Spain simplified immigration in 2025: student visas for full studies, 30h work allowed, online applications, Arraigo after 2 years, Golden Visa ended
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Key Takeaways:
Spain remains one of the most attractive countries for relocation, regardless of age or occupation. Students, professionals, and retirees — all of them find their reasons to move to this Iberian country. Vibrant culture, Mediterranean climate, and expanding opportunities are on top of the list for many immigrants. However, such high popularity of relocation to Spain has also caused a need to change the rules and requirements.
To ensure you are in the loop of all the changes and can build your relocation plans accordingly, this article gathers and explains all the new rules for residency in Spain in 2025, including legal pathways, visa changes, and immigration policy updates.
If you already have an issued permit, those changes will not affect you in any way until it expires. Thus, you do not need to be worried about what is next or do anything about it. Still, it is worth tracking the changes to ensure you do not miss essential points when you apply next time.
The government emphasizes that new rules for residency in Spain were designed and introduced with the aim of simplifying the residency process. This makes it more favorable for certain categories of immigrants, including dependent children up to 26 years old and those seeking employment in the country.
Given the simplifications for those categories, be sure to analyze them closely if your application is still being processed. You can find the essential changes available only during the transitional period:
These transitional measures offer an opportunity to apply for a residency for those categories that have been ignored earlier.
Spain immigration news has also affected students in a positive way. Thus, a study visa Spain is now issued for the entire time of studying. This means no annual reviews, as it has been before.
Moreover, the new immigration law creates favorable conditions for further stay in the country. While students are now allowed to work up to 30 hours per week, they can also benefit from easier approval of work permits after graduation.
However, students who come to Spain primarily for language courses will face new limitations. Those include:
Furthermore, language students cannot convert to work residency after completion of their study permit.
Spain immigration latest news shows that the government keeps up with the latest technological advances and moves towards a more efficient and digitalized application process. Thus, online submissions are now available for most permit types. Both for initial applications and renewals.
Furthermore, there is no need to wait for the results of the submission review via traditional postal services. Electronic notifications are introduced to speed up communication. In addition, there are now uniform criteria for different immigration offices across the country.
Those changes should contribute to higher efficiency of the overall process. Moreover, the timeframes for application review have been updated to offer faster feedback, namely:
It is expected that clear deadlines will improve the processing of applications.
Now, obtaining residency in Spain via a work permit is more realistic, as the authorization process itself has become easier. The government has introduced several simplified work visa categories while also ensuring standardization of work permit durations to decrease possible confusion.
This standardization has also brought an extended duration of the work permit. It allows benefits for both foreign employees and their employers. You can find the key changes for foreign workers below:
New durations of work permits cause fewer bureaucratic hurdles and ensure more favorable conditions on the labor market. Thus, let’s say you have obtained a work permit for the first time in July 2025. By July 2026, you will need to renew your work permit. From this point, you will be bothered with renewals only once in four years.
Another interesting and new change to consider when relocating to Spain with employment in mind is the possibility of engaging in self-employment activities without requiring a separate authorisation. This means that having a business or freelance work while also having your primary job in Spain is no longer taboo.
Those willing to obtain residency through investments will be frustrated with the Spain immigration latest news. The Golden Visa program is officially terminated, so non-EU nationals are no longer allowed to obtain residency through significant investments (often via property purchase). At the same time, those who already hold the Golden Visa can renew it as long as they maintain their investment in the country.
The Arraigo program, which allows individuals in different situations to obtain residency in Spain through certain ties in the country, also undergoes significant changes.
Here are the five options you might consider for application submission:
The latter one is a new category brought by the reform in immigration law. Other changes to the Arraigo program include a reduced requirement of previous residency (from three to two years) and the elimination of a waiting period for the possibility to work. Thus, those who gained a permit under the Arraigo program can start working right after approval.
The reunification process for families was improved and streamlined significantly. Thus, there is now a dedicated 5-year residence and work authorization for non-EU family members of Spanish citizens. Relatives that can benefit from this change are: spouses, registered and unregistered partners, children under 26 years, and dependent parents.
What are the improvements for the family reunification part? Here are some of them:
Now, it is significantly easier for families to reunite and remain together in Spain, while also broadening the list of relatives who are eligible to apply.
If you plan to apply for a Spanish nomad visa, please note that the government has adjusted the minimum income requirement. It is tied to the minimum wage in the country, so applicants are expected to earn €2,762 per month.
Spain’s 2025 immigration reforms reshape key pathways for students, skilled workers, families, and investors. This country now offers more efficient procedures, broader eligibility, and digital-friendly application systems.
The changes reflect a government’s striving for more flexibility in the labor market, engaging more foreign students, and offering a smoother family reunification process. All those changes ensure a good balance between control and accessibility.
With MigRun, stay informed through official updates and seek legal advice to have a detailed view of your specific circumstances. Remember to find the best solutions ahead of time and prepare the necessary documentation with experts to avoid delays. This way, you will have your application process seamless and stress-free while also increasing your chances of having your residency permit approved.
