Tracking and answering your file

It is for anyone considering, planning or carrying out a move to Spain.

Start with "Checking your Spanish immigration file status", which helps you find the right tracking tool for your channel. Then read "What a request for more documents (requerimiento) means and its deadline", because that is the letter with a deadline you cannot afford to miss. After that, the other pages cover interviews and extra evidence, reporting changes while your file is pending, and withdrawing or restarting an application.

Key rules

• Extension: You can ask in writing for an extension of up to half of the original period, and the request must be made before the original deadline ends.
• Response deadline: You normally have 10 working days to answer a requerimiento, counted from the day after the notification, and the notice itself states the exact period.
• Unopened notification: An electronic notification you do not open within 10 calendar days is treated as received, and the response deadline keeps running.
• Unopened electronic notice: An electronic notice you do not open within 10 calendar days counts as received, and your deadline keeps running.
• Consulate files: There is no single national tracker for visas filed at a consulate, so use that consulate's own channels.
• Status labels: A label in a tracking tool does not replace the official notification.

Tracking and answering your file: the whole process, step by step

• Find the right tracking tool for how you filed, and register your email and phone for alerts (Checking your Spanish immigration file status): as soon as you file

• Keep your address and contact details current on the file (Reporting a new address, job or passport while pending): whenever they change, in the same message for address, email and phone

• Wait before chasing the office, then use the information email, web form or registry (Checking your Spanish immigration file status): once the legal waiting period has nearly run

• Open any electronic notification quickly (What a request for more documents (requerimiento) means and its deadline): within 10 calendar days, or it is treated as received and the deadline keeps running

• Read the notice and answer every point with a registered submission (What a request for more documents (requerimiento) means and its deadline): within 10 working days, counted from the day after the notification

• If you need more time, ask in writing for an extension (What a request for more documents (requerimiento) means and its deadline): before the original deadline ends, for up to half of the original period

• Answer any interview or extra evidence request in writing, even if it is not called a requerimiento (When the office asks for an interview or extra evidence): promptly, and within the period the notice states

• If the legal period has expired with no answer, ask for a certificate of silencio administrativo (Checking your Spanish immigration file status): after the maximum resolution time has passed

• Decide whether to withdraw or restart the application, after checking what it means for your stay (Withdrawing or restarting a residence application): before you withdraw

• After a favourable decision, book the TIE fingerprint appointment; after a refusal, appeal (Checking your Spanish immigration file status): within one month for the TIE; one month for a reposición appeal or two months for a contencioso appeal

Documents you may need

Identity and residence

• Your original passport
• Your residence documents — When the office asks for an interview or extra evidence
• Your empadronamiento — When the office asks for an interview or extra evidence
• Padrón certificate showing your new address — Reporting a new address, job or passport while pending

The home and the lease

• Your tenancy contract — When the office asks for an interview or extra evidence
• Updated contract — Reporting a new address, job or passport while pending

Other documents

• The summons you received — When the office asks for an interview or extra evidence
• Originals and copies of everything you filed with your application — When the office asks for an interview or extra evidence
• A signed written statement — Withdrawing or restarting a residence application
• A certificate of silencio administrativo — Checking your Spanish immigration file status
• Evidence of your relationship or situation — When the office asks for an interview or extra evidence

Each article lists the other documents it asks for, where you need them.

Tracking and answering your file: questions that cross several articles

Does my file status label replace the official notification?

No, a status label in a tracking tool does not replace the formal notification, and labels differ by tool and office. Always read the notice itself for the request and deadline.

What happens if I miss the deadline to answer a request?

If you miss the deadline, the office can declare the application withdrawn and archive the file, without deciding on its merits. You can still answer before that resolution is issued, appeal the archive, or file again.

Where will the office send my notices, and does the deadline run if I miss one?

Notices go electronically if you filed online or have a lawyer, and by post or in person if you filed on paper. Missing an electronic notice does not pause the clock. Read Reporting a new address, job or passport while pending and What a request for more documents (requerimiento) means and its deadline.

Do I need to answer an informal request by phone or email?

Yes, you should answer any request from the office promptly and in writing, even if it is not called a requerimiento, because ignoring it is risky. A formally notified request carries the same consequences as a requerimiento.