Residence in Spain for Pakistani citizens

It has been called "the new law" or "the mass regularisation". Royal Decree 316/2026 added two provisions with a closed deadline to the Reglamento: the twentieth additional provision, for people who had applied for international protection before 1 January 2026, and the twenty-first, known as extraordinary arraigo, for people who were in Spain before that date. It did not distinguish between nationalities.

Extraordinary arraigo required, among other things, an uninterrupted stay in Spain during the five months before the application, no criminal record, and at least one of three conditions: having worked or intending to work, living in Spain with minor children or other relatives listed in the provision, or being in a certified situation of vulnerability. Applications could be filed "until 30 June 2026" (section 6). That deadline has passed and the Reglamento in force provides for no extension.

If you applied before 30 June

• From the notice that the procedure has started, you are provisionally allowed to live and work until a decision is made (section 4).
• The authorities have three months to decide, which can be suspended; if they pass without a decision being served, the application is deemed refused by administrative silence (section 4). If that happens, have a lawyer review the file before the time limits for an appeal run out.
• If it is granted, the permit lasts one year and the foreigner's identity card (TIE) must be requested within the month after the grant (sections 7 and 10).
• In the two months before it expires, you must apply to change to another permit or, if that is not possible, for an extension under the conditions of section 10. Note that date from day one; our guide to renewing the 2026 regularisation permit explains the steps.

If you did not apply

The route that remains is ordinary arraigo, with its two years of stay. If you do not yet meet them, the useful thing now is to keep proof of your stay in Spain for when you do.

This is what most often delays a file. Foreign public documents must be apostilled or legalised and translated into Spanish or the co-official language (information sheet 61 of the Ministry of Inclusion, in Spanish). For Pakistan, three points:

• Apostille, not consular legalisation. Pakistan has applied the Hague Apostille Convention since 9 March 2023, and Spain did not object to its accession (Hague Conference). The Embassy of Pakistan in Madrid states that, at the moment, the apostille is only possible from Pakistan (the Embassy's consular page).
• Criminal record certificates from Pakistan and from any other country where you lived in the five years before you arrived in Spain, unless Article 130.2 exempts you (for example, if you have been in Spain continuously for five years). The Immigration Office itself requests the Spanish record.
• Sworn translation into Spanish, or into Catalan in Catalonia, by a sworn translator-interpreter.

We explain it step by step, with what each source says, in the guide on Pakistani documents for Spanish immigration: police certificate, apostille and translation.

• Renewal or change of permit. An arraigo permit lasts one year, except family arraigo, which lasts five. When it ends, you move to another permit or extend it under Article 132; see our general guide to arraigo.
• Long-term residence. You can apply after five years of legal, continuous residence in Spain. Absences do not break continuity if none lasts more than six months in a row and together they do not exceed ten months over those five years (Article 183).
• Spanish nationality. For Pakistani citizens the general period applies: ten years of legal, continuous residence immediately before the application (five if you have refugee status) (Article 22 of the Civil Code). One year of residence is enough in the cases listed in Article 22.2, for example if, when you apply, you have been married to a Spanish citizen for one year and are not legally or de facto separated. You must pass the constitutional and sociocultural knowledge test (CCSE) and the DELE A2 Spanish exam; Pakistan is not among the countries whose nationals are exempt from the DELE (Article 6 of Royal Decree 1004/2015).
• Renouncing Pakistani nationality. When you acquire Spanish nationality, you must declare that you renounce your previous one. The only exceptions are natives of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal, and Sephardic Jews originating from Spain (Article 23.b of the Civil Code). What effect that declaration has in Pakistan is a matter for Pakistani law.

The nationality procedure is explained in detail in our guide to Spanish nationality by residence (in Spanish).

Official sources consulted on 30 October 2026

• Royal Decree 1155/2024, Reglamento de Extranjería, consolidated text in the BOE, in Spanish (last update published on 22 September 2026).
• Royal Decree 316/2026 of 14 April, which added the twentieth and twenty-first additional provisions.
• Spanish Civil Code, Articles 22 and 23, in the BOE.
• Royal Decree 1004/2015, regulations on nationality by residence, in the BOE.
• Hague Conference on Private International Law, status of the Apostille Convention and objections to Pakistan's accession.
• Spanish Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, information sheet 61 on legalisation and translation of documents (May 2025).
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, consular page of the Embassy of Pakistan in Madrid.