Spain has released clearer details on how overseas criminal records will be considered in its ongoing migrant regularisation process. A draft document published by the Ministry of Migration and Social Security outlines strict conditions under which past convictions abroad could affect an applicant’s chance to gain legal status.
The draft, dated January 28, focuses on offences that would also be considered crimes under Spanish law and occurred within a defined time window. This clarification is part of efforts by President Pedro Sánchez’s government to regularise the status of hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants in the country.
Under the new rules, only offences committed within five years before a migrant’s arrival in Spain will be taken into account. Even then, a foreign conviction must correspond to a crime as defined in Spanish law to be relevant. Crimes abroad that are not illegal in Spain will be excluded from consideration. This narrower scope is more precise than earlier political statements had suggested.
The draft confirms that people who submitted applications to live in Spain before December 31, 2025 — whether based on family ties, social roots, or “unique exceptional circumstances” — may benefit from these clarified rules. This follows a political agreement reached earlier this year between the Socialists (PSOE) and Podemos to move forward with a mass regularisation scheme.
For migrants who do not qualify under family or humanitarian grounds, the government plans to offer a temporary residence permit instead. In such cases, the regularisation process will rely on Article 31.5 of the Organic Law. Applicants must demonstrate that they do not have a criminal record in Spain or in any previous countries of residence for crimes recognised under Spanish law. They must also show they have lived in Spain for at least five months and are not listed as inadmissible by countries with relevant agreements with Spain.
One of the most debated issues has been how Spanish authorities will check criminal records from other countries. The draft states that if a migrant cannot obtain official documentation from their country of origin or former residence, the Spanish administration will request the information directly from the relevant authority abroad.
If this request receives no response within one month, a sworn statement from the applicant affirming they have no criminal record will be accepted. In this situation, the administration will treat the person as if they have no criminal record for the purposes of the regularisation process.
This clarification gives stronger legal definition to what earlier political statements described only generally as “relevant criminal records.” Earlier comments from Podemos, one of the government’s coalition partners, spoke vaguely about excluding people with serious offences. The latest draft spells out how far back records will matter and what alternatives are available when documentation is missing.
The government has not formally commented on the draft, which remains open for public feedback until February 6.