Asylum Application Procedure in Spain

Asylum is an international protection for people who fear being subjected to persecution on the grounds of race, religion, nationality, political opinions, belonging to a certain social group, gender or sexual orientation.

It is not, in any way, a work and residence permit and said application has many consequences.

It is true that currently the processing of the asylum application is taking a lot, a year and a half or two years, and at the end of that period most of these applications are rejected, but if there are real circumstances, and there is evidence relying on the latent threat to life, the foreign citizen has the full right to request asylum.

While the process is formalized and the procedure is developed, you can receive free healthcare and legal assistance. When requesting asylum, you are obliged to remain in Spain and to give up your passport while processing the application, which as we established takes a long time, meaning you cannot travel to any other country.

Insecurity is not a strong reason for the granting of asylum. In the interview they will give the interested party a “white paper” that usually has an expiration period of 6 months (it depends a lot on each asylum office of each Autonomous Community).

The “red” card is the official identification document as an applicant for international protection that is issued when the application is admitted for processing. This card authorizes the asylum seeker to remain in Spanish territory during the period during which the resolution of the application is decided and renewed periodically. After six months, counted from the moment the request was made, this red card allows you to work. Asylum seekers cannot be expelled or returned to their countries until the process is definitively resolved. If asylum is denied, they will receive a letter in which they are ordered to leave the country within 15 days. If they decide to stay in Spanish territory then they would be in an irregular situation, being able to be detained in a routine documentation check and subjected to an expulsion process. However, with the accumulated delay of asylum records, some applicants interpret it as a way to extend the time until they reach the three years necessary to qualify for socialization, which is a residence and work permit.

If you are interested in applying for asylum, you must take into account all the consequences it covers.