Automatic six-month extension for foreigners’ residence and work permits

• The validity of European Union (EU) citizen family cards is also extended during the State of Emergency and for a further period of six months after the end of it

The Spanish government will ensure that foreigners do not find themselves in a situation of irregularity once the State of Emergency ends. The Secretary of State for Immigration will automatically extend all residence, work and study permits/authorizations which expire during the course of the State of Emergency or which expired up to three months before the declaration of the State of Emergency on the 14th March, without the need for the issuing of resolutions by the Immigration Office.

Order SND/421/2020, signed by the Minister of Health on the proposal of the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Immigration, has been published in the Official State Bulletin (BOE) in order to avoid the legal insecurity faced by foreigners working and residing in the Spanish State.

By means of seven articles the ministerial order establishes an extension to temporary residence and/or work permits, together with study stay authorizations and the other authorizations for student mobility, non-working placements and voluntary services established in the immigration regulations.

The validity of European Union (EU) citizen family cards is extended to cover the duration of the State of Emergency plus a further six months counting from the end of the State of Emergency.

This rule also regulates the automatic extension of foreigner identity cards granted on the basis of long-term residence, as well as stays of less than 90 days.

Long duration visas and study stays of up to 180 days in duration which expire during the State of Emergency will be extended by a period of three months, as long as the holder has not been able to return to his/her home country due to the health crisis.

Holders of temporary residence and/or work permits and stay authorizations, as well as holders of European Union (EU) citizen family cards or extended long duration permits who are abroad during the State of Emergency can enter the Spanish State presenting a valid travel document and the expired Foreigner Identity Card.

Finally, the Order establishes that absences from Spanish territory as a result of the impossibility of returning to the country because of the health crisis will not be taken into account with respect to continuity of residence.