Arraigo

Evidence of residence for arraigo: what to confirm 2 years

Two years in Spain, for arraigo, proof of any document with your data that is better issued by Spanish authorities: padrón, medicine, municipal papers, and private documents are valid as a supplement if sufficient by date.

Information material, not individual legal opinion: Prepared using IE; checked by a subject matter specialist before publication has not yet been completed; conditions apply to a particular situation and may change.
Short
  • What the Ministry requests: The following are the documents containing your identification data, preferably issued or registered by the Spanish administration: padrón, hospitalization, admission to public medicine, any municipal, regional or public documents [2].
  • If there are gaps in registration, private identity documents are also listed in the instructions: medical and educational, money transfers, banking movements, contracts and receipts, rental [3].
  • Padron in Barcelona is registered in the place of actual residence: the law requires the municipality to register foreigners with domicile in the register, without reference to the permit [9].
  • For informe de integración in Catalonia, you need "volant d'empadronament histêric" or other admissible proof for two years. [4].
  • Spain's absence should not exceed 90 days in two years: tickets and landings help confirm travel [6].

What evidence of residence for arraigo accepts

The Ministry's reference list (Hoja 28) requires documents confirming the continuous stay of at least two years, and it must contain your identification and preferably be issued or registered by the Spanish administration. Examples from the list are: certificates of padrón, hospitalization, medical admission in the public system, any municipal, regional or public documents showing that you were in the public service. Spain [2]II. The two-year condition is article 126, letter b, Reglamento [1]The list is not closed: foreign and private papers are not prohibited, but the Ministry calls the Spanish administration preferred documents.

The two-year condition and permitted departures are dealt with in the article How many years do you have to live for arraigo?This is about documents.

What document confirms

DocumentWhat ShowsNote
Help from PadrónAddress and date of registrationCore document [2][4]
Public health documentsYour presence on specific datesNamed Hoja 28 [2]
Municipal, regional, public papersContact with AdministrationNamed Hoja 28 [2]
Training documents: courses, admission confirmationAttendance and trainingPrivate address document [3]
Banking movements in your accountOperations in Spain by datePrivate address document [3]
Lease agreement, light receipts, water, communicationsAddress and periodPrivate address document [3]
RemittancesOperations in SpainPrivate address document [3]
Tickets and boarding ticketsVisits and returnsIt takes 90 days to check [6]

SEM 4/2025 calls private documents evidence in the absence of a report, and Hoja 28 calls documents preferred by the Spanish administration [2][3]The practical conclusion is that the basis of the padrón and medicine, private paper, is closing the gaps.

How to build a two-year timeline

  1. Write down the dates: entry into Spain, change of address, all travel outside the country.
  2. Make a table for 24 months and check out the document that shows you in Spain every month, and we recommend a table like the work session: the agency does not require it.
  3. Close the gaps first with government documents, then with private names.
  4. You can also use tickets, landings, stamps and, if necessary, banking in another country.
  5. Check the name and document numbers: Generalitat is based on passport when the data are separated [5].
  6. Prepare translations and apostilles for foreign documents: translation by the jury, public and apostille [2][7].

One document for a month promises no success, and two years with one Padron and no other trace appear weaker than the Padron plus medicine and bank.

Padron in Barcelona: What to Know

The law requires ayatamiento to place in the padrón foreigners whose domicile is in the municipality (art. 6.3 Ley Orgánica 4/2000) [9]Details on Barcelona: How to register by place of residence and How to get volante de empadronamiento. Ajuntament issues a volant de residència (confirms registration in Barcelona) and a volant de convivència (where and with whom you are registered) [8]Arraigo needs history, so ask Ajuntament for a historical version of the paper.

For informe de integración in Catalonia, Generalitat explicitly calls "volant d'empadronament histʹric" [4]If there are gaps in registration, the Generalitat criteria allow documents that place you in Spain during this period: first public, then private [5]What if you have only recently registered is dealt with in the article informe de integración in Catalonia.

An example of two years of timeline

The example of a training course shows a principle, not a promise of result: the basis is a continuous line of padrón, and documents linked to the date are located between the dates of registration and the places where the address changes.

PeriodCore documentAdditional documents
Months 1-6Padron, address 1Banking, medical appointments
Months 7-12Padron, address 1Lease agreement, light and communications receipts
Months 13-18Padron, address 2 (date of shift)New lease, money transfers
Months 19-24Padron, address 2Training documents, banking movements

If you're on your way, add a row of tickets and dates, so the lawyer and the onicina see a whole picture, not a set of scattered papers.

How to Request Missing Documents

The official list of requests is not available to the Ministry, so below is our working list. [8]. Request the history of treatments in state medicine at the center where you are observed. Take certificates of study and courses at school or at courses. Collect rental agreements and payments for housing at each address. Check each document for your name and date and then save a copy in a separate folder.

Documents from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan

Sometimes the only traces of your stay in Spain are in the documents of your country of nationality: foreign bank statements with transactions in Spain, money transfers to relatives, foreign airline tickets, correspondence with the consulate, but they are foreign: public documents need to be apostilated or legalized, and translation to Spanish must be made by a juror. [2][7]As an oicina de extrandjería weighs private foreign documents compared to Spanish documents, we have not found them, so do not build proof on them alone. apostille on Russian documents.

Which documents are better off not using

Do not use ex post facto documents, leases and residence certificates that are not supported by actual payments and registrations, and other accounts and other data. A false document is detrimental to the entire application and may have consequences for you. If periods are not confirmed, it is more accurate to tell a lawyer and wait to close a gap with a questionable certificate. Also, do not send a passport. And open-source inquiries: use a secure transmission and only the person who works with your case.

Typical errors in evidence collection

  • The document is without your name. The package must contain identification data or the evidence is not counted [2].
  • Different names. Transliteration is different in different documents and Generalitat looks at the passport in different cases [5].
  • The confirmation is only by means of a padrón. It's one document, it doesn't show you your actions in the country. [2].
  • Foreign documents without translation and apostille. Public documents should be apostulated or legalized and translated by the Translator [7].
  • Ignoring the exits. Three trips of 35 days more than 90 days [6].
  • Collection of documents without a plan. First, define the arraigo and the deadline for delivery, then order a background check.

When Individual Review Is Needed

If there are no records in the Padron for part of the period, you have several addresses or cities, you have no lease, you have long trips or you have submitted documents for another procedure, you prepare documents with a lawyer before filing. What exactly will the Oicina de extrandjería take in your case, we can't say in advance. If the agency thinks the folder is incomplete, it will send a requerimiento: the answer is given for no more than 15 days, otherwise the application is given. Closed as withdrawn (article 130.3 of the Regulation) [1]The application under article 130.1 shall be made by the alien himself; the application by the representative may be made under article 197.4 (notary power or apud acta in the electronic registry, or through the participants in the convenio or Registro de Colaboradores); whether the request is required in your case, it is decided by the lawyer. [1].

What can we help you with?

The NEXO team in Barcelona helps build a timeline for stay, evaluate the documents by force, prepare translations and apostiles and collect a package for arraigo; the application is made by the attorney of the proxy team or by yourself, it is defined in the contract. We do not answer for the deadline for the responses of the agencies. Consultation, section arraigoWhat kind of document is needed? Arraigo route sheetThe general order after the move is described in the section Residence permit in Barcelona.

Frequent issues

What documents confirm residence for arraigo?
Any documents containing your data that are better issued by the Spanish administration: Padron, medical records of the public system, municipal and other official documents, and in addition to the private names: bank, rent, money transfers. [2][3]
Is there enough padron to prove two years?
Padron is needed and considered to be basic, but it does not show your actions in the country. To be reliable, add medical, educational, banking and lease documents. What is enough is decided by the oicina de extrandjería. [2][3]
Can you arrange a Padron in Barcelona without a residence permit?
The law requires the Ayuntamiento to place foreigners living in the municipality in the padrón, which housing documents are required, as indicated on Ajuntation. [8][9]
Do documents need to be translated from Russia or Ukraine?
Yes, foreign public documents must be apostille or legalized and translated by a jury, Spanish documents need not be translated, foreign private papers should be translated, and the lawyer should be more specific. [2][7]
How can we confirm our departure from Spain?
Tickets, boarding tickets, stamps, and banking in another country, to show that the absence in two years is not more than 90 days, according to the department. [6]
What if part of the period has nothing to confirm?
Collect private personal documents: bank, rent, medical and educational papers, money transfers, if there is a gap, discuss it with a lawyer before filing and do not fill out documents that cannot be confirmed. [3][5]

Based on source

  1. BOE · Real Decreto 1155/2024 (Reglamento de Extranjeria), consolidated text on 22.09.2026 ♪
  2. Ministry of Inclusion · Hoja 28: arraigo social (updated April 2026) ♪
  3. Secretariat of Estabo de Migracions · Instruments SEM 4/025 on Informe de intergración social ♪
  4. Generalitat de Catalunya · Informe d'esforč d'integracio (triamit 9878, updated 25.09.2025) ♪
  5. Generalitat de Catalunya · Criteris d'instruccio dels informes d'estrineria, Ref. 1/025, version 3 (17.11.2025) ♪
  6. Secretariat of Estado de Migracions · Instruments SEM 1/2025 on arraigo ♪
  7. Ministry of Inclusion · Hoja 61: Legalization and translation of documents (May 2025) ♪
  8. Ajuntament de Barcelona · Volant de convivència and volant de residència (InternationalWelcome) ♪
  9. BOE · Ley Orgánica 4/2000, articles 16-18 bis and 31 ♪

Sources are viewed on 02.10.2026. Consolidated texts and departmental reference pages are informative: legal application takes into account official publications, changes and specific circumstances. Material has not been personally checked by counsel.

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