Arraigo social in Spain 2026: requirements and the EX-10 form

What arraigo social is

Arraigo social — literally "social roots" — is one of the residence routes on exceptional grounds that allows a foreign national already living in Spain to regularise their status. It sits within the Immigration Regulation approved by Royal Decree 1155/2024, which reorganised the different forms of arraigo.

Broadly speaking, the assessment looks at continued residence in Spain, the existence of means of support (usually an employment contract or your own financial resources) and social roots or ties with the community. The exact requirements and residence periods are set by the regulations in force: always check the official information sheet on the Immigration Portal before submitting your application.

Documents usually required

Although every file is different, the most common set is:

1. Form EX-10 — Application for a residence permit on exceptional grounds.
2. Full valid passport.
3. Evidence of continued residence in Spain for the required period.
4. Means of support — employment contract, job offer or own financial resources, depending on the type of arraigo.
5. Evidence of integration or social ties, where applicable.
6. Form 790 code 052 fee, paid.

Foreign documents generally need to be legalised or apostilled and accompanied by a sworn translation into Spanish.

How to submit

The application is filed with the Foreigners' Office (Oficina de Extranjería) of your province, either in person with a prior appointment or online with a digital certificate, depending on the channel enabled. Check the procedure sheet for your specific case on the Immigration Portal.

The language barrier is the real risk here

Unlike a visa application prepared calmly from abroad, an arraigo file is usually assembled under time pressure by someone already living in Spain, often without a digital certificate and without full command of administrative Spanish. Appointments on Mercurio and the Foreigners' Office portal are scarce, the forms are dense, and a subsanación notice — a request for missing documents — is easy to miss if you do not read the notification in time. This is exactly what the GovEasy browser extension is built for: it walks you through the official portals field by field and reuses the data you have already entered, so nothing gets lost in translation. For a sensitive case, a bilingual professional from the Marketplace of gestores can prepare and submit the file for you.

Fill in the EX-10 with GovEasy

Form EX-10 has many fields and is easy to get wrong. We have simplified it:

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• AI-assisted completion (€4.99): you answer a few simple questions, we reuse your profile data and the AI fills in the official form. You get the completed PDF ready to review and submit.

Filling it in is free: you only pay when you want to download the completed document. Included in the Ciudadano Plus and Pro plans.

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Disclaimer: this guide is informational. Arraigo requirements, deadlines and fees can change; always verify the information against official sources before submitting your application.