Residence permit refused in Spain: what to do and your deadlines

What the letter you received means

First read the end of the decision, the pie de recurso (appeal notice): it says which appeal you can file, with whom and by when.

For the renewal of your residence authorisation and for long-term residence, silence is positive: if there is no answer within three months, it counts as granted. If what you received is a requerimiento (request for documents), nothing has been refused yet: answer within the deadline it gives.

How the deadline is counted

• The deadline starts the day after you are notified. Months run from date to date.
• If the last day is a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the deadline moves to the next working day.
• If you chose electronic notification, or are required to use it, and you do not open the notice in the DEHú (the government's online notification inbox) within 10 calendar days, it counts as delivered.
• August does not count for the court deadline, but it does for the administrative appeal.

The administrative appeal (recurso de reposición), step by step

The recurso de reposición is a letter to the same office that refused you, asking it to review its decision. The law sets no fee for it and it is optional: you can go straight to court.

1. Gather your evidence. Have the decision, your case number and the documents that prove you do meet the requirement.
2. Write the appeal. Include your name, your NIE or passport number, the decision you are appealing and why you disagree, plus place, date, signature and the office it is addressed to. If you give the appeal the wrong name, they still process it.
3. File it before the month ends.

   If you have a digital certificate, DNIe or Cl@ve, use the General Electronic Registry (Registro Electrónico General) and address it to the immigration office (Oficina de Extranjería) or Government Sub-delegation that signed the decision. Without internet, take it to a public registry office or send it from a post office as correo administrativo (official registered mail). From outside Spain, at the Spanish consulate.

   General Electronic Registry

4. Keep the receipt and wait. They have one month to answer. If they do not, the appeal counts as rejected and you can go to court. You cannot file a second reposición.

Going to court: the contencioso-administrativo appeal

You have two months from the day after you are notified of the refusal, or of the answer to your administrative appeal. Against a silence, the law gives six months. Refusals by an immigration office or a Government Sub-delegation go to the administrative courts (Juzgados de lo Contencioso-administrativo).

Here you need a lawyer, and before a higher court such as the Audiencia Nacional (citizenship cases) also a procurador (court representative). Before going to court, a lawyer is useful if the refusal includes an order to leave, if you have a criminal record or if you do not understand the reason.

If your income is low, ask for free legal aid (asistencia jurídica gratuita): you get a lawyer and, if needed, a procurador from the duty roster (turno de oficio). Foreign nationals have this right too. Apply at the Bar Association (Colegio de Abogados) where the court is, or at the court of the place where you live.

Applying again instead of appealing

• If your case was closed (archivo). A closed case is not a refusal. You can file a new application with all the documents.
• If you now meet what was missing. For example, your arraigo refusal was for lack of a job contract and now you have one. A new application may make more sense than appealing.
• If nothing has changed, it will not work. The office does not admit a repeated application while the reasons for the refusal still apply.

A new application does not stop the clock: if you want to appeal, do it within the month.

By procedure

Common problems and how to fix them

"I missed the notice and the month has passed"

The administrative appeal is no longer possible, but a court appeal is if you are within the two months.

"I do not know if it is reposición or alzada"

Against a refusal of residence, work or a visa, it is reposición or court, not alzada (appeal to a higher authority). Alzada only applies if the appeal notice mentions it, for example when you are refused entry at the border.

"Three months have passed and I have heard nothing about my renewal"

It counts as granted. Ask the office handling your case for the certificate of silence (certificado del silencio): they have 15 days to issue it.

"The decision says I must leave Spain"

Talk to a lawyer as soon as possible and ask for a suspension in your appeal. If you leave within the period, you are not banned from entry and you can come back later if you meet the entry rules.

Updated 25 October 2026