early and with the exact list of what is theirs to provide.
Requirement 3 of 5No criminal record
Certificates are required from every country where you lived during the last 5 years, not only your own. They are usually valid for a short time, so they are requested once the rest of the file is on track: asking too early means asking twice.
Requirement 4 of 5Identity documents in order
A complete, valid passport and form EX-10 with the arraigo box ticked. A passport close to expiry does not prevent filing, but it complicates the later TIE card, so it is checked when the case is opened.
Requirement 5 of 5Does your case fit?
Tick what applies to you. Nothing is sent and we ask for no personal data: the result is only for you.
This is guidance, not a decision: approval depends on the administration and on the complete file.
Arraigo sociolaboral: the documents you need.
This is the checklist. If one is missing, the file is not submitted — and that is precisely what keeps it from being returned.
The case file· 8
Official source: information sheet 29, Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, and articles 125-132 of the Immigration Regulation (RD 1155/2024) as amended by Royal Decree 316/2026 of 14 April. boe.es
Arraigo sociolaboral: Who prepares and who files your case.
Two teams, one file. Booka prepares and checks your documents; Booka Legal (our in-house legal team, supported by external lawyers) reviews the case and files it as your representative.
- Booka prepares
- We ask for your documents, tell you what is missing or will not be accepted, and build the file in your online case file. 100 % online.
- Booka Legal files
- Booka Legal reviews the complete file and files it as your representative on the Mercurio platform of the Public Administrations e-office, with its digital certificate. You need no certificate or Cl@ve.
- If there is a request or a refusal
- Booka Legal can answer a request for more documents or appeal a refusal. The appeal is included in the price. No firm can guarantee the outcome: the administration decides.
- Price
- A fixed fee of €440, published on this page. Official government fees are paid separately to the administration.
- Follow-up
- Notices from the Immigration Office arrive through DEHú (also visible in Carpeta Ciudadana) and you see them in your case file.
€440, and you know it before you commit.
Document review, case preparation, filing and follow-up until the decision.
Fee 790-052, heading 2.3.1: €38.28 under Order PJC/617/2025, in force as of September 2026. The TIE card fee is paid separately at the end.
on signing, to open your case and start reviewing your documents.
when we file your application with the administration.
No interest, no surcharge: it is the same price, split. You request it from your case file and someone from the team confirms it within 24 working hours.
There is no paid consultation to find out the price, and no custom quote. This is the price, and it is published.
Almost nobody publishes the price.
Of the digital immigration firms we reviewed in September 2026, only one publishes a price and lets you hire online. The rest ask you to call, or to pay for a consultation before telling you what the procedure costs.
Fixed price, published before you commit. Official fees are separate in both cases.
494 € + 21% VAT for the arraigo sociolaboral, as listed in September 2026.
Arraigo sociolaboral: Booka, a gestoría, a lawyer or on your own
The same application can go four ways. What changes is the price, whether you have to go in person and who checks the file before it reaches the administration.
Booka
- Price
- €440 in fees
- Online?
- Yes, end to end, without travelling to file
- Who reviews the file
- Booka's team, then Booka Legal, before filing
- Official fee included
- No, paid apart (38,28 €)
Traditional gestoría
- Price
- Variable quote, depends on the firm
- Online?
- Depends on the firm; often requires an in-person appointment
- Who reviews the file
- The gestor handling the case
- Official fee included
- Depends on the quote
Immigration lawyer
- Price
- Variable quote, depends on the firm
- Online?
- Depends on the firm; often requires an in-person appointment
- Who reviews the file
- The lawyer
- Official fee included
- Depends on the quote
On your own
- Price
- Only the official fee: 38,28 €
- Online?
- Depends on the procedure: online portal or in person
- Who reviews the file
- Nobody: you check it yourself
- Official fee included
- You pay it directly
Fully online, and you always know where it stands.
No office to visit, no phone calls and no waiting for someone to tell you where your case is: you can see it yourself, whenever you want.
From wherever you are
You open your case and upload documents from your phone, with no office visits. This procedure is filed from within Spain, and the rest of the process happens from home.
Stage by stage, nothing missed
You see which stage your case is in, which document is missing and which one is already reviewed. Every change is logged with its date, so you never depend on a callback to know how it is going.
Your questions, with the people handling your case
You ask from inside your own case file and the immigration team handling it answers — not a WhatsApp number that can stop replying. Every action is written down, with a name on it.
Nothing is filed half-done
The file is not submitted until it is complete: that is what keeps it from being returned, and what saves the most months. Once filed, the official receipt appears inside your account.
- Professionals on Booka
- 107,000+
- App rating
- 4.8 / 5
- Support
- 24/7
You can work provisionally from the moment the application is admitted for processing.
Arraigo sociolaboral: 4 stages, and you see which one you are in.
Application
You upload your documents to the portal. We tell you what is missing and what will not work before any deadline starts.
Stage 1 of 4Review
Booka reviews the complete file before filing it. This is the step that keeps it from being returned.
Stage 2 of 4Filed
Booka Legal, as your representative, files the application on the Mercurio platform of the Public Administrations e-office, with a digital certificate. You need no certificate or Cl@ve. You see the date and the receipt in your case file.
Stage 3 of 4Decision
The Immigration Office decides and notifies through DEHú (also visible in Carpeta Ciudadana). The next steps towards the TIE card are explained in your case file.
Stage 4 of 4Arraigo sociolaboral: How long it really takes.
| Step | How long |
|---|---|
| Gathering the documents | 2 to 6 weeksSet by the padrón certificate and the criminal records from your country, not by us. |
| Review and case preparation | A few daysThe file is not submitted until it is complete. |
| Filing | Subject to appointment availabilityOnce admitted for processing, you can already work. |
| Decision by the administration | Legal period of 3 monthsThat is the legal period, not a forecast: each immigration office moves at its own pace. |
| TIE card (fingerprints and card) | After a favourable decisionAppointment and the 790-012 fee separately, with the permit already granted. |
The administration's timelines are nobody else's to promise, and pretending otherwise would be a lie. What is in our hands is everything before: filing complete and first time, which is where most of the months are lost.
Arraigo sociolaboral: What gets files returned — and how we stop it.
A padrón history with gaps
What it costs you
If the record does not cover 2 unbroken years, residence is not evidenced and the file falls. We catch it early, while there is still room to gather alternative proof.
Criminal record certificates expired by filing time
What it costs you
They arrive with short validity: requesting them at the start and filing three months later means requesting them again, with the legalisation all over.
The employer provides half of its documentation
What it costs you
Without proven solvency the administration issues a correction request and the file stalls for months — contract signed, and unable to start.
A contract below 20 hours per week
What it costs you
It does not meet the minimum for this route. Sometimes a second contract fixes it; better to know before signing, not after.
Filing without the sworn translation or legalisation required
What it costs you
A foreign document that is not properly legalised counts as not submitted. It is the most common correction request, and the most avoidable.
Arraigo sociolaboral: the questions we get most.
Where can I apply for arraigo sociolaboral in Spain?
Online, on the Mercurio platform of the Public Administrations e-office, with a digital certificate or Cl@ve, choosing your province; notices arrive through DEHú. Without a digital certificate, a representative can file it: a lawyer or a gestoría, at a price quoted by each firm, or Booka for a €440 service fee; Booka Legal, our legal team, reviews and files the case. Government fees are paid separately.
Can I work while my arraigo sociolaboral is being decided?
Yes, as an employee. Article 130.5 of the Immigration Regulation, as amended by Royal Decree 316/2026, states that once the application is admitted for processing and until the procedure is decided, the applicant is provisionally allowed to reside and work as an employee, and the notice starting the procedure says so. It covers employed work only: registering as self-employed comes with the granted permit (art. 131). One catch at the end: once granted, the permit's effect is conditional on being registered with Social Security within one month of notification.
How long must I have lived in Spain?
Article 126.b) of the Immigration Regulation requires continuous presence in Spain for at least the 2 years before the application. The regulation sets no specific number of tolerated days abroad, so any absence is assessed within the file; in practice presence is evidenced through the historical padrón certificate. Request it early and check it has no gaps. If you were an international protection applicant, the time that application was pending does not count.
What does the price include?
Booka's fee covers document review, case preparation, filing and follow-up until the decision. Official fees are paid by you directly to the administration: the 790-052 arraigo fee is 38,28 € (as of 2026) and the 790-012 TIE fee is separate.
Do criminal records from my home country work?
Records are required from every country where you lived during the five years before you entered Spain — that is the exact wording of art. 126.d), not «the last five years» — and not only your nationality. They are not required from a third country if you have been continuously present in Spain for the last 5 years, or if you already evidenced this in an earlier application within that period and have not left since. An entry in the police report is not an automatic refusal either: article 130.2 requires a case-by-case assessment.
How long does a decision take, and what if there is no answer?
The maximum period to notify a decision is 3 months from the day after the application enters the register of the competent body (seventh additional provision of the Regulation). If those 3 months pass with no notification, silence is negative: the application is deemed refused (eighth additional provision, referring to the first additional provision of Organic Law 4/2000). That does not close the case — it opens the appeal window.
What do I do if it is refused?
The decision ends the administrative route (ninth additional provision of the Regulation), so there are two paths. One: an optional appeal (reposición) before the same body within 1 month if the refusal is express (arts. 123 and 124 of Law 39/2015); if you file it, you cannot go to court until it is decided or deemed refused. Two: a direct judicial appeal, within 2 months from the day after notification, or 6 months where there was only silence (art. 46.1 of Law 29/1998). These are short, non-extendable deadlines.
They asked me to supply missing documents. How long do I have?
The notification sets the deadline and it cannot exceed 15 days (art. 130.3 of the Regulation). If you miss it you are deemed to have withdrawn and the file is closed — not refused, closed, which means starting again. That is why we review the complete file before filing.
Can I apply if I already hold another permit or have another case open?
No. Since the Royal Decree 316/2026 reform, article 126.h) requires that you do not hold a stay or residence permit and are not a party to another procedure for granting, extending, renewing or modifying one. An open case has to be resolved first.
How long does the permit last and what happens next?
One year (art. 132.1 of the Regulation). Once granted it allows employed and self-employed work with no geographic or occupational limit (art. 131). To extend it, art. 132.2.a) requires evidence of active job-seeking and registration with the public employment service, unless justified circumstances prevent access to work, such as illness, disability or having reached legal retirement age. The extension is requested in the two months before expiry (art. 132.3).
Can I pay in two instalments?
Yes, with no interest or surcharge: the total is identical either way. The first half opens your case and starts the document review; the second is paid when we file your application — if we have not filed, you do not pay it. You request it from your case file and someone from the team confirms it within 24 working hours.
Are official government fees included?
No: Booka's fee covers review, preparation, filing and follow-up. Government fees are paid directly to the administration, and we tell you which ones apply and when inside your case file.
How do I know this is not a scam?
Three things you can check: the price is published before you pay, payment is online with an invoice, and the second half is only charged once your application has been filed, with the official registry receipt visible in your case file. No informal intermediary gives you those three proofs.
Arraigo sociolaboral as a doctor or nurse: your degree too.
The permit is one thing; practising is another. A foreign doctor, nurse or dentist also needs the degree recognised (homologación) and professional registration. Bookahospi, Booka's healthcare vertical, handles the recognition before the Ministry and wrote a step-by-step guide to this procedure for healthcare professionals.
Arraigo grants 1 year of residence and work. Before it expires you renew, and that procedure costs less than the arraigo itself and grants a 4-year card. From there, if you are a national of an Ibero-American country, 2 years of legal residence open the door to citizenship.
Residence and work permit renewalRelated procedures
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Booka's fees cover the professional handling of your application only and do not include official government fees, which are paid separately to the relevant authority. Approval of any permit rests solely with the competent administration and depends on the applicant meeting all legal requirements. The information on this page is for guidance only, may change as regulations evolve, and does not constitute individual legal advice.