Asylum, temporary protection or a visa, which situation are you in?

Key rules

• Embassies: You cannot request asylum at a Spanish embassy or consulate.
• Temporary protection: Keep your temporary protection card while an asylum claim is pending.
• Humanitarian residence: Residence on humanitarian grounds is not asylum and is applied for through Extranjería.
• Humanitarian visas: Humanitarian visas are discretionary and tied to specific programmes.

Start with where you are

Where you are decides which routes are open to you.

• In Spain, or at a Spanish border post: asylum is open to you. Temporary protection and the residence routes may be too.
• Outside Spain: you cannot ask for asylum at an embassy or consulate. Asylum has to be requested on Spanish territory or at a border post. Look at visas instead (see below).

Temporary protection

Temporary protection is a group status. It is used for people displaced from Ukraine. It is quick and gives you residence, work authorisation, healthcare, schooling, social assistance and access to reception.

It is valid for one year at a time and renews automatically in line with EU extensions. It now runs to March 2027. Family reunification is limited to relatives who are already in the same protected group. You can leave Spain, but your document limits how freely you can travel.

Asylum

Asylum is an individual claim, assessed on your own story. Spain grants two statuses: refugee status (derecho de asilo) and subsidiary protection. Both give residence and work rights, with a card valid for 5 years that can be renewed while the grounds continue. Both lead to long-term residence.

Expect to wait for a decision for 6 months or more, and often much longer. Recognised refugees get a travel document and can travel more freely. They can also seek reunification with relatives, and protection may be extended to family members.

You apply to the Oficina de Asilo y Refugio, the police or a reception centre, after an appointment.

If you already have temporary protection

You can apply for asylum at any time. Applying does not cancel your temporary protection. Keep your temporary protection card while the claim is pending, because the two are normally not processed side by side. If asylum is granted, refugee status replaces temporary protection. If it is refused, you can normally keep temporary protection while it remains in force. The asylum office handles the interaction case by case, so ask them about your situation.

Residence on humanitarian grounds and arraigo

These routes are not asylum. They go through Extranjería, the immigration office, and suit people who are in Spain without a regular status or who are refused asylum.

• Humanitarian grounds: for serious illness or danger if you return. It is usually granted for 1 year. You will need proof from doctors or other authorities.
• Arraigo: residence based on ties to Spain. The types are social, sociolaboral, socioformativo (training), familiar, and para la segunda oportunidad. Since May 2025 the stay required is typically 2 years, plus an integration, work or family link depending on the type. Thresholds changed recently, so check current conditions with Extranjería before you file.
• Other grounds: victims of gender violence, trafficking and some crimes, people who cooperate with the authorities, and exceptional circumstances.

If you are outside Spain

Ask about a humanitarian visa, a family reunification visa or resettlement through a UNHCR programme. Humanitarian visas are discretionary and tied to specific programmes, such as the Afghan evacuations. Nobody has a right to one. In some cases people at risk are helped to travel to Spain and then apply for asylum on arrival.

Avoid filing in the wrong place

Asylum goes to the asylum authorities. Residence applications outside asylum go to Extranjería. Choose by your situation, not by which office is nearest. The decision, timeline, documents and checklist below walk you through the rest.

Choosing between options

Which route fits your situation?

• Asylum: You fear persecution and are in Spain or at a border post. It is assessed individually and gives refugee status or subsidiary protection for 5 years, renewable, with a route to long-term residence.

• Humanitarian residence or arraigo: You are in Spain without a regular status and have serious illness, danger on return, or enough years of stay, and are an integration, work, training or family case.

• Visa from abroad: You are outside Spain, since asylum cannot be requested at an embassy. Options are a humanitarian visa, a family reunification visa or resettlement through a UN refugee agency programme.

Start with where you are: outside Spain means a visa or resettlement route; in Spain, displaced from Ukraine means temporary protection, fear of persecution means asylum, and anything else points to humanitarian residence or arraigo.

Timeline and deadlines

• Temporary protection is valid and renews automatically in line with EU extensions: one year at a time

• Temporary protection for people displaced from Ukraine currently runs to 4 March 2027: until the current EU end date

• Wait for the decision on an individual asylum application: usually 6 months or more, and often much longer

• Refugee status or subsidiary protection is granted, with a renewable residence card: 5 years at a time

• Residence on humanitarian grounds, if you are granted it: usually 1 year

Documents you need

• Proof from a doctor, hospital or other competent authority of your serious illness or of the danger you face if you return, for a humanitarian residence application.

• Your temporary protection document, which you keep while an asylum claim is pending and which limits how freely you can travel outside Spain.

• A convention travel document, issued to recognised refugees, if you want to travel more freely.

Checklist

• Confirm whether you are in Spain, at a Spanish border post or outside Spain, because asylum can only be requested on Spanish territory or at a border.

• If you hold temporary protection, keep your temporary protection card while any asylum claim is pending.

• If you are in Spain without a regular status, check whether one of the arraigo routes fits, which typically ask for about 2 years of residence plus integration, a work contract, training or a family link.

• If you have a serious illness or face danger on return, gather proof from doctors or other authorities before applying for humanitarian residence.

• Submit residence applications outside asylum to Extranjería, the immigration office, and asylum applications to the asylum office, the police or a reception centre after an appointment.

What to watch out for

• Asylum cannot be requested at an embassy: Spain does not take asylum applications at its embassies or consulates, so a request made there will not start your claim.

• Humanitarian residence is not asylum: Residence on humanitarian grounds sits under the general immigration rules, gives a shorter permit of usually 1 year, and does not carry refugee rights such as the convention travel document. If you fear persecution, apply for asylum; keep humanitarian residence for illness, danger on return or similar cases.

• Asylum and temporary protection are handled separately: A claim is generally not processed alongside temporary protection, and how the two interact is decided case by case. Keep your temporary protection card and ask the asylum office how your claim will affect it before you apply.

• Humanitarian visas are discretionary: Humanitarian visas are tied to specific programmes, so you cannot count on getting one. Ask about other options in parallel, such as family reunification or resettlement.

• Arraigo thresholds have changed: The time and conditions for the arraigo routes changed with the May 2025 rules, so older information may be wrong.

Frequently asked questions

Can I apply for asylum if I already have temporary protection?

Yes, you can apply for asylum at any time while you hold temporary protection, and applying does not cancel your temporary status.

Is residence on humanitarian grounds the same as asylum?

No, residence on humanitarian grounds is a separate route under the general immigration rules, not a form of asylum. It is usually granted for 1 year, for example for serious illness or danger on return. The Interior Ministry can also propose it when an asylum application is refused.

Can I ask for asylum at a Spanish embassy or consulate?

No, Spain does not accept asylum applications at embassies or consulates, so you must apply in Spain, at a border post or in a detention centre for foreigners.

Can my family come with me under asylum or temporary protection?

Yes, refugees can seek family reunification for relatives, and the family may be granted the same protection. Under temporary protection, reunification only covers family who are already part of the temporary protection group.