The EU’s top immigration official has warned that migrants set to benefit from Spain’s controversial mass regularisation process could be deported if they are found in an irregular situation in other Member States.
Europe’s top immigration official has warned that migrants benefiting from Spain’s mass regularisation programme found to be living in other EU member states will be returned to Spain.
The controversial measure, which could see as many as 800,000 illegal migrants given residency papers, is aimed at undocumented migrants who were already living in Spain before December 31st, 2025 and can prove at least five months of residence.
The figure that’s been widely used by the Spanish government and Spanish press is 500,000, but according to the Funcas think-tank around 840,000 undocumented migrants lived in Spain at the beginning of January 2025, most of them Latin American.
READ ALSO: Spain to offer legal status to 500,000 undocumented migrants
However, the EU’s Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, told Spanish daily El Mundo that if an immigrant regularised via Spain’s amnesty then attempts to settle in another European Union country they will be deported and returned to Spanish territory.
“The decision to regularise the situation of third-country nationals who are in an irregular situation within an area without internal borders may have an impact on other Member States. It could pose a problem for other Member States if, for example, that person absconds,” Brunner said.
“A residence permit does not grant authorisation to settle anywhere in the EU, but only to live and work in the Member State that issued it. If a person holding a national residence permit is found to be in an irregular situation in another EU country, that person must return to Spain,” he added.
Brunner had previously made his discomfort with the regularisation measure clear, pointing out in February in the European Parliament that “a residence permit is not a blank cheque”.
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“Migration is a challenge shared between the Member States and the European Union. Certain matters remain the responsibility of the Member States, and at the same time that responsibility means that each Member State must ensure that its decisions do not have negative consequences in other parts of the European Union. It is a general principle of our Union,” he added, but conceded that immigration is a national level competency.
The fear that migrants set to benefit from Spain’s mass regularisation could then move into different European countries has been a common criticism of the move.
However the amnesty would provide short-term residency documents in Spain only, meaning those migrants who regularise their immigration status will not gain residency rights across the bloc.
READ ALSO: IN DETAIL – How Spain’s mass regularisation of undocumented migrants will work
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Police unions have raised concerns that immigration services lack the administrative capital to deal with the surge in applications and fear it could “collapse” the system.
For a full breakdown of the main misconceptions about the proposal, read The Local’s mythbuster here or via the link below.
Reports in the Spanish press suggest the timetable suggested initially may be delayed.
The application process was due to begin in April. The deadline for applying for regularisation is 30th June.
READ ALSO: The myths surrounding Spain’s mass regularisation of migrants