“Arraigo” isn’t a single procedure — it’s five separate authorizations, each with its own requirements, grouped under one name because all five are granted for exceptional circumstances of staying in Spain. Picking the wrong type means preparing the wrong documents, and that costs real time.
The five types, in one sentence each
- Second chance: you held a residence permit before (any type, not arraigo) and it wasn’t renewed.
- Employment-based (sociolaboral): you have a job offer or contract for at least 20 hours a week.
- Social: you have legally resident family in Spain, or you’ve been settled here a while (provable with a report from your town hall or region).
- Training-based (socioformativo): you’re enrolled, or want to enroll, in regulated training.
- Family: a much narrower case than it sounds — keep reading.
The costliest mistake: family arraigo doesn’t mean “I have family in Spain”
This is the name that confuses people the most. If you have a spouse, children, or parents with legal residence in Spain, your route is normally social arraigo, not the family type. Family arraigo covers only two specific situations:
- You’re the parent or legal guardian of a minor with EU, EEA, or Swiss nationality.
- You’re a family member supporting an EU citizen with a disability in exercising their legal capacity.
A detail almost nobody explains: family arraigo doesn’t require 2 years of residence
The other four types — second chance, employment-based, social, and training-based — all require 2 years of continuous stay in Spain (with absences longer than 90 days in a row as a possible break in that count). Family arraigo is the only one of the five that doesn’t have that time requirement: if you fit one of the two cases above, how long you’ve been in Spain isn’t what decides your case.
How long each authorization lasts
Second chance, employment-based, social, and training-based arraigo are all granted for 1 year. Family arraigo is granted for 5 years — the difference is real and comes directly from the regulation, not a minor nuance.
The fee is the same for all five
Every arraigo type pays the same official fee: form 790, code 052, heading 2.3.1 (€38.28 as of this article’s verification date). The administration charges this to process your authorization — it’s not our price, which is separate and covers preparing your documentation and your EX-10 form already filled in.
One practical detail that applies to the four types with a time requirement: don’t pay the fee until your appointment is confirmed. The receipt expires after 3 months.
Verified directly against the official information sheets from the Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones (inclusion.gob.es) for all five arraigo types under RD 1155/2024, and against the 790-052 fee model at sede.administracionespublicas.gob.es.